Almost a century after Bristol Zoo’s first gorilla – a young male named Alfred – arrived to huge excitement, his successors are to move to a new woodland home on the edge of the city.
As part of the zoo’s transfer from its long-term home in Clifton, the eight-strong gorilla troop will be set up in a “central African forests area”, living alongside a group of endangered cherry-crowned mangabey monkeys and African grey parrots.
Rare slender-snouted crocodiles will also be introduced into the “immersive woodland exhibit” – kept separate from the gorillas and the monkeys.
Though it will not satisfy those who believe that animals like gorillas should not be kept in captivity, it is a far cry from when Alfred was led around the zoo on a lead and took part in snowball fights with visitors.
When Alfred arrived in 1930 here was only one other gorilla in a zoo in Europe. At the moment, the western lower gorillas live in an enclosure at Bristol Zoo Gardens called Gorilla Island but the idea of the new area is to reflect their natural habitat as closely as possible.
Bristol Zoo is one of the oldest in the world but by 2024 will have moved from its spot in Clifton for the out-of-town site currently occupied by its Wild Place Project.
As well as the central African forests area, a conservation breeding centre will be built to house threatened species of reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, fish and birds. Among them will be tortoises and turtles, blue-spotted tree monitors, Henkel’s leaf-tailed geckos, Madeiran land snails, tarictic hornbills, bleeding heart doves and Socorro doves, which are extinct in the wild.
The new Bristol Zoo will retain many of the current exhibits at Wild Place, such as Bear Wood, where bears, lynx, wolverine and wolves live together.
Brian Zimmerman, director of conservation and science at Bristol Zoological Society, said: “Our new Bristol Zoo will set the standard for a modern, forward-looking zoo for the 21st century.
“We will lead the way in terms of conservation within a zoo, with at least 78% of our animals having a link to conservation when the first phase of development is complete and more than 90% by our bicentenary in 2035.”
Public consultation on the plans for the new Bristol Zoo will take place in early February 2022 where further plans will be shared, ahead of a planning application in the spring.
