Visitors to Chester Zoo will be able to explore its ambitious Islands attraction when it opens to the public on July 13 – but will have to wait until ‘later in the summer’ to experience the £40million development in its entirety.
Five of the islands – Panay, Papua, Bali, Sumba and Sulawesi – will open to the public as planned on July 13, as will the Lazy River Boat Trip.
But the wonders of Sumatra and the Monsoon Rainforest – which will be the largest indoor zoo exhibit in the UK and home to Sumatran orangutans, Sulawesi macaques and Sunda gharial crocodiles – will be unveiled in another phase this summer.
Mark Pilgrim, the zoo’s director general, explained the decision was taken to ensure everything is ‘absolutely spot-on’ and that the animals have enough time to acclimatise.
“Animal welfare is always at the very top of our list of priorities and we want to make sure we get everything absolutely spot-on for each and every one of the animals before they move into their expansive new homes,” he said.
“So we’re going to keep some areas of Islands under wraps until later in the summer, allowing us to add some finishing touches to the more complex structures and to give the animals plenty of settling in time.“Every element of Islands has been crafted with great attention to detail and the landscapes we have created will, without doubt, exceed the expectations of our visitors.”
The opening date for the attraction – the biggest development in the history of UK zoos – was originally stated for Easter and then pushed back to June.
