Charles
Well-Known Member
Awesome, I wonder what will be next in London zoos master plan, I wish that the aquarium would be restored but it seems like that will never happen
ZSL London Zoo ZSL London Zoo News 2022
- Thread starter Red Footed Tortoise
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As long as it addresses the Mappins and the Casson in a creative way, I'd 100% be down with whatever they plan.
I had a look in my most recent visit on Saturday and saw just a pile of disused junk and a bit of wood, so I'm also interested to hear what they saw...
The west side of the Snowdon is about to be some sort of community centre, isn't it? Maybe that is what was seen?
I don’t think there’s any confirmation on this, and I personally don’t see their Giraffes leaving, at least anytime soon. If they did leave, they’ll probably be sent to Whipsnade.
It’s anyone’s guess what will replace them IF they leave, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves here as there has been nothing to indicate London plan to phase them out.
Decimus Burton’s Giraffe House (1836) is one of the zoo’s few heritage listed buildings that remains fit for purpose.
I agree with the zoo’s decision to downsize their herd - it’s obvious the exhibit is too small for any more than a pair or a trio, so a small non breeding herd seems like the best plan long term (bearing in mind the building can’t be removed or altered).
Expanding the entire giraffe paddock for just the zebras could work if the giraffes ever leave in the future. And I'm just spitballing here but if the building is up to standard, the space could be big enough for a solitary rhino even.... But that is unlikely.
The debate surrounding London’s giraffe oddly seems to be a recurring theme, reappearing at the same point every year!
I personally can’t see them moving to Whipsnade-their empthasis is on Reticulated. The plan is to house hybrids or a non-breeding group. The decision was made many years ago to stop housing Bulls.
I personally can’t see them moving to Whipsnade-their empthasis is on Reticulated. The plan is to house hybrids or a non-breeding group. The decision was made many years ago to stop housing Bulls.
Charles
Well-Known Member
I didn’t realise they were hybrids but it’s more that the enclosure is so small, it doesn’t seem right that they’re in such a small spaceThe debate surrounding London’s giraffe oddly seems to be a recurring theme, reappearing at the same point every year!
I personally can’t see them moving to Whipsnade-their empthasis is on Reticulated. The plan is to house hybrids or a non-breeding group. The decision was made many years ago to stop housing Bulls.
Kalaw
Well-Known Member
Another great visit to London Zoo! A combination of my membership and a newly discovered cycle route which allows us to get there quicker by bike than by public transport is allowing us to visit a lot more often!
I arrived at 11:00 and decided to head straight to Blackburn Pavilion while it was empty, and admire the birds. I spent over an hour in the main walkthrough alone, watching the Scarlet-Chested Sunbirds. It was fascinating to see how quickly they could dart across the entire room, dodging all the obstacles and then coming to an immediate halt, hovering in the air. I even got to see a Sunbittern display its full colours! After that, I made my way into the smaller walkthrough to see the Splendid Sunbird. I had been led to believe that the zoo only held a single female, the last of her species in Europe, but I was somewhat perplexed to see two females, chasing each other around the aviary with similar speed and precision to their Scarlet-Chested cousins. I took a photo as evidence (a Forbes Parrot Finch managed to sneak in!) but sadly the poor lighting and the fact that it was taken from a phone camera make it rather useless:
After a total of two and a quarter hours in the Blackburn Pavilion, I reluctantly made my way to the Terrace Restaurant for lunch, and then to the Clore. Potto and Moholi Galagos were great as usual (they are always fairly active, from my experience), as were the Slender Lorises to a lesser extent. Sadly, the Slow Lorises which I was so excited about last time were nowhere to be seen, but the Jumping Rats (which were concerningly inactive on my last visit) were more visible than ever today! While on the North Side, I checked in on the Aye-Ayes then made my way to Monkey Valley, hoping for better luck than on my previous visit, only to be put off by the endless queues. I settled for watching the colobus from the other side of the canal, which offered decent enough views. To make up for this, the Okapi, my favourite ungulate species, was closer to the fence than ever before.
The giraffe enclosure is terrible; even with the downsized group it is the worst giraffe enclosure that I have ever seen by quite some margin. I understand the fact that it is the oldest zoo building in the UK (Europe?) to still house the species that it was intended for, and I understand the desire to maintain that, but I think animal welfare and honouring history are two separate things. One makes an enclosure great, while the other is just an interesting touch. However all that is very subjective, and I do understand the reasons in favour of keeping giraffes there.
