About the Zoo & Wildlife

Chester Zoo is a zoo in Upton-by-Chester, Cheshire, England. Chester Zoo was opened in 1931 by George Mottershead and his family. The zoo is one of the UK's largest zoos at 51 hectares (130 acres) and the zoo has a total land holding of approximately 160 hectares (400 acres). Chester Zoo is operated by the North of England Zoological Society, a registered charity founded in 1934. The zoo receives no government funding and is the most-visited wildlife attraction in Britain with more than 2 million visitors in 2019. In 2007 Forbes described the zoo as one of the fifteen best zoos in the world. In 2017 and more recently, 2024, the zoo was named as the best zoo in the UK and as also regarded as the third best in the world by TripAdvisor.