During my visit on Wednesday morning, I spotted every single species except for the Mangshan Pit Viper and mossy frog, though some were not active and a few were well-hidden.
Very interesting...
ZSL London Zoo ZSL London Zoo News 2024
- Thread starter amur leopard
- Start date
-
- Tags
- london zoo news
- Status
Kalaw
Well-Known Member
I visited London Zoo today for the first time this year, mainly to see the Secret Life of Reptiles and Amphibians, but there had been several other changes since my last visit as well.
Starting off with SLoRA, I absolutely adored it. I had feared that it would be the exact same as the old Reptile House barring a few changes to the species inventory, but just about every animal in there had seen a substantial improvement in their exhibit quality. The massive pools for Philippine Crocodiles and Chinese Giant Salamanders, both equipped with excellent underwater viewing, were of course the highlights, but all the enclosures were excellent. Unlike the old House, where a lot of the pools were dirty and shallow, every aquatic species in here had a tremendously deep and clear tank - it was lovely to see Sardinian Brook Salamanders (pictured below) and Cayenne Caecilians swim in open water, rather than hovering mere inches above the floor. The caecilians in particular looked like an entirely different animal when suspended in the water as they were here. I suspect that the catfish responsible for cleaning the tanks (I only saw them in the caecilian and crocodile pools, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were more) might be a factor in this. They even had underwater viewing for Emerald Tree Boa, which I had never seen before.
Due to the enlarged species selection, there were several lifeticks, such as Laos Warty Newts, kept near the entrance to the house and far larger than I had expected them to be, the Mangshan Pitviper, who had a massive terrarium and as such were difficult to spot, but I was thankfully able to do so after a while, and the Ethiopian Mountain Adder. The latter was the highlight, lying at the front of the terrarium with its head raised, showing off its stunning patterns and impressive size to all visitors. Another highlight was the quality of the semi-offshow areas. Much like in the old Reptile House, there were several windows into the offshow breeding rooms for the zoo's reptiles and amphibians, where, with a bit of luck, visitors can locate species that are intended to be offshow. Normally, and that includes in the old House, such vivariums are extremely poor quality, likely due to the zoos knowing that most visitors won't give them much thought. But in SLoRA, some of these offshow terrariums are better than many zoos onshow ones, and that was very pleasing indeed. One of these offshow rooms houses Congo Caecilians, so now there are two chances for visitors to see them, although this one proves equally challenging!
To answer questions made upthread about the structure of the building, it does indeed have a domed roof. However, due to the interior design, it is difficult to admire said roof, seeing as the entire core of the House is filled with enclosures, so the highest point of it is not visible. However, despite the roof being very similar to the one in 'Giants of the Galapagos,' which does let sunlight in, this one does not so it is very dark in the House, contrary to my expectations (I thought it would be similar to the old house at Bristol, essentially being a glass-roofed room with vivariums scattered throughout, as opposed to being concentrated in one central block in a dark room). The picture below demonstrates the roof with the crocodile pool visible in the background. I saw every species within SLoRA first time around barring the Turquoise Dwarf Gecko and the Mossy Frog, although I managed to see the latter upon a return later in the day thanks to a fellow visitor pointing them out to me.
I would be lying if I said SLoRA was perfect, because it was not, and like every exhibit at every zoo it could be better. I was disappointed to see that the zoo appears to no longer keep Caiman Lizards, as this is a species that, when displayed well with a large pool, can be very entertaining, but always seemed to have a rather poor enclosure in the old Reptile House. I was excited to see what ZSL could do with them, so a little bit upset to find that SLoRA did not contain any. Similarly, we still only have the tadpoles of the Mallorcan Midwife Toads on display, although, judging by the fact that, unlike their old aquarium, this one provides a sizable land area, I suspect that, when these ones mature, they will remain onshow, which was not the case previously, but I could be wrong. The other issue is that, rather ironically given certain comments made upthread, I really didn't want it to end! I loved every second of it and was very saddened when I realised that I had seen everything there was to see. If only it were just a little bigger, but that is of course out of the zoo's budget at the moment.
I left SLoRA feeling more than satisfied with what I had seen, and convinced that this was a good sign for the future of the zoo. It is also worth noting that, throughout most of the day when the zoo is busy there can be long queues to enter, with staff only letting certain numbers in at a time, although later in the day that changed, and during the final hour of opening you were able to enter and leave as you please. The House was still busy, far more so than you would expect a zoo exhibit to be five minutes before closing time - it seems to have been a success among visitors so far!