After that, I entered Gorilla Kingdom, mainly to get a species list for the walkthrough aviary. I was pleasantly surprised to see gorillas outdoors. Of the 19 times that I have visited London Zoo, this is only the fourth or fifth time that I have seen them outside, and the second time in a row, which I am quite happy with. After that, I entered Bird Safari, seeing all the species except the Emerald Dove, then Tiger Territory. The Babirusa, another one of my favourite ungulates, were decently active, but of course, the main reason I was here was to see the cubs, who I had missed on my previous visit. I climbed the boardwalk to see Asim, Gaysha and all three cubs more active than I had seen tigers in quite a while now.
There isn't really much to say about the rest of the day, so I will leave it at that. I hope to return soon with the aforementioned membership and cycle route, hopefully at least once across the next month. I will report on any new developments that I notice then!
I arrived at 11:00 and decided to head straight to Blackburn Pavilion while it was empty, and admire the birds. I spent over an hour in the main walkthrough alone, watching the Scarlet-Chested Sunbirds. It was fascinating to see how quickly they could dart across the entire room, dodging all the obstacles and then coming to an immediate halt, hovering in the air. I even got to see a Sunbittern display its full colours! After that, I made my way into the smaller walkthrough to see the Splendid Sunbird. I had been led to believe that the zoo only held a single female, the last of her species in Europe, but I was somewhat perplexed to see two females, chasing each other around the aviary with similar speed and precision to their Scarlet-Chested cousins. I took a photo as evidence (a Forbes Parrot Finch managed to sneak in!) but sadly the poor lighting and the fact that it was taken from a phone camera make it rather useless:
After a total of two and a quarter hours in the Blackburn Pavilion, I reluctantly made my way to the Terrace Restaurant for lunch, and then to the Clore. Potto and Moholi Galagos were great as usual (they are always fairly active, from my experience), as were the Slender Lorises to a lesser extent. Sadly, the Slow Lorises which I was so excited about last time were nowhere to be seen, but the Jumping Rats (which were concerningly inactive on my last visit) were more visible than ever today! While on the North Side, I checked in on the Aye-Ayes then made my way to Monkey Valley, hoping for better luck than on my previous visit, only to be put off by the endless queues. I settled for watching the colobus from the other side of the canal, which offered decent enough views. To make up for this, the Okapi, my favourite ungulate species, was closer to the fence than ever before.
The giraffe enclosure is terrible; even with the downsized group it is the worst giraffe enclosure that I have ever seen by quite some margin. I understand the fact that it is the oldest zoo building in the UK (Europe?) to still house the species that it was intended for, and I understand the desire to maintain that, but I think animal welfare and honouring history are two separate things. One makes an enclosure great, while the other is just an interesting touch. However all that is very subjective, and I do understand the reasons in favour of keeping giraffes there.
After that, I entered Gorilla Kingdom, mainly to get a species list for the walkthrough aviary. I was pleasantly surprised to see gorillas outdoors. Of the 19 times that I have visited London Zoo, this is only the fourth or fifth time that I have seen them outside, and the second time in a row, which I am quite happy with. After that, I entered Bird Safari, seeing all the species except the Emerald Dove, then Tiger Territory. The Babirusa, another one of my favourite ungulates, were decently active, but of course, the main reason I was here was to see the cubs, who I had missed on my previous visit. I climbed the boardwalk to see Asim, Gaysha and all three cubs more active than I had seen tigers in quite a while now.
There isn't really much to say about the rest of the day, so I will leave it at that. I hope to return soon with the aforementioned membership and cycle route, hopefully at least once across the next month. I will report on any new developments that I notice then!
Very odd indeed! I too believed it was a lone female - perhaps they were bred once before the male died? Not too sure what might have happened otherwise…
Another great visit to London Zoo! A combination of my membership and a newly discovered cycle route which allows us to get there quicker by bike than by public transport is allowing us to visit a lot more often!
