Chester Zoo

Chester ZooBook a day out with us to Chester Zoo. This is the most visited wildlife attraction in Britain and is based in Cheshire. The zoo is perfect for an educational day out for kids and adults alike and is easily accessible from Manchester. The zoo was first opened in 1931 and currently operates as a registered charity with no government funding. The zoo was founded by George Mottershead, who after visiting a Manchester zoo as a young boy, declared that he would one day open a zoo – ‘without bars’. George kept his word and as an adult purchased Oakfield Manor and seven acres of land for £3,500. George brought a group of animals from Shavington Zoo near Crewe and Chester Zoo was born.

Today the zoo is one of the UK’s largest, covering 111 acres and home to over 11,000 animals! As well as the animals on site, the zoo also helps thousands more animals around the world through conservation and education efforts. Chester Zoo’s mission is to conserve biodiversity worldwide and currently looks after more than 400 different species with over half of these being endangered. The standards of welfare are of paramount importance and all animals receive the best possible care – so it really is a zoo worth supporting.

Each enclosure at the zoo offers unique ways of learning about the animals by reading, touching and smelling the information panels, making it a great venue for school and family trips. There are many must sees at the zoo as well as different events that change throughout the year; as well as lots of talks from the experts on all animals from elephants and chimps to tigers and penguins.

Asian Plains

This paddock is a mixed exhibit featuring the Brow-antlered Deer and the Greater One-horned Rhinoceros. The animals enjoy a heated mud wallow and a large pool; and if you are lucky you will see the animals bathing and wallowing to their hearts content!

Butterfly Journey

This is the UK’s largest zoo-based butterfly house and features free-flying butterflies and moths in a large tropical house. There are more than 30 species from Central America, Africa and south east Asia – including the beautiful Atlas Moth which has a wingspan of up to 30cm!

Spirit of the Jaguar

This building is divided into two sections – one savannah and one rainforest – allowing visitors to experience the Jaguar’s different natural habitats, as well as allowing these magnificent cats to feel at ease with their surroundings. Jaguars typically weigh 80-100kg and live for up to 25 years. While the majority of jaguars have a distinctive black spotted pattern on their golden coats, there are also pure black jaguars. Chester is home to both of these. Whatever kind of range the jaguar lives on, they will spend a large part of their day on the hunt for food. The zoo aims to mimic this by varying the time of day their food is supplied and by hiding it from view under rocks or even burying it.

The zoo is open every day except Christmas and Boxing Day so why not make the most of a day off or a quiet weekend? And because we as ST Minibus hire work every day of the year we can provide you a minibus here whenever you want to visit and with prices starting from as little as £11 per person. Give us a call or fill in the online quote form.