Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
Moments in a longer story.
Selected milestones in the history of Chester Zoo.
On this page
A house, a zoo and its habitats
These dates describe the place you can learn about here. They are not a company timeline for Apollonaut.
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1930
Oakfield Manor
George Mottershead buys Oakfield Manor for £3,500.
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10 June 1931
Opening
Chester Zoo opens to the public.
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1991
The monorail
A monorail begins carrying visitors around the zoo; it runs until 2019.
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2001
Spirit of the Jaguar
The jaguar habitat opens.
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2006
Elephants
The new elephant house is completed.
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2007
Realm of the Red Ape
The orangutan habitat opens on 26 May.
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2015
Islands
Islands opens, with the Lazy River boat ride.
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2018
Nature reserve
A nature reserve opens beside the zoo, free to enter.
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2019
Madagascar
The Madagascar habitat opens.
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2025
Heart of Africa
The Heart of Africa habitat opens.
Follow the stories behind the dates
A timeline is a beginning. The longer history introduces the people and places; the sources below provide further context.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.