I arrived at 11:00 and decided to head straight to Blackburn Pavilion while it was empty, and admire the birds. I spent over an hour in the main walkthrough alone, watching the Scarlet-Chested Sunbirds. It was fascinating to see how quickly they could dart across the entire room, dodging all the obstacles and then coming to an immediate halt, hovering in the air. I even got to see a Sunbittern display its full colours! After that, I made my way into the smaller walkthrough to see the Splendid Sunbird. I had been led to believe that the zoo only held a single female, the last of her species in Europe, but I was somewhat perplexed to see two females, chasing each other around the aviary with similar speed and precision to their Scarlet-Chested cousins. I took a photo as evidence (a Forbes Parrot Finch managed to sneak in!) but sadly the poor lighting and the fact that it was taken from a phone camera make it rather useless:
After a total of two and a quarter hours in the Blackburn Pavilion, I reluctantly made my way to the Terrace Restaurant for lunch, and then to the Clore. Potto and Moholi Galagos were great as usual (they are always fairly active, from my experience), as were the Slender Lorises to a lesser extent. Sadly, the Slow Lorises which I was so excited about last time were nowhere to be seen, but the Jumping Rats (which were concerningly inactive on my last visit) were more visible than ever today! While on the North Side, I checked in on the Aye-Ayes then made my way to Monkey Valley, hoping for better luck than on my previous visit, only to be put off by the endless queues. I settled for watching the colobus from the other side of the canal, which offered decent enough views. To make up for this, the Okapi, my favourite ungulate species, was closer to the fence than ever before.
The giraffe enclosure is terrible; even with the downsized group it is the worst giraffe enclosure that I have ever seen by quite some margin. I understand the fact that it is the oldest zoo building in the UK (Europe?) to still house the species that it was intended for, and I understand the desire to maintain that, but I think animal welfare and honouring history are two separate things. One makes an enclosure great, while the other is just an interesting touch. However all that is very subjective, and I do understand the reasons in favour of keeping giraffes there.
After that, I entered Gorilla Kingdom, mainly to get a species list for the walkthrough aviary. I was pleasantly surprised to see gorillas outdoors. Of the 19 times that I have visited London Zoo, this is only the fourth or fifth time that I have seen them outside, and the second time in a row, which I am quite happy with. After that, I entered Bird Safari, seeing all the species except the Emerald Dove, then Tiger Territory. The Babirusa, another one of my favourite ungulates, were decently active, but of course, the main reason I was here was to see the cubs, who I had missed on my previous visit. I climbed the boardwalk to see Asim, Gaysha and all three cubs more active than I had seen tigers in quite a while now.
There isn't really much to say about the rest of the day, so I will leave it at that. I hope to return soon with the aforementioned membership and cycle route, hopefully at least once across the next month. I will report on any new developments that I notice then!
I think the giraffe enclosure (now it has been expanded) is adequate for two females (or maybe a lone bull, but think the way the house is set-up means that this is impossible, as would be unsafe for keepers). I agree the tarmac substrate looks awful, though I imagine not too dissimilar to packed soil in sub-Saharan Africa.
The emerald doves are often tucked down into the bushes on the left hand side as you pass the old Stork and Ostrich house.
Perhaps they could expand their number of Okapi to replace the giraffe
Given their Okapi facilities are by no means spacious, housing them in the Giraffe House and exhibit would give them a lot more space. The only downside is that the giraffe exhibit is comparatively exposed and extensive planting would be required, which from a distance could obscure the Okapi from view.
Though since the Giraffe House is heritage listed (and can’t be modified), Okapi are the next best species to occupy this building after the giraffes it was designed for.
A Piece of 2022 News Not Mentioned:
On June 24th, the zoo announced they have acquired (1.2) African pygmy goats named Sox, Willow, and Susan which are now on exhibit in the Animal Adventure children's zoo.
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On June 24th, the zoo announced they have acquired (1.2) African pygmy goats named Sox, Willow, and Susan which are now on exhibit in the Animal Adventure children's zoo.
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The 3 goats have now been renamed, they are now called Button, Chestnut and Truffle.
You have to know your mushrooms
Monkey Valley opened to all visitors on 15 August. The colobus group of 10 appear to be quite content in their new home. Visitors are asked to queue up and are taken in, normally groups of 25 for about 5 minutes and they walk through the area. Of course, the colobus monkeys are sometimes not out so the walk through is not worth it, unless you are interested in the history of the Snowdon Aviary, now Monkey Valley