Animal fans are excitedly awaiting the grand opening of the updated Wild Place Project when all of the creatures from Bristol Zoo travel over to their new home.
The Cribbs Causeway zoo is currently open, but soon it will welcome a host of new furry friends as animals make their big journey across the city to their large, new enclosures.
Bristol Zoo shut its doors in Clifton for the last time in September, marking an end of 186 years of the attraction in our city. Construction of the new site at the Wild Place, by junction 17 of the M5, is expected to begin in 2024 and will be phased over a number of years. Today it's been revealed which animals will be homed there.
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Here is the list of creatures moving across:
It's been confirmed that 50 species will move from Bristol Zoo Gardens to the new site, including the blue-eyed black lemurs, the lemur leaf frog and the Corfu killifish. These will be joined by new additions from other zoos and aquariums around the world, such as two black rhinoceros, north African red-necked ostrich and grevy’s zebra.
There will be a new central African forest area, homing several endangered and critically-endangered species, including gorillas, cherry-crowned mangabey monkeys, slender-snouted crocodiles and several rare species of west African fish. There will also be a new underwater viewing area.
"Most in need"
Brian Zimmerman, director of conservation and science at Bristol Zoological Society, which owns and operates Wild Place Project and Bristol Zoo Gardens, said: “We’ve developed our animal species plan so that we can really focus our resources on animals that most need our help and maximise the impact we make to the conservation of wildlife.”
The society says it has developed its animal species plan to focus its resources on 76 species most in need of protection using a number of tools, such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which produces the Red List of globally-threatened species. BZS carries out conservation projects on four continents. Species under threat in these areas will also form part of its plan.
History of Bristol Zoo
Opened back in 1836, Bristol Zoological Gardens was the world’s oldest provincial zoo in the world - and fifth oldest zoo in the world.
It was founded on July 22, 1835, by Henry Riley, a local physician, who led the formation of the Bristol, Clifton and West of England Zoological Society.
Almost a year later, the doors opened to the public for the first time on Monday, July 11 1836.
The most famous animal in the 1800s was Zebi the elephant. She was on-site between 1868 to 1909 and was renowned for removing and eating straw hats.
The start of the 1900s saw a new lion house built which welcomed a family of large cats.
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