Applied Science

* Ability to organize own time effectively

* Ability to plan - good problem solving skills

* Initiative and ability work to tight deadlines.

* Resourcefulness and flexibility of approach

* Research experience: demonstrate knowledge of what a research project entails

Conservation knowledge and understanding

* Understanding of role of zoos

* Demonstrates a keen interest in conservation and wildlife health

* Experience of working as part of a team on a conservation project

Other

* Enthusiasm and commitment

* Driving licence (eligibility to drive in the UK)

* Eligibility to hold a firearms licence (dart gun)

* Firearms experience

Aquarist

An aquarist role at the zoo is to work with the fishes and all the other aquatic animals. An aquarist would have to buy specific foods for specific creatures, prepare all of the food, feed the fish, and keep the maintenance of the tanks up to high standards, so they would be removing all of the algae from the tank windows, make sure the water pumps are working correctly and ensure that the temperature of the water is suitable for that fish. They also have to make sure that the tanks decorations look tidy for the visitors and that the decorations in the fish sector of the zoo look smart. To be an aquarist, Chester Zoo expects the employees to have studied marine science at university.

Herpetologist

Herpetology is the branch of zoology which concentrates with the study of amphibians. These animals would include frogs, salamanders, toad, newts, salamanders and gymnophionae. The other branch of zoology that herpetology deals with is reptiles. These animals would include turtles, terrapins, snakes and lizards. At Chester Zoo, the herpetologists have to learn about how the animals live, their physiology, so how their bodies function, how they behave and the reasons why and where they occur and the reasons why. A herpetologist would need to ensure that all of the reptiles are kept in the best condition as they possible can be. At Chester Zoo, they recently found out that the Komodo dragon can impregnate it. Herpetologists were shocked to find this out but now they know for future references and that would be accounted for when they are writing up breeding programmes for the endangered species at the zoo.

In order to be a herpetologist, the candidate will need to have a master's degree in biological science, a bachelor's degree in biology or, depending on where you live and work, need to have a master's degree in herpetology. Herpetology can be a difficult job to find some work in, so a PhD is sometimes needed to find a research position.

Botanist

Botany is plant biology and it is a branch of biology which deals with the scientific study of plant life. Botanists are concerned with the study of plants, algae and fungi. Botany is a broad field, ranging from horticulture to biochemistry, which includes searching for new species outdoors. The botanists also make sure that they are feeding the plant with the right types of fertilizers so that they can get the nutrition they need. It is very important that a botanist has an understanding in all of the different chemical products for the plants and know how much to give them to prevent them dying.

The botanists at Chester Zoo make the zoo look very appealing to the visitors, as it brings a lot of colour and the more vibrate the colour, the better the zoo looks. In order for them to gather as many colourful plants as possible, they have a wide variety of exotic plants from all around the world, and some of the plants from different countries need different conditions, so the botanists need to have an understanding of this in order for the plants to stay healthy. At Chester Zoo there is something called an orchid conservation, which is when the botanists there go to certain countries where the orchids grow, and they check the temperature they live at and what types of weather conditions they can live in. The reason why they go to these countries is because they want to be able to look after the plants, and they don't want to be accidently killing the plants and prevent them from being endangered.

There are only two universities that offer a course in pure botany, and they are the University of Bristol and the University of Reading. There are many universities that offer related courses that do include botany, but the problem is that it branches off in another direction. There are a great number of postgraduate courses in botany, but they usually require a science degree. Postgraduate courses are designed for graduates wanting to specialize in the research of plants, often biochemical. A postgraduate degree can range from a one-year course to an incredible eight years and are often malleable, allowing for specialization.

Nutritionist

An animal nutritionist's aim is to increase and promote the understanding of the effect of diet on the health, well-being and productivity of animals. An animal nutritionist is mostly in the field of agriculture, where they provide advice and information on animal nutrition as well as designing and evaluating the diets of certain animals. Sometimes, zoo and animal nutritionists work on the productivity of food for the zoo.

Animal keeping staff

The role of a zoo keeper (animal keeping staff) is one of the most popular jobs concerning the animals. They have responsibilities both to the general public that visit the zoos and of course to the animals in care. The work in the zoo is a very demanding job, and the animal keeping staff may sometimes have to work weekends, and during the summer months, hours are very long. Zoo keepers provide daily care for zoo animals.

They have a very straight routine. This routine would consist of cleaning all of the animals enclosures, preparing all of the food, providing fresh water and clean bedding and most importantly, ensuring that the animal enclosures are kept to the appropriate humidity and temperature. Under direction of the veterinarian or practice manager, they must ensure constant cleanliness of the cages, runs and ward areas as well as the proper feeding and care of all the hospitalized animals.

The animal keeping staffs needs to be passionate and very dedicated to working with animals, as they have to work such long hours, and they don't get that much pay. They also need to have strong biological knowledge of animals and need to have some previous experience with working with animals. They need to overall have good education about different animals, and they need to understand the nutrition and feeding of each species.

They need to understand the animals needs, and if specific things stress them, for example, in the elephant section of the zoo, they used to have concrete floor, and the animal keeping staff made them change it to sand, as when they gave birth to an elephant, it would not fall on hard concrete and the water that's just been made could make the elephant slip and fall on the, making it dangerous. The sand soaks up the fluid and helps the baby stand quicker. Also, they understand that 'darting' an elephant just too clean them stresses them out, as they could be in pain, and rampage. What they do now, is they train them to put their feet on a cage to that they can sort them out, and check if everything is okay with them.

To be an animal keeping staff, employers are looking for people with stamina and commitment, along with an understanding and knowledge of animals. The grades needed to be a keeper is 5 GCSE's, including a natural science. Biology is recommended to a high GCSE standard, along with Maths and English being desirable. A lot of zoo keepers now have a relevant university degree. People that haven't been to university and studies there can also get a job at Chester Zoo. Some people can go on work experience there, but it's a year long course, like an apprenticeship. People that have had a lot of experience working with animals can get the job of an animal keeping staff, they just need a lot of experience working with animals if they haven't got the degree's to back it up.

Cleaners

A cleaning job in Chester Zoo is a very hard and tiring job. A zoo cleaner would have to go round the zoo, cleaning up all of the toilets and public areas, the paths for the visitors are not messy and all the offices are tidy. A cleaner would have to use loads of different types of chemical products, and they need to make sure that the chemicals they use can be used with other products and which are not allowed to be mixed. To be a cleaner at Chester Zoo, you need to have GCSE's, and have learnt about Biology/Chemistry.

Animal Dietitians

An animal Dietitian is someone that ensures the food the animals eat are correct for them. Also they need to understand how much food each animal should be eating, as it all varies, for example, an elephant would be eating a lot more than a monkey. Once they complete their routine of feeding all the animals at Chester Zoo, they need to go round to the rest of the animals, and ensure that they are all nice and healthy, and that there is nothing wrong with them.

The animal dietitians need to have diet sheets for the animals, and that would include what they have eaten, what the animals are allowed to eat, and how much of that food they are allowed to eat. They would also have to make feeders for someone of the smaller or incapable animals. Other feeders would be for the animals that would have to work for the food in the wild. An example is when a monkey is trying to get at its food, so the animal dieticians would create a casket in which they place the animals' food. This is the only way of making sure that if the animal goes back into the wild, they would be able to forest for the food, as if they were at the zoo and they were given food on the floor, they would not be able to survive in the jungle, as food would definitely not be on the floor for them. Typical work activities for an animal dietitian/nutritionist would include evaluating the chemical and nutritional value of feeds, feed supplements, grass and forage for commercial and companion animals, fish and birds.

The sector concentrating with animal nutrition is science which combines physics, chemistry and biochemistry. It would also concentrate with mathematics, animal behavior, economics and food processing. To be an animal dietitian, you need to have got 5 GCSE's, and studied natural science in school/college/university. At university, the animal dietitian would have to be a bachelor of science in agricultural, biological or another relates life science. At the university, they would of have to cover the metabolism of the proteins, carbohydrates, minerals & vitamins, lipids and waters. A masters degree or a PhD in nutrition would be needed to get this job.

Security Staff

The role as security staff at Chester Zoo is a very hard job, as the zoo is such a big place. The technology the security staff use is pretty basic, and the main technology they need to use are stuff to do with communication. This can be items from walkie - talkie, Bluetooth headsets and CCTV cameras. The security staff sometimes needs to patrol round the zoo, making sure all of the animal enclosures are locked, no tourists still at the zoo after closing time and no damage done in the zoo by the visitors. You don't have to have certain grades at GCSE to work as a security staff at Chester Zoo; you just need to be willing to work nights. One thing that would be expected is to have some previous experience working for the police or the armed forces, as they would have covered similar things in which a security staff would be doing. That would definitely give the candidate an advantage for getting the job. The security staff needs to make sure that none of the animals can escape from their enclosures, and if they do, the security staff needs to carry out the drills, which are to contact animal staff to come and get the animals back to their enclosures. If the candidate wanted to work as a contracted security guard/officer, then they will need to have an SIA license, which stands for Security Industry Authority. This would mean that the employers which are employing this member of staff would have to carry out checks on the candidates' personal and work history for up to ten years, and need to see if there are any criminal convictions this person has been charged of

Research officer

A research officer has to provide the zoos' with the correct information about the foods that the animals should be eating, the habitats they should be living in and provide the right information on the information desks for the visitors to see, for example the background of the animals or the habitats and conservation that goes on around the zoo. All research officers would have to be able to develop some testing of the new drugs that may be enhanced into certain zoos is able to improve some of the livestock and agriculture and learn about all the diseases and pest control. They would also have to be able to sort out and organize the conservation of the endangered habitats and the species, as well as knowing what is right for the animals. They would also provide the staff at certain zoos' on some of the information he/she has gathered, so that they understand it all and can pass the appropriate message on.

All research officers will have a look around the zoo and then research about different ways of improving aspects of it, for example, an animals enclosure. A couple of years ago, Chester Zoo had the elephants living in an enclosure with concrete flooring. The research officers took a look at this and thought that it was very dangerous to both male and female elephants. When an elephant is pregnant and gives birth, the baby elephant would fall and hit the hard terrain, which may cause injury to the baby, and whilst giving birth, it produces some liquid and the mother elephant may slip on the liquid and may injure the baby elephant. The research officer looked at this and knew that he/she had to resolve the matter. In the end, they removed all of the concrete flooring, and replaced it with sand, as it was both natural for the animal and it would be a lot of a softer landing when an elephant gives birth. This is one example of what a research officer has to do.

At Chester Zoo, they have a research officer, which completes around 120-150 projects a year. A research officer is someone that has to be able to sit through many lectures a day, and learning about all the different animals, and what needs leant, so that they can tell the people that work at the zoo. As well as sitting through many lectures, a research officer has to carry out many lectures, so once they get information off people higher than them, they will go back to Chester Zoo and carry out lectures to the rest of the staff, as they will need to be filled in with the information they have been told, if its relevant to them.

A research officer needs to have a PhD in an appropriate discipline, for example, animal behavior and biology, and they need to have a strong background. This simply means that a research officer has to have had some experience working with data, and researching about different things and conducting different analyses. A research officer has to have good communication skills, as they will be talking a lot to many different people. Finally, a research officer needs to have some knowledge of zoo conservation and science. As I have already said, to be a research officer, you need to have at PhD in a specific science relating to the job, as being a research officer is very difficult. An example of the work they have done is that some of the research officers got together and thought that in the wild, the animals would have to look for their food, and not be handed it out on a plate. Once they saw some of the animals were not benefiting from being fed the food on a plate, the research officers began to hide the food, and put them in different areas. For example, with the tigers, they would have a suspension rod, and attach some meat onto the end of it, and the tiger would have to wrestle to get the food, and that is what they would do in the wild, they would be fighting the animal.

Conservation officer

The main role of a conservation officer is to set up conservation programmes for the zoo around the world. This would be a very hard job as they need to be very organized and needs to be able to organize many projects. A conservation officer has to have had some background in conservation, so they need to have a degree or qualification in that aspect of their work. A conservation officer needs to have some field survey experience as the job needs the person to be able to carry out certain tasks.

For example, a few years ago, Chester zoo's conservation officer went to Africa and there was a herd of elephants living near a village, and the elephants kept trashing the villager's houses to get to the water across the land. The way in which John, Chester zoo's conservation officer stopped them from doing it was to get some rope, crush some chilies and mix it with water, so it became a chilly powder. Then he coated it with on the rope and because elephants hate the smell of chilies, they didn't go anywhere near the village. This was a lot better then shooting the elephants.

A conservation officer has to be able to manage large projects, so it would be very helpful if they had some management experience. Communication skills are needed to be a conservation officer, as they are always speaking to different people. To be a conservation officer, it is vital that they are willing to travel to different places in the world, and the places that they might be staying wont be 5* hotels, but they may be sleeping in rough places such as little huts, or under the stars. As well as sleeping rough, they need to be able to eat different foods, the same as what the culture they are living with eats. To be a conservation officer, they need to have qualifications in science, mainly biology, good background in mathematics and business & finance.

Health & Safety at Chester Zoo

At Chester Zoo, they need to follow strict health and safety rules. At Chester zoo, they only have two health and safety officers. The two health and safety legislations that are targeted to the animals are the 'Dangerous wild animal act (1976)' and 'Zoo licensing act (1981)'.

The 'Dangerous wild animal act (1976) aims to ensure that where private individuals keep dangerous wild animals they do so in circumstances which create no risk to the public and which safeguard the welfare of the animals. Basically, it was an act to regulate the keeping of certain kinds of dangerous wild animals. If people had wild animals they had to make sure they were secure and well looked after. If Chester Zoo did not follow the health and safety rules, then the zoo may have to get closed down, because they would not be abiding by the rules.

The 'Zoo licensing act (1981)' requires the inspection and licensing of all the zoos in Great Britain. The responsibility for the day-to-day operation of the licensing system and the implementation of the Acts rests with all of the local authorities. As concerns have been expressed that implementation is inconsistent, Defra have commissioned consultants ADAS to conduct a review of implementation of the Act by the local authorities in Wales and England. Chester zoo ensure that in general, their zoo is of a high standard, and that the places where the visitors walk, and where the animals live and the staff work are all clean, hygienic and applicable to pass the inspection. If Chester Zoo did not pass this inspection, then the people conducting the inspection need to reconsider the problems, see how dangerous they are and make sure that Chester Zoo do something about it, and they may return on a later date to see if they have took on board what they have said.

One of the health and safety regulations that the zoo need to follow is the safety of the visitors. Also, they need to set where the visitors are allowed to roam, and what sections of the zoo are out of bounds for them. In different areas of the zoo, there might be restricted amount of people that can be in one place at one time. This would be to prevent a large crowd being in different areas, and ensuring that the visitors are not in danger.

One of the main health and safety rules the zoo has to follow is the health and well being of the animals. They need to make sure that the foods they are giving the animals is correct, and they are following the correct daily guideline with how much they are meant to feed them. Also, the zoo needs to have a big enough enclosure for the animals to live in, as a large animal could not live in a small enclosure. As well as being the correct size for the animal, the zoo needs to make sure that it is kept clean and tidy, and excretion is not left lying around everywhere. In the enclosures, because of the strengths of different animals, the zoo needs to make sure that they have the correct fences put in place. Also, the zoo needs to care about the people that live nearby the zoo. If they have loud animals, they put them near the end of the zoo, where the local people can't hear the animals at night.

Chester Zoo needs to follow the Heath, Safety & Environment Policy. One of the rules that they should be following is that they would be improve the overall environmental performance in all its operations is a major and continuing priority for the Zoo. The way in which this should be achieved is by implementing and maintaining an environmental management system and by adhering to this environmental policy and also by meeting other requirement that may be arising from the wider environmental debate.

There are many Zoos that endeavor to save animals and many plant species from extinction, they spread the message of conservation, maintain a green purchasing policy and also, they reduce the Co2 emissions. Chester Zoo also tries to minimize the environmental impact of all of their activities, products and processes throughout their life cycle. This is to be achieved by applying the most economically viable application of the best available technology and by adopting the principle of pollution prevention.

Another policy that Chester Zoo should be following are the improvements in environmental performances, and Chester Zoo has to set, and should maintain, review and revise, environmental objects and targets with the aim of continually improving their environmental performance.

Chester Zoo still needs to comply with all of the regulations, legislations and industry codes which are associated with the 'North of England Zoological Society's Environmental Policy'. Where there is no legislation that exists, the board with endeavor to set out organizational standards to meet their overall objective of improved environmental performance.

Chester Zoo still need to continually relate to the environmental considerations to wider commercial and operational objectives and in the boards responsibilities to all stakeholders. The boards will still need to ensure that the environmental issues and the view of interested parties, for example the employees and the local community are taken into some sort of strategic decision that is affecting the environment and that all of the new investment proposals, products, activities and the processes will be evaluated to approval to assess Chester Zoo's environmental impacts.

At Chester Zoo, all of their employees, their secondments and their seasonal staff are expected to conduct their work in a specific manner which is compatible with the Zoo's environmental policy and their objectives. There will be some means which will be provided to ensure that all of these people are aware of the environmental policy which has been given to Chester Zoo.

Chester Zoo would be conducting regular environmental reviews of all of their operations, as they need to ensure that they are of the best standard. They also need to do this as stipulated by the environmental management system, to ensure compliance with its policy and aims are to be environmentally organization by actively improving environmental performance in accordance with the ISO 14001 (which I will explain further on) standard for environmental management.

An important health and safety rule that the zoo have to follow is the uses of chemical products. There is something called RIDDOR, which basically means 'The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995'. This rule places a legal duty on employers, self-employed people and the people in control of the premises, and they must report specified workplace incidents. This rule came into force on 1st April 2996. This requires the reporting of work-related accident, ill health, diseases and dangerous occurrences, and is a legal requirement. It applies to all work activities, but not to all incidents.

One of the other chemical laws that Chester Zoo have to follow is something called COSHH. This stands for the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health. The chemical law COSHH requires all employees to control substances that are hazardous to our health. There are many different ways in which we can reduce or even prevent workers' exposures to hazardous substances, so these can be done by finding out what the health hazards are, deciding on how to prevent harm to their health (so an in depth risk assessment), providing specific control measures to reduce harm to health and making sure that they are all used. Other ways in which they can prevent us from being exposed to hazardous substances is by keeping all control measures in very good working order and then passing the information to their employees and other people. There are many businesses and companies that use different substances that could be harmful to some of their employees, so they need to make sure that they know what they are doing.

There are many risks at Chester Zoo and the COSHH assessment would concentrate on all of the hazards and risks from substances at the zoo. Members from COSHH would come to Chester Zoo and conduct a full 'COSHH Assessment'; so that they know it is not going to be dangerous or harmful to the employees, animals and the visitors. What they would do is that they would walk around the zoo and see if there are any potential for exposures to substances that might be hazardous to their visitors health. Some of these would include anything that emits dust, fumes, vapour, gas or mist; and anything that would actually make contact with the skin, so things like liquids, pastes and dusts. All of these substances with workplace exposure limits (WELs) are sometimes very hazardous to the visitor's health. The reason why some of these substances may be very harmful to the visitors or anyone else's health is because if someone had been welding something together, fumes would come off it and that may be very hazardous to everyone.

An employer must report for deaths, for major injuries, accidents resulting in over-3-day injury, diseases, dangerous occurrences and gas incidents. If there was a death or major injury, then the employer must report without delay. Injuries that should be reported at things like a fracture of any bone in the arm or the wrist, but it's not a bone in the hand, leg or ankle. Another reportable injury is a fracture in the skull, spine or pelvis. Another reportable injury would be if there was an amputation of the hand or of the foot, or any other part of those if the joint or bone is completely severed.

Back to the chemical produce, different animals may be allergic or prone to certain chemicals, so the zoo needs to do their research and use specific products on certain animals. If the zoo fails to carry out this rule, then the animals are in danger and the zoo might get disbanded. As well as using the correct products for the animals, they need to make sure that the facilities the visitors use is up to standard. A visitor would not want to go to the toilets will mess all over the floor, toilets blocked and a bad smell.

Linking in with the use of chemical products, the zoo needs to make sure that it is overall hygienic. They need to make sure that the toilets are clean, the bins are emptied regularly, and the food they serve is up to standard. Also, the pathways the visitors walk on should be cleaned regularly, as visitors would complain if it was untidy.

One of the laws that Chester Zoo would have to follow as they are selling food to the general public is the 'Food Safety Act 1990'. The staff that are involved in the handling of the food must have received hygiene training and this act prevents caters from selling foods that are unfit for human consumption, is contaminated and is falsely or misleadingly presented. This act therefore makes it a criminal offense to carry out one of those which I have just stated.

Kite marks are used in Chester Zoo. The British Standards Institution has produced a BSI Group which is used in the UK. The BSI Group produces British Standards, and it concentrates on specific objectives. One of the objectives is that they want to "set up standards of quality for goods and services, and prepare and promote the general adoption of British Standards and schedules in connection therewith and from time to time to revise, alter and amend such standards and schedules as experience and circumstances require". Chester Zoo has products which are under the BSI Group. The products that they are selling have gone through a system and they have been tested and approved by kite marks. Kite marks have to test products like protective clothing, for example safety helmets, motorcycle helmets, riding helmets and eye protection, fire safety equipment, so products like fire blankets and smoke alarms, building and construction materials, automotive and vehicle repairs, electrical items, health care items and sport equipment. At Chester Zoo, all the products they sell have been approved, so the teddy bears that they sell are approved, as they were checked to see if there was no sawdust or anything that could harm some of the younger visitors. Some of the toys that Chester Zoo sells need to be checked to make sure that they are not harmful to anyone that uses them. The organization ensures that all customers and visitors purchase products that will not be harmful to them. When a visitor buys an electrical item or teddy bear or some sort of merchandise off Chester Zoo, they will notice the kite marks symbol on the label, which means that that specific product has been approved by kite marks and they will not be of any threat to any of the visitors.

Other ways that kite marks is introduced to Chester Zoo is some of the fencing that they put around the centre, and the reason why it needs to be approved by the organization is because they need to look for signs of sawdust or anything that could harm the visitors. It needs to be dealt with as some people are asthmatic and Chester Zoo does not want to be putting any of their visitors in dangers.

Another way that kite marks have been introduced to Chester Zoo is when they are building the enclosures for different animals in the park. The reason for this is that they do not want to only protect the visitors, but they need to make sure that the animals are living in well built and hygienic enclosures. Some of the things that they would do is see if the products that they used in the enclosure, for example sand, is of a good quality and that it will not infect any of the animals.

Constraints on Chester Zoo

A constraint is the state of being restricted or confined within prescribed bounds. A few constraints that could stop Chester Zoo are:

Chester Zoo's competition - All around the country, there are different zoos that offer the same sort of things Chester Zoo do. Other zoos that are Chester zoos competition are Knowsley Safari Park, Paradise Wildlife Park and many more. This would hold Chester Zoo back because people may want to visit the other zoos, if the one in Chester is not appealing to them. The ways in which Chester Zoo can resolve this problem is bring more animals to the zoo, offer more facilities to the visitors, and have cheaper prices. Also, the zoo can put on more shows for the visitors, which would give them a better chance of being chosen from the rest of the zoos because the visitors will have something else to do when they get there.

Another constraint that could affect Chester Zoo is the availability of land. Because Chester Zoo is near to other houses, it gives them less space if they want to expand, and bring new features to the zoo. This would hold them back because if the other zoos had space to expand, then they would and the visitors may go there because they know that more animals have been placed in that zoo. Also, if there are companies near to Chester Zoo, then it means that the zoo can't expand without their permission, as they might be taking up some of the companies land. Even though they may have some land available to them, there may be many problems with the planning permission, as some people will argue against it, and will not appreciate more land being dug up for the zoo, as it will cause some more noise pollution for the people living near the zoo.

Transport links might affect the visitors going to Chester Zoo. The reason for this is because there might be a limited amount of public transport links, and if there has been an incident on one of the transport links to the zoo, then not a lot of people would be going to the zoo, as one of their main transport links would be down. What Chester Zoo need to do to prevent this from holding them back is make other transport links to their zoo, so that even more people can go to the zoo, and to have a great experience. The way in which they have done this is that they have opened the two main roads that go to Chester Zoo; these two roads are the M53 and the M56.

Important constraints that can hold Chester Zoo back from becoming the best zoo is the number of employees. The zoos are looking for the best employees to work there, and if the candidates are not up to the zoo's standard, then they will not employ them. This could hold them back, as if the right employee doesn't interview for a job role, and they haven't got the correct qualifications that the zoo is looking for, then they won't get the job, and the zoo will be short on staff. Chester Zoo have to have the best staff available, as they need to make sure that the animals are in good care, and if they employ someone that does not know how to treat animals correctly, then the animals may be stressed and if the employee begins to make bad decisions, they may put the animals life in danger, so that's the main reason why Chester Zoo need the best employees.

Along with everything else, another thing that can be a constraint to the zoo is advertisement. The reason why this could be a constraint to Chester Zoo is because the cost of advertising the zoo on the television, in the newspapers, on the billboards and leaflets would be really expensive.

If the zoo makes loads of advertisements, and not a lot of people visit the zoo, then they will be loosing money, on the other hand, if the zoo makes loads of advertisements, and loads of people visit the zoo, then they will be making a profit, and making up for the money spend on the advertisements.

Chester Zoo have put many advertisements in the local area, so around Cheshire, in North Wales, in Liverpool and Manchester, and in the survey they produced in 2009-2010, 62% of the public said that they went to Chester Zoo as they saw it advertised in the areas they live in. This is a really good opportunity for Chester Zoo to get more visitors, as if the zoo gets more popular, then their numbers will increase, they will be getting a lot more money, and they will have a lot more money to expand the zoo, as they pay out a lot of money in one day. For example, to feed all of their animals in one day, it costs £1000, so that's £52000 a year just on food.

An expensive constraint that may hold Chester Zoo back is keeping up the maintenance in the zoo. The reason why this is a constraint is because the zoo cleaners have to have the correct equipment when they are cleaning out all of the animals enclosures, cleaning the pathways the visitors walk on, cleaning all of the buildings and equipment. Also, the zoo keeps making sure that the electricity in the zoo is safe, so regular checks will need to be made. If the maintenance of the zoo was not dealt with, then it would mean the visitors would not like the place, as it would be dirty and smelly, and they would not recommend it to their family and friends. There again, if the zoo carried on with the good maintenance of their zoo, then they will carry on being the best zoo in the UK.

Another thing that might turn out to be a constraint to Chester Zoo is the technology they use. The reason that technology may be a constraint is because if they carry on with the basic technology equipment, it might break down and the zoo would have to pay more money to either get it repaired, or buy a new one. Also, the animal records may have been on the systems that broke down, and if it was, then it would mean that the zoo has lost all of its records, and then the animal's safety is in jeopardy. The way in which Chester Zoo can prevent this from being a constraint is to start thinking about buying new technology, to prevent disasters occurring in the near future.

I will now go on to talk about how cash flow is a constraint to Chester Zoo. A cash flow forecast is basically is a chart that shows the likely cash that will be an inflow to the business, or in this case zoo, and it would be very useful to see where the shortfalls are.

As Chester Zoo are a charity, they are relying on all of the money that they get off the visitors coming to the zoo, money off some of the local organisations around Chester Zoo, and other sectors. The reason why they need as much money as possible is because they are not funded and without the money, the zoo cannot function properly. Chester Zoo vitally needs donations, and there are many more ways in which they get these donations. One of the ways is to get some people to volunteer themselves to give money when they visit the zoo. This would go towards their funds and then they would be able to expand and use the money to help them maintain their reputation. Another way the zoo can get some more money is to allow the other people to adopt animals by donating cash for specific breeds and species. Some people have a donation yearly, whilst some other people become a member of Chester Zoo and they would make a donation so that they can maintain the up keeping of the zoo.

To feed all the animals at Chester Zoo, it would cost the zoo around £1000 a day to feed them all and the zoo would also have to pay for all of the staff that is working there. Other expenses that Chester Zoo have to pay for are the heating for some of the animal enclosures, for example, so of the animals are cold blooded and they need heat for them to either survive or be comfortable, because the last thing Chester Zoo want to do is to upset the animals and make them stressed on a day to day basis.

Instead of heating some animals up, Chester Zoo need to pay for equipment that would cool animals that are hot blooded, as I have previously explained, they need to have the right temperature and they need to be as comfortable as possible. Chester Zoo is a very big place, and they need to have lighting all around the zoo, in the stores, on the pavements, in the enclosures and in HQ. Not only do they have to pay for the electricity bills, they need to pay for the gas bills, as the people working in the stores need to have heating, so do the animals, the restaurants need to have gas so they can cook for the visitors, so the expenses for both of these two will be very high. One example where the gas and electricity bills are very high is in the elephant enclosures, as it costs the zoo £22500 per year. With these expenses so high, the cash flow could be very constraining.

Sometimes, the reason why Chester Zoo loses money is not necessarily their fault, because in 2005, there was a large outburst as Chester Zoo had to close themselves down, due to the foot and mouth disease. This had a big impact on the zoo, as the numbers went down from 1200000 to 1000000. Even though a million customers is very good, they still lost twenty thousand customers, and that would have a big impact on the zoo as a lot of money would have gone to waste and they could have been in the negatives in the cash flow forecast. Even though they are closed, the animal still needs to be fed and looked after, so the staff would still be working there and getting paid for their job, the gas and electricity bills would still be high as they would be being used and if they don't have any customers giving them the inflow that they need, then they could have been in trouble.

The affect of foot and mouth may not have made an impact in 2005, but in 2006 and 2007, it would have caused a problem. As this caused a lot of problems, the zoo would have had to budget themselves, and they would have needed to look at their cash flow forecast and see where the biggest outflows are, and once they recognise what they are, they would have tried to amend the problem. They would have needed to rectify this quickly because if they don't have a lot of money, they would need to cut back a little bit on the food the animals eat, and that would affect their diets and if this wasn't rectified quickly, then they may have been struggling to pay the bills and expand further in 2006.

In this current climate, there is a recession which would mean that people are trying to keep as much money as possible, as some family members have been made redundant and they hardly have enough money to feed their families, never mind going on trips with them. The cost to go into Chester Zoo is pretty high, as per child, which starts at over 3 years old, it would cost them £10.95, and for every adult that enters the zoo, it would cost them an extra five pounds, making it a total of £15.95. As the zoo normally attracts larger families, it would cost them a lot just to enter the zoo, without purchasing any food or souvenirs. The numbers of families and visitors have dropped from 1.4 million in 2008 to 1.25 million in 2009, and this is mainly because of the recession and people cannot afford to go to the zoo.

Although the numbers of the zoo visitors are still way over one million, it would make a big impact on them, as their outflows are very high, and they need as much inflow as possible for them to carry on the way they are. As this recession is still happening, Chester Zoo needs to make some drastic changes. They would need to reduce the amount of staff working there, which would reduce the outflows. Also they may not be able to build any of the enclosures that they have planned to do, for example, the rainforest may be on hold for a year or so, as they need to have enough money to pay for the rainforest exhibition, but not be in danger of having negative figures in their cash flow forecast. They may also not be able to buy new animals, which would benefit the zoo if they did, because every time a new animal is born, or brought to the zoo, it attracts a lot of visitors, and that would balance out paying for the animal. Also, Chester Zoo may not be able to improve the facilities, as some of them are a bit worn out, and they would have to make deal with them for a while, as they would not have the sufficient funds to improve the facilities.

Chester Zoo have made a lot of changes and thought about what they need to do to make sure that they keep bringing in the visitors in this recession. One of the things that Chester Zoo do is an offer week, which means that for that specific week or so, they would lower the price of the entrance fees, which even though they would be losing a little bit of money at the start, it would attract more people, and it would then breakeven, and once they breakeven and start to attract more customers, then they will be making a profit and that money would start to go towards their 'savings' for that year.

Another way in which Chester Zoo try to resolve this is to have special occasion days. For example, they have a grotto around Christmas, and they sometimes have an ice skating rink in the zoo, which would attract a lot of visitors, so the grotto with Santa Claus would attract the children, as they would want to take a photo with him, and the ice rink would attract all ages, as they would enjoy it a lot. There are so many other offers that Chester Zoo do to make sure that the people visiting their zoo's have the best experience ever, and that is how they would make up for all of their outflows, and even though there is a recession in this present day, they are still making changes to benefit not only themselves, but us as well.

In conclusion, Chester Zoo makes the majority of their profits through both the donations made by the customers and the locals, and the entrance fees. These are both the main ones as they bring in a lot of money at one time, but other places where they make an inflow is in the shops, where they sell gifts and souvenirs, the cafes and different kiosk points around the zoo.

Socio-economic and environmental effects and impacts on the local community

Socio-economic is the study of the relationship between economic activity and social life. In this case, it is the relationship between the zoo itself, and the people that live locally around the area. There are a few advantages and disadvantages of living near Chester Zoo, and I will go on to explain each one in turn.

One of the main advantages of living near the zoo is the simple reason that locals can visit the zoo a lot and the area will become a lot more popular. As it is one of the best zoo's in the country, they can visit it when ever, as it wouldn't be that far away. At football matches, people rent out their drives for the fans to park their cars on, and they sometimes do it at Chester Zoo, if there is a big event taking place.

The advantages of having the zoo in that location is that it's easy to get to for the visitors that live up to 100 miles away and the transport links are very useful as it enables people without a car to get to and from the zoo. Another advantage for living near the zoo would be that it offers jobs to the locals, for example, they could be working on the tills in the shops, or as cleaners. Also, by having Chester Zoo near to local businesses, it brings tourists to the area, boost the economy and gives prestige to the surrounding areas.

There is a large economic benefit because Chester Zoo is located in that area and it would help the local business that are located around the zoo to get more customers in and more employees. As Chester Zoo is a large visitor attraction, it gives prestige to some of the surroundings and some businesses and shops have been selling some of their merchandise, and because of that, people are not only buying the merchandise, but they are buying items from the store which would be a big benefit for them. The jobs' will increase, and because the shops know their increases are because of the zoo, they give back sometimes and they are the suppliers to Chester Zoo, as the zoo is a charity and relies on the local community and businesses to help them out, and they would be more than willing to help as they know that the zoo is giving a prestige to the surroundings.

As well as having the advantages of living near Chester Zoo, there are a few disadvantages along side it. If you live near the zoo, then it is a good thing, but on the other hand, getting there may be hard, because of the traffic. This would aggravate a lot of people living there, as if they wanted to go out, then it would take them a while to get there. People that don't live close to the zoo would also find this annoying, as even though there are stewards directing them where to park, it can be very time consuming and wasting precious time at the zoo.

The way in which Chester Zoo try to prevent this constraint is that they try to make some more transport links, so visitors would be attending from different roads, instead of just one. This would prevent the amount of traffic made, and the residents that live near the zoo won't be as annoyed. There are a lot of links from the train stations at Chester, as some people don't drive and they would have to take a train there, and because of the way the zoo has been set out, and the way they have thought about the road links, they have worked out the train station route, as they would take a train, then maybe a short walk/bus. Also, some people use the car share scheme, which would mean that instead of having a lot of cars with not a lot of people in it, they would share their cars with their family and friends and that would decrease the congestion in the local area and it would be less of a constraint to the zoo.

Another disadvantage for living near the zoo would be the noise of the animals. This would be a major let down for living in that area, as it is not in the locals interest to have animals causing havoc at night when they are trying to sleep. The way in which Chester Zoo try to prevent the noise pollution is that they try to get the louder animals as far away from the visitor's houses as possible, and the quieter ones, or the small birds, like the butterfly area, they will have it near the resident's houses.

As well as having noise pollution in the area, the smell isn't best pleasing, as the animals would be excreting and their natural odour. For these reasons, the property prices would go down, as not a lot of people would like to live near a zoo, where they may be kept up at night by the animals, and the air smelling bad. On the other hand, they are near a zoo, which is a great tourist attraction.

The way in which Chester Zoo try to prevent these from being constraints is that they have the larger animals living on the opposite side of the zoo, where not a lot or any visitors live. This would be a big advantage. Sometimes, the residents that live near to the zoo can still hear the animals at night, and may sometimes get a bit annoyed and aggravated if they cannot have the sleep they need. Chester Zoo understand what they must be going through and how hard it may be for them at night as the animals live near them, so what Chester Zoo do is they give them free tickets each year to the visitors to keep them happy. This would make the visitors happier, as they would have free tickets to go to the zoo, which would not be far away, and if they are a big family, it would save them quite a lot of money. The locals would then begin to feel appreciated and they would understand that Chester Zoo does think about them and they would be a lot happier with this situation.

An award that Chester Zoo has recently won is the ISO 14001 and subsequently has become the first Zoo in the UK to gain that award. ISO 14001 - Environmental management systems-Requirements with guidance for use. The benefits from ISO implementation are improved performance, efficiency and monitoring. Another benefit is the identification and compliance with current and new legislation. Another benefit is the operating costs are reduced as a result of best practice principles through the reduction of waste, energy and the materials. The waste management saves the zoo £400 per month in landfill tax.

Another benefit from the ISO implementation is that there is improved corporate image among the regulators, the customers and also the public. Another benefit is that it inspired employees and owners to make active contributions to managing environmental impacts. Another benefit is that it is the framework for continuous improvement of environmental performance.

The Environmental Policy Committee (Enpoc) was inaugurated in late 1999, a few months prior to the environmental workshop organised at Blackpool Zoo. Volunteers were sought from each of the main departments across the zoo and individuals known to have an interest in environmental issues were directly approached. The committee currently consists of twelve members. The group meets on a monthly basis, usually on the second Wednesday of the month, with additional meetings on occasion to deal with specific tasks. From its inception the group has focused on environmental issues under six headings: Energy, Water Management, Waste, Transport, Cultural & Social and Purchasing. Efforts were made to record and instigate any measures which made progress within these categories, e.g. For 'Waste', recycling was trailed.

Chester Zoo recycle 40 tonnes of waste a year including stuff like glass, paper, cardboard and green waste. At Chester Zoo, the Botany and Horticulture department manage green waste recycling. All green waste is collected and stored in an area ready for processing. The green waste from all areas of the zoo consists of:

-grass from their lawn areas, nearly 3 tonnes in the course of a year

-hedge clipping

-old bedding plants from the flower borders, which they change twice a year

-pruning's from their shrubs, as there are a lot of these during autumn pruning

-browse, these are branches from trees and shrubs which they feed to many of their animals. The animals like to eat leaves and strip off the bark

-straw and wood shavings used for animal bedding

-leaves, there are a lot of these to pick up during the winter at Chester Zoo

Then the waste is picked up using a tractor fork lift and carried to the bio chopper. The waste is then tipped into the bio chopper unit which is powered by a second tractor's powered take off unit. The powerful pair of screw drivers then pulverises and mulch the waste from a maximum of 100mm in diameter into fine pre compost depends on how long it remains in the shredding unit. The longer it is in the bio chopper the finer the resulting pre compost. After a short time in the bio chopper the pre compost is ready and is emptied into a heap ready for the composting to take place.

At Chester Zoo, they promote the use of recycling mobile phones and printer cartridges. They promote this so that people can shrink their shrink their carbon footprints, and as Chester Zoo are a very ecologic place, they want to minimise factors like carbon footprints and other factors like that. Chester Zoo offer the visitors the chance to recycle as they will send out free recycling envelopes for the public to place their ink cartridges and mobile phones in, and then they would send it straight to Chester Zoos recycler and they will send Chester Zoo the money for their charity in return.

Location and Application

KW/Hr Savings Yearly

Carbon Savings KG/CO2 Yearly

£ Savings yearly

Elephant Exhibit (Gas & Electric)

267152

91326

22466

Jaguar Exhibit (Gas & Electric)

214080

58819

3855

Penguin (Total energy)

06572

45825

1724

Chester zoo also have environmental policies, and they like to stick by them. The zoo uses alternative energy sources for different things. They have solar panels instead of lights in the entrance of the public and staff toilets, they have geothermal heat sources and they complete specific tasks without using too much energy.

At Chester Zoo, there is also water recycling scheme part sponsored by one of the local water companies who assisted with interpretation. There are waterless urinals. A protein skimmer avoids the use of chlorine in the penguin pool, which is a lot better for the animals. A reed bed filtration system has been installed as part of the redevelopment of the Elephant enclosure.

The waste reduction which measures are adopted by Chester Zoo include; reducing the amount of materials that are going to the landfill sites, composting different things such as organic waste, recycling many and varied forms of waste, safe disposal of technical waste, and also expanding existing arrangements to include many more different types of waste. The other practices that are used include using felled timber to create different types of seating, like benches for the visitors to sit on, or tables for them to have their snacks on. The animal waste is composted and spread across the farmland, expanding arrangements for cardboard to be bailed and strip lights to be recycled and the use of reedbeds to treat different waste and to recycle the water. Also, the collection of 'Grey Water' for re use, toner cartridges, plant pots, phone cards and used stamps are all collected and sent for recycling, shredding of waste wood are used as mulch or animal food, mercury thermometers are collected and then disposed of by an approved contractor and used oil, car batteries and tyres are sent to the main car dealer for recycling.

Chester Zoo tries to be as 'environmentally friendly' as possible and try to encourage their supplied to be like this when they sell 'Fairtrade' products. They purchase their Fairtrade products from their local suppliers where possible, thus supporting the local community and, which is very helpful, cuts down on the transport cost and use. Chester Zoo purchase recycled shopping bags and stationary equipment and they are used in the shops and offices respectively. Peat free compost is also used.

Chester Zoo has a 'Project Specification guide', and this is targeted to the contractors. It is "the Zoo is committed to Environmental Best Practice. Sustainable Credentials, in particular energy conservation and efficiency are of great importance" "all efforts should be made to maximise passive systems and minimise the need for energy consuming products to deliver heating, ventilation and lighting. The principles of demand matching must be adopted and systems must not cycle if no specific demand requirements are apparent" [Chester Zoo PowerPoint]

There is a policy which concentrates 100% on the environment. The policy that I will start to talk about sets out some of the issues that people around the world face and it is something that needs to be rectified as soon as possible.

Waste Disposal

Nearly everyone in this country knows that as there is a continuous increase in the global population, the amount of waste is also increasing. The wastes that could be used as an example are items like food scraps, glass, plastics, aluminium cans, paper and domestic waste. It takes hundreds of years for some of those items to decompose, so over a few hundred years they will decompose, but as this is increasing, more and more waste is being generated. At Chester Zoo, they understand this problem and they are trying their best to be as eco-friendly as possible. They use many unconventional ways of getting rid of waste, for example, tiger dung (excretion) can be sold in certain areas of the world as a deterrent.

This section of my work is all about how Chester Zoo manages their waste in order for it to be reduced. This basically means that they are trying to use fewer materials in order for them to carry out specific jobs. They are also using methods that would create a lot less waste as well as looking at many different ways in which they can reuse and then recycle all of their products. There are three main problems that waste causes and Chester Zoo analyse the problem and see other way around the situation. When they disposed of something, it could no longer be used and then had to be ceased to be a resource with no use whatsoever. The resources were wasted, which included money, time, raw materials and energy in order for them to remove the waste. In the end, they put a lot of pressure on the environment to cope with anything that everyone has thrown away through the use of our land and the risk of pollution.

