Chester Zoo

Chester Zoo was opened in 1931 by George Mottershead and his family. It is one of the UK's largest zoos at 125 acres. Mottershead wanted to build a zoo without the traditional Victorian iron bars to cage the animals.

Chester Zoo holds a large and diverse collection. At the end of 2007, over half the species at the zoo appeared on the IUCN Red List and 155 were classified as threatened species. 134 species were kept as part of a managed captive breeding programme.