We look inside Bristol Zoo where the gorillas are still living almost two years after it closed

BristolWorld has visited Bristol Zoo Gardens after claims gorillas were 'abandoned' at the site in Clifton

Transcript

00:00So we're preparing for the move essentially, so we closed the site two years ago but we

00:04still have the gorillas on site, you maybe can't see them behind me, they've gone inside

00:09to eat some brows, but the gorillas are on site now and they'll be moving to their new

00:13home at Bristol Zoo Project next summer, still cared for exactly as they always were. And

00:17then we've got students on site still studying, we've got vets still practising here, a lot

00:21of our conservation projects are still here, so yeah, still no public but we're still very

00:27much operating a bit as a zoo here still. There you go, like you mentioned the gorillas

00:31still being looked after, and what are the plans for the future for this site, when are

00:36the gorillas going to be moving? So at Bristol Zoo Project, which used to be called Wild

00:40Place Project at Cribs, we're building a new enclosure for them, a new habitat, where it's

00:45four and a half times larger than this one here, and they'll go and live with cherry

00:50crown mangobees and other types of primates, so essentially next summer, summer 2025, we'll

00:55be opening a whole new habitat, and at that point the gorillas will move over and be there

00:59for the public to see again, which will be really great. I'm sure it will, what can you

01:03tell me about their new habitat, how's it going to be different to what we can see currently?

01:07Yeah, well it's four and a half times larger, which is amazing, it's also in the natural

01:11woods, so gorillas are rainforest creatures, they live in trees and surrounded by trees,

01:16so they're going to be in the trees, which will just be amazing to see their natural

01:19behaviours, and they're going to be living with cherry crown mangobee, first time a UK

01:23zoo's done that, it's another primate, so they'll be living together, there'll be a

01:27moat, the indoor, same amazing viewing area, so the visitors will still be able to experience

01:31them, but just much larger and much more natural for them.

01:35There we go, and gotta mention of course where people come in and film the gorillas, unfortunately,

01:41but just been wondering what's been put in place since that, to prevent it from happening

01:46again?

01:47Well, the site was always reasonably secure, and obviously we've done a few things to make

01:50it even more secure, but I think ultimately we haven't had any issues really since then,

01:55and I'm hoping it stays that way, because obviously people breaking in can upset the

02:00animals, it is a real risk to their welfare, they're not used to being woken up in the

02:05night and have torches shone in their eyes, but yeah, so the site now is pretty secure,

02:10and we have people here on site all the time, so we're not anticipating any more issues.