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The beautiful City of Chester is famous for its Roman history, Cathedral, superb shopping facilities and as the home of the U.K.’s largest Zoological Gardens - which were recently voted ‘the U.K.’s best large family attraction’. Situated in the village of Upton, the Zoological Gardens are home to a vast array of animal and plant species. Over the past decade the Zoo has gone through a programme of massive reconstruction, which remains ongoing, that has produced some breathtaking ‘natural’ animal enclosures and to cover everything would fill the Northern Tropicals website so we will concentrate on the fish side of a recent visit, August 2006, made by Sue and myself.  No surprise that the main fish exhibits are contained within the aquarium building. Now one of the oldest remaining features the building has recently had a facelift with outer glass shelving and improved visitor information boards appearing as a result. Here you find 23aquariums, all beautifully set out, which vary greatly in size and dimension. As we entered the aquarium we found ourselves facing 6 large tropical freshwater aquariums, which are as wide as they are deep and long. The first of these to catch the eye contained a shoal of beautifully coloured Torpedo barbs (Puntius denisonii).  One of the features of the aquarium has always been the Discus display so it was no surprise to view this particular exhibit, complete with tangled roots and lush plants, in awe, as what a sight the small group of Turquoise Discus looked as they moved around their home, in a very majestic manner, looking down in disgust upon their Cardinal tetra and various Corydoradinae companions.  Now as this bank of aquariums ends, we are gazing upon a large Lake Malawi exhibit and here you find so many Mbuna, of many sizes and colours, that you literally cannot see the water for fish. Watch the rock escarpment and you will see various cichlid fry move from one hiding place to another while Synodontis catfish jostle for territory. Now we are onto the only brackish display. The Archerfish, Scats and Fingerfish are a joy to behold and had me transfixed.  Several tropical marine exhibits follow in which precise water conditions etc. are maintained by keeping the number of fish in each display to a minimum stocking level. Chief amongst these are the breeding group of Bengali Cardinalfish whose offspring can be seen in the aquaria of many fellow Zoos and Public Aquariums around the World. Axolotls and other amphibians follow before a final row of tropical freshwater displays. Sue’s favourite in this section is a darkened aquarium with a whole tangle of roots and home to several species of Elephant-nosed fish and large Synodontis angelicus but very difficult to spot! (sorry). Conservation..... To highlight the important conservation work carried out by the aquarium staff is a Lake Victoria display that is home to a beautiful shoal of Yssichromis argens. Also of conservation importance is the display of Blind Cave Garra (cyprinids which resemble loaches) from Oman. This particular group is the only known breeding group to be maintained in a place of public viewing. For months the aquarists here struggled in their attempts to get these particular fish to spawn. However, outside forces came to their aid as Chester’s worst thunderstorm in living memory, coupled with a moving day from one aquaria to another, produced the unexpected trigger which would see pairs of this Garra spawn in buckets and jugs. Sadly, and several years on, this remains their one and only spawning. Fish exhibits are also to be found spread around other areas of the Zoo, Of these the one with the most conservation interest is found in the ‘Secret World of the Okapi’ and contains several Pungu, Stomatepia and Konia cichlid species endemic to the Lake Barumbi area of Africa.  Elsewhere there are Rudd in more than one moat and a pond containing Red-Tailed Catfish and Amazonian Stingrays in the spectacular free-flying bat exhibit. As we exit, past a wonderful display of Australian Lungfish which look like giants in comparison to their Green Wagtail Swordtail companions, several small breeding aquaria feature the product of behind-the-scenes activity and these held young Seahorses and Allotoca goslinei (a livebearing species) at the time of our visit. For all animal lovers Chester Zoological Gardens are a magical place to visit with so much to see whatever the weather and all you really need is plenty of time and good walking shoes! Copyright; Text by David Marshall Photographs by Sue and David Marshall |
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