Colchester Zoo revamps animal homes during winter months

The Maldon Road attraction will use the cold winter months to make improvements to a number of enclosures. 

Winter has always been the busiest time of the year for its maintenance team, which is introducing updated habitats and visitor areas. 

The essential upgrades are made “to ensure that the facilities for our animals are up to the highest standard as well as continue to provide a first-class experience for our visitors”. 

The Inca Trail will receive a beach viewing area for further space for the penguins, as well as a new shade area and an improved viewing space for visitors. 

The indoor house of the Amur Tigers will be revamped, and landscaping will be redone with new planting in the outdoor space. 

Wolves in the Call of the Wild part of the park will see an improved home for the summer and better visibility for visitors.

The popular goat walkthrough at Colenso Village will be revamped in stages, with some sections of the pathway closed.  

Sheep and goats will still be visible despite the walkthrough experience being limited whilst the works take place. 

The African elephants at the Elephant Kingdom will be treated with new scratching posts and feeding devices, while the security boundary will be upgraded with state-of-the-art tech. 

Next to the home of the Buffy Headed Capuchins, the older toilet blocks will receive a makeover, as well as the toilets located at the entrance. 

At the Nature Area, plans to extend the boardwalk will be set out to improve visitors’ journeys, but may not take place until the later part of 2024. 

The zoo is hoping to finish works at the trail before Christmas for an improved Enchanted Trail of Light experience with the new walkway incorporated. 

Finishing off the list of maintenance works are the finishing touches to the new dinosaur realm, which is due to open in spring and features a Brachiosaurus just under five metres tall.