Improvements to the gorilla enclosure at Chessington World of Adventures (CWA) will be made three years after the old one was criticised, if the park gets planning permission.
The theme park said it had made improvements since then for its three male and seven female western lowland gorillas, but was planning to build a new 53sq m viewing platform and 175sq m enclosure.
A report by Kingston Council inspectors, released under the Freedom of Information Act in 2007, demanded a new enclosure be built by the end of 2009, or it would revoke the park’s licence.
A separate planning application has also been made by Chessington World of Adventures to keep the temporary gorilla house, which has housed the oldest gorilla, Kumba, 42, for the past few years.
Originally, the plan was for the temporary structure to house Kumba for three years before he was moved to the main gorilla house and the younger gorillas moved out to a 22-acre field as part of the Safari Trail development.
But the delay in finishing the Safari Trail means Chessington wants to keep the temporary gorilla house for another five years.
In a letter to the council, Chessington’s planners said: “The older male gorilla is in poor health and has had two strokes and as such it is not considered safe to relocate him to the 22-acre field.
“CWA has been advised that such a move could, at this time; result in serious injury/stress to the gorilla.”
A spokesman for Chessington said: “The health safety and welfare of our animals is our number one priority and the plans are to improve the environment and to enable us to continue with our successful breeding programme.
“The temporary gorilla house has been included in the new developments as we want to keep what we have and make it better.”
Should the park get a new enclosure? Have your say at surreycomet.co.uk
Source
Friday, January 8, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment