Twenty lucky children have beaten 10,000 others to land the role of official play testers at the region’s new conservation-themed adventure playground at Bristol Zoo Project.
In what was dubbed a ‘dream job’ for kids, the zoo launched an online competition to find willing young testers to be among the first to try out Explorers Basecamp. The bespoke three-storey tower and playground has been designed for all ages, abilities and needs, with input and insight from Bristol Zoological Society’s conservationists and public engagement and education specialists.
The competition winners enjoyed an exclusive play session at the zoo on Saturday (July 20) morning, before it opened to the public. The playground’s features include a companion slide, floor trampolines, racing zipline and rope jungle, as well as ground trampolines, a wheelchair accessible roundabout and family swing.
Bristol Zoo Project ambassador and children’s TV adventurer Andy Day officially opened the playground with the help of families from Bristol Children’s Hospital.
Andy, who is also frontman of the band Andy & The Oddsocks, said, “It’s been incredible to see Explorers Basecamp take shape over the past few months and I was thrilled to be asked to officially open it. I think what also makes it so special is that sustainability and inclusivity are at the heart of the design. Using play so creatively like this, really helps to inspire and educate young minds.
“My daughter is already a huge fan and I have to say I might have had a little go on it myself, all in the name of research of course!”
Explorers Basecamp is split over three levels, each with a different theme and focus. Level one is based on the work that Bristol Zoological Society’s conservationists do in the field and follows the theme of investigation. As children climb up through the station, level two is all about animals and has a focus on games, including sensory boards and braille inserts..
Further up level three explores the use of technology in conservation work particularly linked to climate, connecting people to global biomes, or ecosystems.
After trying it out on Saturday, the play testers gave an overwhelming thumbs up to Explorers Basecamp, with the slide proving to be one of the most popular features, along with the zip lines. They’ll now be asked to follow up with their full feedback, to the zoo’s team.
Rosie Sims, Public Engagement Manager at Bristol Zoo Project, said, “We were blown away by the response to our play tester competition – it’s certainly safe to say it’s captured everyone’s imagination, attracting thousands of entries.
“We are very proud to have created an accessible adventure play area that offers children of all ages, abilities and needs, the opportunity to explore and play. As well as the obvious fun they can have on it, the playground also offers kids the chance to learn about protecting species and habitats, through fully immersive play.
“We worked closely with adventure play specialists CAP.CO to design and construct Explorers Basecamp, which is based on a field station which you’d find at one of our conservation project sites around the world, for example, in Equatorial Guinea and Madagascar.”
Explorers Basecamp is part of the first phase of work to create a new conservation zoo at Bristol Zoo Project. Development began last month to build a Central African Forest habitat which will become home to the zoo’s existing troop of Critically Endangered western lowland gorillas.
They’ll be joined by cherry-crowned mangabeys, slender snouted crocodiles, African grey parrots and several species of West African freshwater fish – all highly threatened species.
Explorers Basecamp is now open to the public and entry is included with general admission.
To find out more about Bristol Zoo Project and Bristol Zoological Society’s conservation programmes across the globe, visit www.bristolzoo.org.uk.