Heart of Africa

A visit to Chester Zoo this afternoon, the third of three members days where members of the zoo are allowed in to the new Heart of Africa zone on a timed basis. It opens more generally tomorrow.

It is a big investment for the zoo, and is early days. In one very large area they are experimenting with mixing animals which mix in the wild but have not mixed in a zoo context. I watched a Grevys Zebra eying two ostriches with deep suspicion, when they go too close it bounded off in a bit of a panic. The eight giraffes, roan antelopes and warthogs are all outside the mixed enclosure for the time being. It will be interesting to see how the experiment goes.

The zoo was busy. It is particularly popular with parents with young children, and on a warm and sunny day like today it was the perfect day for an outing. How the little ones took to watching white-headed vultures plucking and tearing into a rabbit carcass I’m not so sure. That beak is a lethal instrument. Probably not as unsettling as the 15000 desert locusts, gobbling up everything - fortunately behind a glass screen.

After the Zoo I headed to niece J’s, soon joined by her sister B and their dad. The two young women walked the Offa’s Dyke path last year, but circumstances meant they had to skip two stages. They are doing those this coming weekend, with P providing the usual logistical support (a pub will no doubt be involved).