Chester Zoo

"A zoo without bars" was the ambition of George Mottershead, after seeing caged animals as a child – and he fulfilled his ambition with his zoo at Chester. Founded by Mottershead in 1930, the zoo is operated by a charity, the North of England Zoological Society, and attracts over a million visitors every year.

Chester Zoo’s focus on breeding and conservation has led to numerous successes – including the first UK born-and-bred male elephant in 1977, and the first African giant spurred tortoise to be hatched outside the wild anywhere in the world in 1979.

The largest zoo in the UK, Chester covers 100 acres and has its own monorail system to ferry visitors around. There are thousands of animal species – including tigers, red pandas, Komodo dragons, giraffes, zebras and the near-extinct black rhino.