Editing Chester Zoo (section)

===Islands at Chester Zoo===
[[File:The Lazy River in the Islands at Chester Zoo - geograph.org.uk - 5355020.jpg|thumb|Riverboat ride in ''Islands''.]]
The zoo opened Islands at Chester Zoo in July 2015,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-zoo-40m-islands-attraction-9645555|title=WATCH: Chester Zoo £40m Islands attraction opens to the public|first=Frances|last=Barrett|date=13 July 2015|website=chesterchronicle|access-date=16 December 2018}}</ref> a project extending the footprint of the zoo by 15 acres and built to the south of the west half of the current site.

Islands showcases areas where the zoo is involved in conservation programmes, including [[Sumatra]], the [[Philippines]] and [[Indonesia]].<ref>{{Cite web
|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-13012120
|title=Chester Zoo's £30m islands plan announced
|work=bbc.co.uk
|publisher=[[BBC]]
|date=8 April 2011
|access-date=12 August 2012
}}</ref> Visitors are able to walk between the islands via a series of bridges and can also view the animals whilst on a boat trip. The project also includes educational exhibits, play areas and a restaurant, the Manado Street Kitchen.<ref name="bbc_visitors">{{Cite web
|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-20507705
|title=Chester Zoo's £30m islands plan approved
|work=bbc.co.uk
|publisher=[[BBC]]
|date=27 November 2012
}}</ref>
The exhibit is opening in phases<ref name="chesterzoo.org">{{cite web|url=https://www.chesterzoo.org/explore-the-zoo/attractions-and-exhibits/animal-exhibits/islands-at-chester-zoo |title=Islands at Chester Zoo – Extraordinary discoveries, every day|website=www.chesterzoo.org |access-date=16 December 2018}}</ref> with phase one including a boat trip around the enclosures for visitors to view some of the zoo's key species from South East Asia, including [[Visayan warty pig]]s, [[southern cassowary]], [[banteng|Javan banteng]], [[lowland anoa]] and [[North Sulawesi babirusa]]; plus a walk-through bird aviary featuring the critically endangered [[Bali myna|Bali starling]], as well as [[Java sparrow]]s, [[pied imperial pigeon]]s and [[Purple-naped lory|purple-naped lories]] .

[[File:Sitting pretty (EXPLORE) (8939168780).jpg|thumb|Young female Sumatran tiger]]
Phase two opened later in the summer<ref name="chesterzoo.org"/> and includes [[Sumatran tiger]]s, [[false gharial|Sunda gharial]]s, and other reptiles (such as [[tentacled snake]]s and [[brown tortoise]]s), birds ([[rhinoceros hornbill|Javan rhinoceros hornbills]], and Indonesian songbirds) invertebrates and a variety of fish species. That phase including Monsoon Forest is now complete and open with the installation of the [[Sumatran orangutan]]s and the arrival of a breeding pair of [[silvery gibbon|Javan silvery gibbon]]s in December 2015.<ref name="chester-chronicle">{{Cite web
|url=http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/work-begins-chester-zoo-new-5892797
|title=Zoo's £30 million project gets underway with new Monsoon Forest
|work=chesterchronicle.co.uk
|publisher=Trinity Mirror Merseyside
|date=10 September 2013
}}</ref>

A third phase for Islands opened in summer 2017. The third phase included new exhibits for [[sun bear|Malayan sun bear]], [[Palawan binturong]]s, [[Malayan tapir]], and a new songbird aviary featuring various birds from Indonesia as well as the critically endangered [[Javan green magpie]]. The magpies are, sometimes, off-show and replaced by [[sumatran laughingthrush]].{{cn|date=January 2024}}