Chester Zoo announced last week that it would scrap its popular monorail after 28 years - but plans are in place for a brand new attraction.
Almost 30 years after the transportation system opened it now ‘doesn’t even cover half’ of the 125 acres of tourist attraction.
Now the zoo has revealed the monorail would make way for a major new attraction called Grasslands, reports Cheshire Live .
The project is expected to be completed and ready for opening in 2022, and will allow visitors to come face to face with creatures in a specially designed indoor habitat.
Grasslands will not feature a monorail but will instead have a centrepiece consisting of a large, open African savannah habitat.
The habitat will house a range of animals including giraffes and zebras, as well as a restaurant offering balcony views across the savannah.
Visitors will even be able to sleep near the animals, as planning proposals also include the potential for the zoo to develop overnight accommodation.
A zoo spokesperson said: "The new habitat is the latest stage in the zoo’s strategic development plan: a vision for the future of the zoo, broken into themed geographic regions with ever more natural habitats for threatened species.
"The existing Islands zone, which opened in 2015, was the first stage in this process, bringing the zoo’s global conservation work to life for visitors in Chester.
"The Grasslands development is being designed to help the zoo continue to push the boundaries of world-class animal husbandry and welfare, while also further establishing Chester Zoo’s position as one of the UK’s leading tourist attractions."
You can find more information on Grasslands here.
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