Africa to come to Bristol Zoo (From Gazette Series)

Africa to come to Bristol Zoo

THE blueprints are on the drawing board, the land has been marked out and the artist's impressions are on the display stands.

All Bristol zoo chiefs have to do now is raise the £50million they'll need to turn 136 acres of countryside on the edge of Easter Compton into a cutting edge, conservation-led zoo park dubbed as a "wildlife action centre for the whole family".

The world's most exotic and threatened creatures, from rhinos, hippos and elephants to big cats, giraffes and okapi, will roam the Hollywood Tower estate (within the sound of the bells of All Saints, Compton Greenfield) when the new National Wildlife Conservation Park (a working title which could change) opens its gates in 2011.

Around 600,00 visitors a year are expected to marvel at vistas more akin to sub-Saharan Africa than South Gloucestershire.

Safari suits, however, were definitely not the order of the day this week as, under leaden January skies, zoo director Dr Jo Gipps led the media on a cold and soggy tour of the park which once belonged to the family of celebrated local industrialist Sir George White.

In distinctly un-exotic wellington boots and wax cotton jacket, Dr Gipps explained how the venture would forge a new benchmark for zoos of the future, featuring "eco-system-based" exhibit areas with indigenous plants and animals in naturalistic settings rather than cages and concrete pits.

Each exhibit would relate directly to areas of high conservation need around the world.

"This will be the first conservation-led animal visitor attraction development of its kind in the UK," he said "For the first time, a zoo has been designed that specifically links geographic regions and conservation programmes in the wild with wild animals on show to the public.

"The focus will be biodiversity, conservation and how visitors themselves can become committed to conservation and make a real difference in their daily lives.

"Those are the lofty aims - the philosophical and ethical considerations - but we're only too well aware that it will also have to be fun.

"We shall also have enthusiastic and well informed rangers acting as tour guides, leading activities, giving shows and helping visitors on a one-to-one basis to make the most of their day. We also have plans for other attractions like a funicular railway and an assault course.

"We are sure that people will want to come and we know what to do to survive. We believe we can break even at 400,000 visitors a year."

A total of 12 exhibit areas, some of them inside or under cover, will include the Central American Swamp where visitors will walk through lush vegetation and around pools to catch a glimpse of the manatee, a spectacular aquatic mammal never before seen in a UK zoo.

They will also experience the African Savannah - with cheetahs, giraffes, rhinos, zebras, warthogs and wild dogs - which will be linked to key conservation area in a national park in Tanzania.

A Sumatran lowland rainforest will boast orang-utans, gibbons and tapirs while, much closer to home, British wetland and ancient woodland exhibits will focus on rare UK species such as brown bear, lynx, bison and wolves, all once found here.

Habitats will be explored via walkways, hides, ranger stations and aerial platforms while specially designed enclosures and "invisible" barriers will help visitors feel immersed in the experience beyond what is possible in conventional zoos

The new visitor attraction - almost 12 times bigger the existing Bristol Zoo (which will continue at its traditional home in Clifton) - is coming to a corner of the district where traffic congestion is already such that many residents feel like an endangered species.

Situated adjacent to "nightmare" junction 17 of the M5, the zoo park will be across the road from the Bristol Golf Club and within a stone's throw of the Cribbs Causeway regional shopping complex, where annual visitor numbers run into the millions.

Zoo chiefs admit there are "traffic issues" but are optimistic that the additional impact will not be as severe as some are predicting.

"We shall do everything we can to minimise the impact," said Dr Gipps. "Cribbs Causeway has a big bus station and we shall be looking at the possibility of a park and ride and bringing some visitors over by minibus. We shall be developing a green transport plan."

Planning permission for a zoological park was granted in principle almost 40 years ago - when traffic conditions were very different - but detailed consents are still needed for the buildings.

South Gloucestershire planners recently endorsed the zoo's framework document outlining its general proposals for the development.

The park will major on environmental sustainability with an emphasis on low carbon emissions, recycling, on-site energy generation and the use of locally--sourced materials.

The scheme is being supported by the South West Regional Development Agency through a £1.5 million grant and this month sees the start of the main fundraising phase.

Around two thirds of the site will have been developed by the 2011 opening date and over the following 15 years the park will add new attractions (built at approximately three yearly intervals at a further cost of £30million-£40million) until the whole project is developed by 2026.

The park will be open throughout the year except Christmas Day. Based on today's prices, the adult entry charge on opening day is expected to be in the region of £12.