Chester Zoo

Chester Zoo is a zoological garden at Upton by Chester, in Cheshire, England. It is one of the UK’s largest zoos at 125 acres (51 ha). The zoo has a total land holding of approximately 400 acres (160 ha). Chester Zoo is operated by the North of England Zoological Society, a registered charity founded in 1934. The zoo receives no government funding. It is the most-visited wildlife attraction in Britain with more than 1.4 million visitors in 2014.

Chester Zoo is helping many Conservation Projects around the world with their Wildlife Conservation Campaign “Act for Wildlife” including Cikananga Conservation Breeding Centre. The  Chester zoo supported and organized numerous projects to conserve of endangered species including the endemic to Java and associated off shore islands, the Black-winged starling (Sturnus melanopterus) and also The Short-tailed Green Magpie (Cissa thalassina).

Chester Zoo Team at work in CCBC

In March 2015, a MoU was signed between Chester Zoo and CCBC to strengthen their partnership by receiving regular funding to take care of the birds in CCBC and getting medical and husbandry advice. Chester Zoo also sends regularly interns to help the CCBC Team and train these interns on the husbandry of these rare birds.

In March 2015, Andrew Owen (Curator of birds) and Dr. Javier Lopez (Head of Veterinary Department) came to Cikananga to provide help in microchipping the birds, assist in routine health check and advice on husbandry for these valuable species.

Chester Zoo interns (Sophie and Hannah) with the CCBC Team

Andrew Owen checking the good condition of a Rufous-fronted Laughingthrush (left picture); Dr. Javier Lopez checking for parasites in faecal samples (right picture)

Training session on bird microchipping (left picture); The two curators (Anais Tritto, CCBC and Andrew Owen, Chester Zoo) microchipping the first Javan Green Magpie!

Visit Chester Zoo blog for more information on their work with CCBC: http://www.actforwildlife.org.uk/blog/blog/tagposts/Cikananga