equidae
Well-Known Member
Thank you
ZSL London Zoo London Zoo News 2023
- Thread starter Kalaw
- Start date
felis silvestris
Well-Known Member
I’m making a Best UK Crocodile enclosure thread right now, is the new reptile house open and are the Phillipines in it? I was just wondering if they are in the old exhibit still or in the new one if there is one.
Kalaw
Well-Known Member
Not open yet, but there will be a Philippine Crocodile in there. When I visited last month, the male was being trained for a stress-free move, as the cage they will use for transporting him was already in the enclosure so that he could get used to it, so I wouldn't be surprised if the move has happened by now, and as such, I doubt it will be longer than a week or two.
Ferret exhibit with the 5 new female ferrets open in Animal Adventure. The 2 older male ferrets remain in offshore quarters although are present in many of the Super species prevention on the display lawn.
Ostriches were in the Giraffe enclosure. One of Giraffes was feeding outside other 2 Giraffes opted to remain inside.
Ostriches were in the Giraffe enclosure. One of Giraffes was feeding outside other 2 Giraffes opted to remain inside.
Does the zoo have 9 Ferrets now then? as the 2023 inventory listed 4 at the start of the year. I haven't been to the zoo for about 10 weeks and was wondering when the ferret exhibit would open. I'm visiting tomorrow so I see it then. Also does anyone know if they are planning on getting a new Babirusa?
Kalaw
Well-Known Member
As much as I love seeing Babirusa at my local zoo, it feels weird that London is attempting to breed them given that Whipsnade has recently developed a much larger enclosure with potential for a breeding group. I understand that it isn't so straight-forward, and that ZSL almost certainly have their reasons (better gene pool diversity, perhaps?), but I would much prefer for Whipsnade to focus on Babirusa and for London to, for example, bring back Malayan Tapir.
London Zoo took 5 female ferrets from Whipsnade and they are with the males in an exhibit near to the pygmy goats. Don’t forget to have a look for the 3 female Mangalica pigs.
As for male babirusa, a keeper told me a few months ago that they hoped to get a male but no more info
As for male babirusa, a keeper told me a few months ago that they hoped to get a male but no more info
Are they actually hoping to breed the species?
Kalaw
Well-Known Member
I don't know for certain, but surely if they are specifically looking for a male then this is at least part of the hope? Although of course, given that they are social animals, it could purely be for company.
The extreme sexual dimorphism is presumably a significant educational motivation for housing mixed-sex groups as well.
Kalaw
Well-Known Member
Sorry if I am misunderstanding, but are you referring to the females at Whipsnade, or have more babirusa arrived at London since that I am unaware of?
I think @Regent may actually be referring to the ferrets.
Tetradactyla
Active Member
Visited the zoo today for the first time since January, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much more vibrant and cared-for the entire site is looking since my last visit. Amazing what a lick of paint can do - although the sunny weather certainly helped!
I particularly liked the new (to me) signage consisting of blackboards with handwritten tips on things to look for in an exhibit, including the best place and time to see certain species up and about - think the blackboard which has long-existed in the entry to the Blackburn Pavilion, which is maintained by the bird team with details of new arrivals. As someone who has often criticised ZSL's approach to only ever displaying information which has been signed off by multiple levels of admin, usually several months out of date, I found the informality of these little signs rather lovely.
This was also the first time I'd been in the Snowdon Aviary / Monkey Valley development (I usually do the North Bank last, and almost always run out of time) and I was pleasantly surprised by how much they'd been able to do within the restrictions placed upon them. I did feel that the whole thing would benefit from a larger group of colobus, which I know has been discussed on here before. Unfortunately, I'm sure I overheard the keeper say that there are no plans to breed from the current group, and whilst the group does include at least one male animal, none of them are breeding males. I would love some more info on this, if anybody has some.
The only thing of note, which may have already been mentioned, is that the meerkat enclosure next to the Asian small-clawed otter is currently empty, with signs noting that the group have moved to Animal Adventure. This area is still marked as "Otters and Meerkats" on the zoo map.
And finally, because I can't resist a good game of "Visitors Say The Darndest Things"... a woman approaching an enclosure in Land of the Lions was quite excited to catch a glimpse of the "little mouse or something" that had just darted past the glass. Her partner glanced into the enclosure, where several dwarf mongoose were scurrying about - and proceeded to inform her, unimpressed, that they were "some kind of shrew."
I particularly liked the new (to me) signage consisting of blackboards with handwritten tips on things to look for in an exhibit, including the best place and time to see certain species up and about - think the blackboard which has long-existed in the entry to the Blackburn Pavilion, which is maintained by the bird team with details of new arrivals. As someone who has often criticised ZSL's approach to only ever displaying information which has been signed off by multiple levels of admin, usually several months out of date, I found the informality of these little signs rather lovely.
This was also the first time I'd been in the Snowdon Aviary / Monkey Valley development (I usually do the North Bank last, and almost always run out of time) and I was pleasantly surprised by how much they'd been able to do within the restrictions placed upon them. I did feel that the whole thing would benefit from a larger group of colobus, which I know has been discussed on here before. Unfortunately, I'm sure I overheard the keeper say that there are no plans to breed from the current group, and whilst the group does include at least one male animal, none of them are breeding males. I would love some more info on this, if anybody has some.
The only thing of note, which may have already been mentioned, is that the meerkat enclosure next to the Asian small-clawed otter is currently empty, with signs noting that the group have moved to Animal Adventure. This area is still marked as "Otters and Meerkats" on the zoo map.
And finally, because I can't resist a good game of "Visitors Say The Darndest Things"... a woman approaching an enclosure in Land of the Lions was quite excited to catch a glimpse of the "little mouse or something" that had just darted past the glass. Her partner glanced into the enclosure, where several dwarf mongoose were scurrying about - and proceeded to inform her, unimpressed, that they were "some kind of shrew."
The 10 strong colobus troop do not have a breeding male. The current breeding male had a vasectomy and it seems that there are no immediate plans to bring in another breeding male.
The meerkats move is no surprise, there were only 3 meerkats in that area
The meerkats move is no surprise, there were only 3 meerkats in that area
Tetradactyla
Active Member
Many thanks for this information, Regent. I admit I was surprised to hear the keeper say that the colobus are being maintained as a non-breeding group, given how prolific they seem to have been in the past... but perhaps that's part of the problem!
Would be much better than having multiple meerkat exhibits like some zoos do!
I also am somewhat surprised considering the size of the exhibit, I would have thought doubling the number would have been ideal. I can't see why the male and a couple of the older females can't be removed and a new male brought into the group?.Many thanks for this information, Regent. I admit I was surprised to hear the keeper say that the colobus are being maintained as a non-breeding group, given how prolific they seem to have been in the past... but perhaps that's part of the problem!