In the year 2002, research was conducted and they found what waste is disposed in many households. Chester Zoo heard of this survey and they looked at what would benefit both the local community and themselves. Chester Zoo need places to dispose of their waste, so they use some of the local waste areas as well as their own, but after they heard about the research, they knew that they had to be a lot more environmentally friendly and use different waste methods. Some of the local waste methods that they used were recycling centres, composting, had meetings with Cheshire Household Waste Management Strategy and minimized their waste. They spoke about it and began to close some of the landfill sites that were a liability.

As I explained previously, Chester Zoo understands about the major concerns with waste and they are totally against it. They have gone out of their own way and found some organisations that had nothing to do with the zoo which destroyed the waste and took into account all the environmental issues. Chester Zoo still uses their recycling programme and that has been a really big impact. Every year, their recycling program goes through 22 tons of green waste, 4.5 tonnes of paper, 50 tonnes of cardboard and 13 tonnes of glass. In Chester Zoo's café's, they recycle a lot of the oil so that they can make biodiesel.

Building and Energy Design

As I have explained time and time again, Chester Zoo is very environmentally friendly and they want to do as much as they can for the local community and the world. There have already been some consequences due to our wrong doing, for example, global warming, flooding, deforestations and the rise in sea levels. At Chester Zoo, they have reed beds (which I will explain later on in this assignment) to filter the water from places like the elephant pool. This would help them to conserve the water and it would be a natural waste method. Chester Zoo also indirectly do their bit, as they display many information boards to the general public talking about some of the water conservation and different ways of doing their bit for the environment.

When Chester Zoo designs some of their new enclosures and facilities, they try their best to be as environmentally friendly as possible, even though at some times they may not be able to stick to it. One example would be that once a facility has been built, they use solar panel systems as a replacement to electric lights. Even though this does not look like a lot, it makes a big difference for the future.

Location of Chester Zoo

Chester zoo is situated in a very good area. The zoo has good motorway links and good public transport links for the visitors to attend the zoo, and when they are transporting animals and goods. A quarter of the UK's population is within 100 miles of the zoo. Visitors that live:

30 minutes away - 17% visit the zoo

30-60 minutes away - 41% visit the zoo

60-90 minutes away - 19% visit the zoo

90-120 minutes away - 9% visit the zoo

20+ minutes away - 15% visit the zoo.

The zoo is situated near the middle of the UK, which is good because it is a near equal distance for someone that lives at each end of the country.

The benefits of having the zoo in the middle of the country are that there are a lot of jobs that are available to the public. The jobs are mainly for the public that are living in the local area, which is Cheshire. The amounts of jobs that they will let out are about 300 jobs. They will only allow people to have the jobs if they have had the training and understand a lot about the animals they will be working with.

DISTANCE

The use of ICT at Chester Zoo

At Chester Zoo, there is a lot of technology used to keep it running, and in this section of my work, I will be talking about each use in detail.

Firstly, they use security cameras all around the zoo. The main reason that they have security cameras is so that the animals don't accidentally escape from their enclosures, and that there are no intruders at the zoo when it's closed. The use of security cameras is good because they help keep the zoo safe.

Another use of ICT that Chester Zoo use is Electric fences. Although it sounds harsh, that the zoo uses electric fences, it helps keep the animals in, and intruders out. The electric fences are not at such a high voltage, as they don't want their animals to be in danger, but they are high enough to give the animal a jolt.

The zoo has monorails and trains, so that people can go from one end of the zoo to the other in a short time. Also, on the monorails, they have tour guides, and the tour guides show the zoo off, and show the best attractions what the visitors can go and see for themselves. Linking in with the tour guides, they have to use microphones, so everyone can hear them. This is good at Chester Zoo as they can speak to large crowds, instead of small groups.

When visitors go to different enclosures, there are sometimes video screens to show what is inside then. For example, at the bat cave, there is a video on the outside talking about the bat cave, and information about the bats.

If they don't have videos, then they have information boxes around the zoo, and some of the information boxes have powerpoints, which talk about the zoo in general, and the different animals the zoo holds.

When new animals come to the zoo, or when they leave for some reason, the zoo need to be able to record it, and if they used a paper based system, then it would be very hard to find a specific record. Instead, the zoo uses computers, and for this, they would use a spreadsheet. This would be a lot better because they can search for an animal breed and they can see how many there are.

There is also an ISIS programme, which stands for the 'International Species Information System'. This is an international non-profit organisation which serves zoos and aquariums worldwide. ISIS provides its members with the world standard zoological data collection and sharing software, which is used by more than 800 different zoos and aquariums in almost 80 different countries. The ISIS database contains information on 2.4 million animals, with 10 000 species. The ISIS members use the basic biologic information, so information on the age, gender, parentage, place of birth and circumstance of death, collected in the ISIS system to care for and manage their animal collections. The ISIS members also used all of this information to manage their own inventory, find the appropriate unrelated new animals, identify the institutions seeking animals, to discover facilities with experience in breeding and raising certain offspring, to control the demographic and genetic makeup of their animal collection and finally, to create some reports for the government and other official accrediting bodies.

Also, they use computers all around the zoo, for example, they use them in the office, where the financial issues are dealt with, in the café's, to the visitors can go on the internet and look at some animals and buy tickets for different shows, and obviously in shops, for example, a chip and pin, or a till. The zoo also has paying machines, where it is either car park machines, or the toll to let visitors on the monorails.

At Chester Zoo, they use lighting systems all around the zoo. This is to control the amount of light energy they use. These lighting systems turn lights on/off automatically around the zoo, so when it gets to a certain time, and its beginning to get dark, the lights would come on, so that the visitors could see where they are going. Also, in the enclosures, they light it in the day, and when the animals get to sleep, they turn it off.

Another part of ICT that Chester Zoo is the lifts for disabled people. They have to have this as part of the Disabled person Act, and if someone can't get upstairs, then the lift would allow them to get there.

Around the zoo, they also have interactive stations, for example, when they are by the elephant section, there would be an interactive station, and if they pressed it, it would make the sound of the elephant and it would tell the visitors information about the animal.

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Chester Zoo - Tarek Hijazi Chester Zoo

Chester Zoo, Caughall Rd

Upton, Chester CH2 1LH