After SLoRA, I made my way to Bird Safari. I was delighted to see the female Great Argus pheasant who arrived last year, after failing to do so on my previous visit - she displayed no fear of visitors and was more than happy to get within inches of admirers and dart across the path to explore near the lake. It turns out that she isn't the only new addition to Bird Safari, with some Socorro Doves having arrived from Blackburn Pavilion, which I did manage to see near the exit (the number of aviaries within Blackburn housing them has also doubled, so I assume there has been a breeding success or at least are hopes for breeding in the near future). Additionally, a hand-reared Scarlet Ibis chick, named 'Ritz,' has been introduced to the rest. As you would imagine, he is fearless of visitors and more than happy to playfully and painlessly peck his observers' fingers - keepers warned against encouraging this behaviour, as it might make him seem less trustworthy to the rest of the group, and I would take their word for it. However, a regular visitor who was discussing the birds to me seemed to suggest that she has had the opposite effect, with the rest of the ibis also becoming more friendly towards visitors in his image.
In Gorilla Kingdom, I saw both the babies clinging to their mother's chest, and for the first time managed to get a good view of Kiburi, the silverback - I had no idea how massive he was! Including the babies, I saw six gorillas outside, which is the most that I have ever seen, given the worrying trend among gorillas in captivity of preferring to remain indoors. Across the tunnel, the Ostrich have been fully integrated into the Giraffe enclosure, although I confusingly only saw two females, and wonder where the other three could have been hiding. Watching these towering birds roam in front of the Cotton Terraces was very memorable indeed. I saw the female Okapi and the Natal Red Duiker, getting the best view which I had ever got of the latter. I didn't see the Kirk's Dik-Dik, which is unfortunate, as it would have been wonderful to see them the same day that they were announced, but I did see some of the smaller furnishings and enrichment items alluded to upthread, which I assume were put in place for them.
Another highlight was entering Monkey Valley for the first time, having been put off by long queues, technical issues or colobus inactivity in all of my previous attempts. All ten colobus were outside at once and the result was remarkable. Seeing them leap between the branches and pillars, particularly in the case of the large males, was very entertaining indeed. The Dwarf Mongooses seem to have settled well into their new enclosure, but unfortunately, the Chinese Water Deer seem to still be very shy and were easily startled by any sudden movements while I was admiring them. As a result, a bamboo barricade has been used to prevent them from being viewed from the Outer Circle (the road that cuts the zoo in half), which is a shame, as back when this enclosure held Reindeer, I had many fond memories of admiring them for free outside the zoo. I saw the Aye-Ayes, which is always a treat and far from a guarantee on most visits, as well as the Grey Mouse Lemurs with whom they share a room, and the Senegal Bushbabies downstairs, who appear to be settling in to their new home rather well, but unfortunately I missed the Harvest Mice. Seeing two Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemurs together for the first time at London (having only seen one prior, but more commonly none), was also a highlight.
In more unfortunate news, the zoo's Round-eared Sengi has recently passed away. A keeper mentioned how they plan to replace them with new sengis, but as none are easily available at the moment (Chester being the only other UK holder), this may not be an option. I loved the sengis and hope to see them return, but a new species would be equally interesting. Also in Rainforest Life, the sloth that was born last year is still very young, so for its safety, keepers are placing barriers around it whenever it enters the visitor area, so as to prevent the public from getting too close. In this case, that meant that the entirety of the far end of the house (near the fish tank and the callitrichids) was sectioned off, which was unfortunate, but had one welcome side-effect, in that the Rodrigues' Fruit Bats, who no doubt appreciated the darkness of that corner of the house, all gathered in there, and were phenomenally active indeed. No sign of the Narrow-striped Bokies, which is odd as they are normally very active, but by contrast, I got the best views that I had ever had of the Coppery Titis.
Of course, I visited Land of the Lions and tried my luck with the Small Indian Mongooses, but had no success. Were this any other zoo, this would merit an entire day of waiting outside their enclosure for any sign of activity, but as it is London, I was reliant on later visits proving fruitful. The barrier has been removed, but there are still 24 hour cameras monitoring the mongooses, to ensure that they are settling in comfortably. Bhanu, the male Asiatic Lion, could be heard roaring all throughout the day, and was remarkable to watch as he roared in front of the sunset towards the end of my visit. Coupled with one of the females being offshow as mentioned upthread, and I think we have reason to be cautiously optimistic for lion cubs in the near future! Nearby, I got the best views which I had ever had of the Reeve's Muntjac on the Three Island Pond. Great action from Khaleesi, the Komodo Dragon, but no sign yet of the Mindanao Water Monitor from the old Reptile House whom it was rumoured would be going on display in the empty enclosure near the end of the Komodo House. However, their enclosure is still labelled as being under construction and the pool is yet to have been drained, so I suspect (and certainly hope) that this move is still planned.
