| AQUATIC EXHIBITS AT BRISTOL ZOOLOGICAL
GARDENS
Text by David Marshall
Photographs by Sue and David Marshall
| The
entrance to the Zoological Gardens |
The
Bristol Zoological Gardens are situated in the Clifton area of the city (close
to the famous Suspension Bridge) and cover a 12-acre expanse. The grounds are
home to a wide variety of animals from throughout the World, and such is the care
and dedication shown by the staff towards their charges that the Good Britain
Guide voted Bristol Zoo as 'Zoo of the Year 2004'. The secret of success here
is that every inch of ground is utilised to full effect be it an amazing animal
enclosure, a beautiful landscaped garden or simply a place to rest.
| This
mix of animal enclosure and beautiful garden is found all around Bristol Zoo. |
-
I know this report is about the aquatic side of the Zoo but lets take
a little sidetrack and look, in pictures, at just one or two of the amazing creatures
you can find here:
| | Lemur
feeding time is as much a treat for the visitor as it is for these amazing mammals. | Fur
Seals playing territorial games. |
| | Penguins
from juveniles to fully-grown adults | The
amazing Butterfly house should not be missed |
If
you enter the Zoo at the main entrance the first aquatic exhibits you will find
are at 'Twilight World' (at the entrance look out for the New Zealand Mountain
Parrots, who look as mean as their reputation for destruction suggests). Once
your eyes have adjusted to the dark you are surrounded by a host of ground living
and flying mammals that literally live for the night. Fish exhibits are limited
to a large aquarium that accommodates an equally large Marbled Clarias and a smaller
aquarium- home to a community of Butterfly Goodeids. The main aquatic exhibits
are housed in the aquarium building, and here you find 18 aquaria that range greatly
in size and dimensions. I enjoyed the new 'loop film' that tells you about the
conservation work and day-to-day duties carried out by the Zoo's Aquarist.
The first four aquariums
are used to highlight the plight of freshwater habitats and the need for greater
conservation efforts to be made in order to protect the White Clawed Crayfish,
Potosi Pupfish, African Crater Lake Cichlids and Central American livebearers
that they house.
Now we are onto the first
of several spectacular biotope aquaria and here we find a community of 'fossil
fish', from several countries, that include Sterlets, American Paddlefish, Barbel
and various Gars
| So
that they get their dinner the Paddlefish are hand fed. |
.
Now we stand in front of, what for me is always the highlight of the aquarium,
in the form of an East-Asian biotope. What a fantastic array of fish we find here
including a large shoal of Clown Loaches, two huge Giant Gouramis, Silver Sharks,
Pangassius catfish, Dragon Fish (bred at the Zoo) and the largest Myxcioprinus
asciaticus on display in the U.K. I stood for ages just watching this community
in awe.
| | Dragon
Fish and Giant Gourami | Myxcioprinus
asciaticus |
The next large aquarium
is a nicely set-out brackish display, whose occupants include Scats and Fingerfish.
A Piranha community follows and leads us nicely into the Amazon flooded forest
exhibit that takes you between 'mock trees', where you find Black Pacu, various
loricarins, Silver Dollars and a large number of Flier Cichlids swimming on both
sides of you and above your head.
| | Scats | The
entrance to the Amazon flooded forest exhibit |
We're not finished
yet, as two more excellent biotopes follow! The first of these is an Amazon black
water habitat whose occupants include some of the largest Motoro Stingrays I have
seen. The final biotope takes us to Lake Malawi and here we find a huge range
of mbuna who have a Giraffe catfish and a huge Lungfish for company. On our second
look around of the day Sue and I were fortunate enough to see feeding time here
and this was a sight to remember. As you will see from the photograph that
follows the final exhibits are beautifully arranged tropical marine aquariums
| One
of the tropical marine displays |
. Very
close to the Aquarium is the equally spectacular Reptile House. The photograph
that follows shows a waterfall running down into a large pool that is split into
three sections. The first section had me spellbound as it houses some of the largest
Thai Carp I have seen for many years. Watch for the large Clown Knifefish as it
is so well camouflaged that it is easy to miss. The other two sections are home
to various colour forms of African Zebra Cichlids. Some wonderful Crocodilians
and other water living reptiles and amphibians are also on display.
| Bristol
14 - The waterfall in the tropical house |
In
'Bug World', a new section of aquaria dedicated to tropical and native marine
coral habitats have been created. Highlight for me was an amazing Blue Lobster
and the
condensation on the glass showed the cold conditions in which this
creature has to be maintained. A 'loop film' highlights the peril many of our
marine habitats are under as climate change etc. tightens its grip.
| | A
tropical coral display | Blue
Lobster |
Each visit sees the Zoo's shoal
of huge Carp in a different animal enclosure moat so suspect that they are moved
around to munch away at excess Elodea etc.? As you read this report you will find
them in the moat that surrounds the Gibbon enclosure. Their moving around is probably
the reason why, of all of the fish on display, these are the only ones without
excellent information boards?
Finally, what you need to enjoy
Bristol Zoological Gardens is plenty of time and good walking shoes. So many visitors'
rush around and miss the little touches, such as the Iris pond, that make these
gardens so special. When each visit ends, Sue and I long to return.
| 
