Shropshire Star

Chester Zoo to feature best of British wildlife in new 'immersive' exhibition

The best of British wildlife is to take centre stage at a new exhibit at Chester Zoo.

Published
A Red Fox

Visitors to Chester Zoo will soon be the first in the UK to experience the country’s only '360-degree exhibition' showcasing the very best of British wildlife.

Opening later this month, the new exhibition, Native: The Incredible World of British Wildlife, will feature digital displays that will see visitors journey across the British Isles’ dramatic coastlines and through its beautiful woodlands and grasslands.

Puffins

With stunning footage of dolphins, seals, puffins, Scottish wildcats, beavers and many more incredible species, the experience contains stories captured by specialist filmmakers behind hit BBC and ITV wildlife documentaries.

The new exhibition also has an interactive discovery area where visitors can view live wildlife footage from the zoo’s nature reserve, while learning how to set up their own camera traps and help protect and monitor UK species from their own homes.

A Scottish Wildcat

The zoo is working with global immersive experience company Grande Experiences, who brought the underwater exhibition, Planet Shark: Predator of Prey, to more than 500,000 zoo guests earlier in the summer.

Helen Bradshaw, UK regional field programme manager at the zoo, said: “For the first time ever, visitors to the zoo will be able to immerse themselves into an incredible 360-degree environment filled with many of our country’s most iconic species, including colourful puffins, bottlenose dolphins, dam-building beavers and even the secret lives of the Scottish wildcat, with a few extra surprises in store too!

Beavers will feature in the new immersive exhibition. Photo: Chester Zoo

“Britain is one of the world’s most nature-depleted nations and, as a wildlife conservation charity, we want to create a future where nature thrives and that starts right here at home in the UK.

"The launch of Native: The Incredible World of British Wildlife will help shine a much-needed spotlight on the very best that British wildlife has to offer and what we can all do, together, to ensure that it can be enjoyed for generations to come.”

A Barn Owl

The new exhibition will be unveiled to the public on December 18 and entry is free with normal zoo admission.