At Blackburn Pavilion, I got good views of the Javan Hill-mynas and, especially, the Lilac-breasted Rollers, both of whom were new since my last visit. The rollers can be found in both one of the smaller aviaries within the main hall (shared with Pekin Robins and Chestnut-backed Thrush) and the main walkthrough, but were especially active and entertaining in the latter. I didn't see either of the female Collared Trogons, but one of the males was particularly vocal, so hopefully that is a good sign for breeding of this species, a true rarity in captivity. There are also no longer Victoria Crowned Pigeons sharing with the Wrinkled Hornbill in one of the external aviaries, but instead Mountain Peacock-pheasant. As mentioned upthread, work is going on in the former Montserrat Oriole enclosure, which has now taken shape rather well and appears to be themed to a ruined lodge, potentially Southeast Asian in design. Hopefully it will receive a new inhabitant some time soon.
Something else that interested me, and that I have not noticed before, although I wouldn't be surprised if it is a regular occurrence during warmer months, is that the Lubetkin Penguin Pool has been filled with water and a fountain placed in the middle. Certainly adds a lot more character to this historic structure, and although it is still a waste of space, it is a more forgivable one now that it isn't being completely left to fall apart.
Overall a wonderful visit to London Zoo that gets me very excited for the collection's future, and keen to plan more visits throughout the year. During all of my recent visits I have left with a feeling of satisfaction and excitement, but on this visit, with SLoRA, especially so.
Starting off with SLoRA, I absolutely adored it. I had feared that it would be the exact same as the old Reptile House barring a few changes to the species inventory, but just about every animal in there had seen a substantial improvement in their exhibit quality. The massive pools for Philippine Crocodiles and Chinese Giant Salamanders, both equipped with excellent underwater viewing, were of course the highlights, but all the enclosures were excellent. Unlike the old House, where a lot of the pools were dirty and shallow, every aquatic species in here had a tremendously deep and clear tank - it was lovely to see Sardinian Brook Salamanders (pictured below) and Cayenne Caecilians swim in open water, rather than hovering mere inches above the floor. The caecilians in particular looked like an entirely different animal when suspended in the water as they were here. I suspect that the catfish responsible for cleaning the tanks (I only saw them in the caecilian and crocodile pools, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were more) might be a factor in this. They even had underwater viewing for Emerald Tree Boa, which I had never seen before.
Due to the enlarged species selection, there were several lifeticks, such as Laos Warty Newts, kept near the entrance to the house and far larger than I had expected them to be, the Mangshan Pitviper, who had a massive terrarium and as such were difficult to spot, but I was thankfully able to do so after a while, and the Ethiopian Mountain Adder. The latter was the highlight, lying at the front of the terrarium with its head raised, showing off its stunning patterns and impressive size to all visitors. Another highlight was the quality of the semi-offshow areas. Much like in the old Reptile House, there were several windows into the offshow breeding rooms for the zoo's reptiles and amphibians, where, with a bit of luck, visitors can locate species that are intended to be offshow. Normally, and that includes in the old House, such vivariums are extremely poor quality, likely due to the zoos knowing that most visitors won't give them much thought. But in SLoRA, some of these offshow terrariums are better than many zoos onshow ones, and that was very pleasing indeed. One of these offshow rooms houses Congo Caecilians, so now there are two chances for visitors to see them, although this one proves equally challenging!
To answer questions made upthread about the structure of the building, it does indeed have a domed roof. However, due to the interior design, it is difficult to admire said roof, seeing as the entire core of the House is filled with enclosures, so the highest point of it is not visible. However, despite the roof being very similar to the one in 'Giants of the Galapagos,' which does let sunlight in, this one does not so it is very dark in the House, contrary to my expectations (I thought it would be similar to the old house at Bristol, essentially being a glass-roofed room with vivariums scattered throughout, as opposed to being concentrated in one central block in a dark room). The picture below demonstrates the roof with the crocodile pool visible in the background. I saw every species within SLoRA first time around barring the Turquoise Dwarf Gecko and the Mossy Frog, although I managed to see the latter upon a return later in the day thanks to a fellow visitor pointing them out to me.
