Pictures of a new £30m Islands development at Chester Zoo that will bring the islands of the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Bali, Sumatra, Sumba and Sulawesi to Cheshire have just been released.
The development aims to bring together a range of animals including the Visayan Warty Pig, Cassowary, Bali Starling, Sumatran Orangutan, Wrinkled Hornbill, Babirusa Indonesian Rhinoceros Hornbill, Saltwater Sulawesi Macaque and Sumatran Tiger. The development will also highlight Chester Zoo’s conservation fieldwork.
Director general of Chester Zoo, Dr Mark Pilgrim, said: “Our wildlife expedition will be based on real life, real people and real stories and will be unlike anything seen in a UK zoo.
“These images show, for the first time, a flavour of what can be expected from our new development. Islands will not just showcase the areas that the zoo works but will be a platform for some of the most endangered animals on the planet.”
Visitors to the new attraction will travel on foot or by boat and navigate bamboo, swamps, tropical forests and mangroves.
Some of the future Chester locals that are coming to the zoo include the Saltwater Crocodile and members of the beautiful and endangered cattle species the Banteng.
Chester Zoo will also be home to a new Indonesian tropical house, home to the zoo’s orangutans and the largest zoo exhibit in the UK.
The opening for the new development is planned for Easter 2015.