Chester Zoo delays opening of £40m Islands project

Chester Zoo has left many excited customers disappointed after announcing that part of the zoo’s £40m 12-acre Islands development won’t be completed for the public opening on Monday 13 July.

As part of the multi-million pound project, previously unoccupied parts of the zoo are being transformed into islands from the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Bali, Sumatra, Sumba and Sulawesi.

Chester Zoo is now planning to open the Islands in two phases. The Sumatra Island and Monsoon Forest, an Indonesian jungle house described as “the largest indoor zoo exhibit in the UK”, will not be open until “later this summer”.

Engineering company Laing O’Rourke, which has been on the site since the beginning of 2014, is responsible for the project’s construction work, and Dan Pearlman is its architect.

Chester Zoo said, via a statement: “The build process has been complex due to its scale and the challenges of working with living plants and animals – creating the perfect habitats for our living inhabitants.

“As our opening date gets closer our priority is to ensure that the animals are offered the best possible experience of their new home. We’re undergoing rigorous testing to ensure the safety and comfort of the animals and sequencing any snagging work accordingly.

“Now that we have a better idea of our timetable for completion we’ve decided to open Islands in two phases.

Mark Pilgrim, director general of the zoo, added: “Islands is the biggest and most ambitious expansion in the history of UK zoos. No one has ever undertaken anything like this before, we’ve ventured into new and unknown territory and the sheer complexity and scale of the project is just incredible.

“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. 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.”

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