I would be lying if I said SLoRA was perfect, because it was not, and like every exhibit at every zoo it could be better. I was disappointed to see that the zoo appears to no longer keep Caiman Lizards, as this is a species that, when displayed well with a large pool, can be very entertaining, but always seemed to have a rather poor enclosure in the old Reptile House. I was excited to see what ZSL could do with them, so a little bit upset to find that SLoRA did not contain any. Similarly, we still only have the tadpoles of the Mallorcan Midwife Toads on display, although, judging by the fact that, unlike their old aquarium, this one provides a sizable land area, I suspect that, when these ones mature, they will remain onshow, which was not the case previously, but I could be wrong. The other issue is that, rather ironically given certain comments made upthread, I really didn't want it to end! I loved every second of it and was very saddened when I realised that I had seen everything there was to see. If only it were just a little bigger, but that is of course out of the zoo's budget at the moment.
I left SLoRA feeling more than satisfied with what I had seen, and convinced that this was a good sign for the future of the zoo. It is also worth noting that, throughout most of the day when the zoo is busy there can be long queues to enter, with staff only letting certain numbers in at a time, although later in the day that changed, and during the final hour of opening you were able to enter and leave as you please. The House was still busy, far more so than you would expect a zoo exhibit to be five minutes before closing time - it seems to have been a success among visitors so far!
After SLoRA, I made my way to Bird Safari. I was delighted to see the female Great Argus pheasant who arrived last year, after failing to do so on my previous visit - she displayed no fear of visitors and was more than happy to get within inches of admirers and dart across the path to explore near the lake. It turns out that she isn't the only new addition to Bird Safari, with some Socorro Doves having arrived from Blackburn Pavilion, which I did manage to see near the exit (the number of aviaries within Blackburn housing them has also doubled, so I assume there has been a breeding success or at least are hopes for breeding in the near future). Additionally, a hand-reared Scarlet Ibis chick, named 'Ritz,' has been introduced to the rest. As you would imagine, he is fearless of visitors and more than happy to playfully and painlessly peck his observers' fingers - keepers warned against encouraging this behaviour, as it might make him seem less trustworthy to the rest of the group, and I would take their word for it. However, a regular visitor who was discussing the birds to me seemed to suggest that she has had the opposite effect, with the rest of the ibis also becoming more friendly towards visitors in his image.
In Gorilla Kingdom, I saw both the babies clinging to their mother's chest, and for the first time managed to get a good view of Kiburi, the silverback - I had no idea how massive he was! Including the babies, I saw six gorillas outside, which is the most that I have ever seen, given the worrying trend among gorillas in captivity of preferring to remain indoors. Across the tunnel, the Ostrich have been fully integrated into the Giraffe enclosure, although I confusingly only saw two females, and wonder where the other three could have been hiding. Watching these towering birds roam in front of the Cotton Terraces was very memorable indeed. I saw the female Okapi and the Natal Red Duiker, getting the best view which I had ever got of the latter. I didn't see the Kirk's Dik-Dik, which is unfortunate, as it would have been wonderful to see them the same day that they were announced, but I did see some of the smaller furnishings and enrichment items alluded to upthread, which I assume were put in place for them.
Another highlight was entering Monkey Valley for the first time, having been put off by long queues, technical issues or colobus inactivity in all of my previous attempts. All ten colobus were outside at once and the result was remarkable. Seeing them leap between the branches and pillars, particularly in the case of the large males, was very entertaining indeed. The Dwarf Mongooses seem to have settled well into their new enclosure, but unfortunately, the Chinese Water Deer seem to still be very shy and were easily startled by any sudden movements while I was admiring them. As a result, a bamboo barricade has been used to prevent them from being viewed from the Outer Circle (the road that cuts the zoo in half), which is a shame, as back when this enclosure held Reindeer, I had many fond memories of admiring them for free outside the zoo. I saw the Aye-Ayes, which is always a treat and far from a guarantee on most visits, as well as the Grey Mouse Lemurs with whom they share a room, and the Senegal Bushbabies downstairs, who appear to be settling in to their new home rather well, but unfortunately I missed the Harvest Mice. Seeing two Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemurs together for the first time at London (having only seen one prior, but more commonly none), was also a highlight.
