Chester Zoo's huge new 'African savannah' opens this weekend

One of the biggest UK zoo habitats ever created - home to 57 highly threatened African species opens from the 5th April at Chester Zoo. 

The new Heart of Africa zone, spanning more than 17 football pitches (22.5 acres), has been designed to recreate the grasslands of central Africa. Here’s everything you’ll discover:

• A vast open savannah where, for the very first time, visitors will encounter northern giraffes, Grevy’s zebras, roan antelopes and ostriches, all living together side-by-side.  
   
• A new indoor habitat named Hidden Savannah where you’ll come face-to-face with naked mole rats burrowing through tunnels, as well as other rodent species such as short-eared sengi and pygmy mice. There will be 11 ectotherms species (“cold-blooded animals”) including the African bull frog, the largest frog species found in Africa, 10,000 locusts, dung beetles, red spitting cobra, Ethiopian viper and critically endangered pancake tortoises.
   
• Keen birders will find 31 species of bird within several new aviaries, including a flock of 120 iconic greater flamingos, three species of critically endangered vulture (white-headed vultures, African white-backed vultures, and hooded vultures), colourful black cheeked lovebirds, the continent’s rarest species of lovebird, and the Verreaux’s eagle owl, the largest owl found in Africa.
   
• A host of other mammal species (15 in total) including meerkats, African wild dogs, aardvarks, Eastern black rhino, yellow mongoose, rock hyrax and dik-dik.

Image credit: Chester Zoo

Zoo conservationists say Heart of Africa will stand as a vibrant symbol of the zoo’s commitment to conservation across the continent.

Chester Zoo has long been at the forefront of protecting African wildlife, working with its partners to safeguard vital habitats, carry out cutting-edge field research and combat poaching and the illegal wildlife trade.

Heart of Africa is expected to attract an additional 200,000 visitors a year, create 30 new jobs at the zoo and deliver a significant economic boost to the wider Cheshire region. The additional funds it’s projected to bring will enable the zoo to invest further in its conservation work for the long-term.

Heart of Africa will open to visitors from Saturday 5 April. Entry is free, with normal zoo admission. Zoo tickets can be booked via www.chesterzoo.org