Bristol Zoo Project gets go ahead to build new forest habitat

The Central African forest habitat will home several critically endangered species

A zoo has been given the go ahead to build a habitat for some of Central Africa's critically endangered species.

The new area at Bristol Zoo Project will become home to species such as western lowland gorillas and slender-snouted crocodiles.

Work on the habitat will begin in spring and is expected to be completed in phases over the next few years.

Bristol Zoological Society (BZS) said securing planning approval for the area was a unique opportunity.

The habitat will also have cherry-crowned mangabeys, African grey parrots and several species of West African freshwater fish.

The new habitat will have an integrated learning space for visitors and students

The gorillas and mangabeys will be homed in an area four-and-a-half times the size of the gorilla troop's previous home at the now-closed Bristol Zoo Gardens site in Clifton.

BZS said the habitat at Bristol Zoo Project, on the outskirts of the city, had been designed to evoke a sense of the dense forest and landscape of Equatorial Guinea.

The area will also have learning spaces for students, visitors and schoolchildren to observe and record animals.

Brian Zimmerman, director of conservation and science at BZS, said the creation of the habitat was a unique opportunity for the charity to expand its conservation work.

The gorillas will have a bigger living space than they did at Bristol Zoo Gardens

"It also enables us to participate in, and lead, managed breeding programmes, which will help to protect them in the future," he added.

Securing planning permission was a major step forward for BZS's vision to create a modern conservation zoo, said chief executive Justin Morris.

"Creating a new environment such as this helps to raise vital awareness of the risks these species are facing and the efforts we can all take to save wildlife together," he added.