In more unfortunate news, the zoo's Round-eared Sengi has recently passed away. A keeper mentioned how they plan to replace them with new sengis, but as none are easily available at the moment (Chester being the only other UK holder), this may not be an option. I loved the sengis and hope to see them return, but a new species would be equally interesting. Also in Rainforest Life, the sloth that was born last year is still very young, so for its safety, keepers are placing barriers around it whenever it enters the visitor area, so as to prevent the public from getting too close. In this case, that meant that the entirety of the far end of the house (near the fish tank and the callitrichids) was sectioned off, which was unfortunate, but had one welcome side-effect, in that the Rodrigues' Fruit Bats, who no doubt appreciated the darkness of that corner of the house, all gathered in there, and were phenomenally active indeed. No sign of the Narrow-striped Bokies, which is odd as they are normally very active, but by contrast, I got the best views that I had ever had of the Coppery Titis.
Of course, I visited Land of the Lions and tried my luck with the Small Indian Mongooses, but had no success. Were this any other zoo, this would merit an entire day of waiting outside their enclosure for any sign of activity, but as it is London, I was reliant on later visits proving fruitful. The barrier has been removed, but there are still 24 hour cameras monitoring the mongooses, to ensure that they are settling in comfortably. Bhanu, the male Asiatic Lion, could be heard roaring all throughout the day, and was remarkable to watch as he roared in front of the sunset towards the end of my visit. Coupled with one of the females being offshow as mentioned upthread, and I think we have reason to be cautiously optimistic for lion cubs in the near future! Nearby, I got the best views which I had ever had of the Reeve's Muntjac on the Three Island Pond. Great action from Khaleesi, the Komodo Dragon, but no sign yet of the Mindanao Water Monitor from the old Reptile House whom it was rumoured would be going on display in the empty enclosure near the end of the Komodo House. However, their enclosure is still labelled as being under construction and the pool is yet to have been drained, so I suspect (and certainly hope) that this move is still planned.
At Blackburn Pavilion, I got good views of the Javan Hill-mynas and, especially, the Lilac-breasted Rollers, both of whom were new since my last visit. The rollers can be found in both one of the smaller aviaries within the main hall (shared with Pekin Robins and Chestnut-backed Thrush) and the main walkthrough, but were especially active and entertaining in the latter. I didn't see either of the female Collared Trogons, but one of the males was particularly vocal, so hopefully that is a good sign for breeding of this species, a true rarity in captivity. There are also no longer Victoria Crowned Pigeons sharing with the Wrinkled Hornbill in one of the external aviaries, but instead Mountain Peacock-pheasant. As mentioned upthread, work is going on in the former Montserrat Oriole enclosure, which has now taken shape rather well and appears to be themed to a ruined lodge, potentially Southeast Asian in design. Hopefully it will receive a new inhabitant some time soon.
Something else that interested me, and that I have not noticed before, although I wouldn't be surprised if it is a regular occurrence during warmer months, is that the Lubetkin Penguin Pool has been filled with water and a fountain placed in the middle. Certainly adds a lot more character to this historic structure, and although it is still a waste of space, it is a more forgivable one now that it isn't being completely left to fall apart.
Overall a wonderful visit to London Zoo that gets me very excited for the collection's future, and keen to plan more visits throughout the year. During all of my recent visits I have left with a feeling of satisfaction and excitement, but on this visit, with SLoRA, especially so.
Last edited:
Some dates that might be of interest:
The female Arabian oryx "Caroline" arrived at London Zoo on 29th November 1959 and, on 25th June 1963, was sent to join the world herd in Arizona. She died there ten years later, on 22nd August 1973.
Overlapping with "Caroline" at London Zoo was a male Arabian oryx that arrived on 2nd December 1961 and died on 29th July 1965.
Thank you so much for the detailed visit report @Kalaw -- makes me wish I had headed in today a little now, as the Penguin Pool was still empty on Wednesday. I also had the pleasure to see Ritz and the female Great Argus that day, though not the red duiker! Good to know about the Sengi though sad to hear of the loss. Glad to see more positivity about the Secret Life of Reptiles and Amphibians; I can't compare with the old house like others but I was impressed enough given the space constraints and representation of large reptiles elsewhere.
I might have missed the Chinese Water Deer enclosure - where are they kept?
I might have missed the Chinese Water Deer enclosure - where are they kept?
Kalaw
Well-Known Member
The water deer are kept near the Asiatic Short-clawed Otters and Dwarf Mongoose, and are what the red muntjac-like creature depicted on the zoo's map is trying to represent. It is indeed quite easy to miss them, seeing as they are located on a hill behind the otters which can only be accessed by a narrow pathway on either side of the otters' indoor area.
Yes, I do believe I missed them in that case. I saw the species at Whipsinade so not a huge loss, except now I'll always know I missed an exhibit at London until I make it back that way!
Indication is that this will be for breeding purposes of an existing species (the mesias were mentioned) given the main walkthrough not being terribly conducive to breeding. Apparently there is yet to be a final decision on its future inhabitants though, so who knows.
Kalaw
Well-Known Member
The latest edition of the member's magazine details the plans to send some of the zoo's 5.3 Vietnam Pheasant (Lophura edwardsi) to Hanoi Zoo in Vietnam, who plans to start a breeding centre for the eventual release of this species, that it is suspected to be Extinct in the Wild (no wild sightings since 2000). Upon release, the pheasants will be equipped with trackers to monitor their activity, and as such, the pheasants in Bird Safari are being used to trial out these trackers.
ZSL has also released over 3,000 Partula Snails from multiple species to Tahiti in French Polynesia, although I believe that the majority of these came from the offshow breeding facility at Whipsnade. This brings the total number of Partula snails that London and Whipsnade have bred and released since the programme began in 2015 up to 24,000.
By no means news, but an interesting fact that was mentioned in the magazine, is that between the two zoos, there are 20 Extinct in the Wild species to be found at ZSL - which is more than any other institution in the world.
ZSL has also released over 3,000 Partula Snails from multiple species to Tahiti in French Polynesia, although I believe that the majority of these came from the offshow breeding facility at Whipsnade. This brings the total number of Partula snails that London and Whipsnade have bred and released since the programme began in 2015 up to 24,000.
By no means news, but an interesting fact that was mentioned in the magazine, is that between the two zoos, there are 20 Extinct in the Wild species to be found at ZSL - which is more than any other institution in the world.
Cobi
Well-Known Member
For me it matters because getting things right is important, these days more than ever when so many in public life have such a casual relationship with the truth.
I feel that accuracy and education should permeate everything the world’s oldest scientific zoo does. An organisation’s values and mission should be reflected in all forms of communication and publications.
This reflects a lack of attention to detail and a lack of scientific rigour.
In this case it particularly bothers me because this isn’t a generic bird symbol, it’s a very specific bird with a specific conservation story.
And the fact that this crested ibis is so iconic and so limited in both range and captive holdings makes it all the more inappropriate to have on the map when a completely different species is held.
To me it’s like replacing the black and white colobus with a golden snub-nosed monkey icon and saying “well it’s still a monkey”.
So whilst I respect, if don’t entirely understand, why some might find it an acceptable error, I still find it inexcusable that this error occurred.
EDIT: I’m not a habitual ZSL-basher and welcome lots of the recent progress but for me this stands out as being an unacceptable and sloppy error which someone really should have picked up on.
Last edited:
I think this whole situation is a bit overblown for my liking.
I'm not sure how many times I have told this story on these forums, but anyways.
I recall when I was younger on holiday to Israel at a safari park zoo thing there was a map of course - and one particular animal on the map I was particularly keen to see was the honey badger.
I come around to this area and find a moon bear, a leopard, a fennec - but no honey badger to be found.
Second go around this area - no sign.
And eventually I resort to asking where the honey badger was - only to be informed the map was outdated and there was no honey badger to be found! Much disappointment ensued.
I think this isn't really the same thing - in the chance that someone feels strongly about seeing the ibis depicted on the map, only to find it looks differently... most visitors would respond I think? 'Ah, the bird looks a bit different from the one on the map. Anyways!'
At least here there is an ibis to be found!
Do we know where the Dik-Dik are on show?
Kalaw
Well-Known Member
The male Okapi enclosure, which, with the male having recently passed away, now only holds Natal Red Duiker.
When this was speculated upthread, I was nervous that this would indicate the zoo does not have plans to bring back an Okapi bull, but thankfully I doubt that is the case, as on my visit yesterday, the remaining female was still confined to her enclosure. Of course, it is all speculation at this point, but if they were not bringing back a male, it would make sense to give the female access to the whole space.
On the subject of the map, the new Whipsnade one has a design for Babirusa, which is lovely, as they previously used a re-textured wild boar instead. Hopefully later additions of the London Zoo map will also incorporate this design, or indeed any babirusa design, as they are far too noteworthy a species, in my opinion, to leave entirely unlabelled.
On my visit yesterday I was pleased to see that, despite it only having been in use for a day, paper copies of the newest edition of the zoo map are already being handed out, which struck me as quite impressive seeing as earlier editions seemed to take longer to be used anywhere other than on the zoo's website. I imagine that this is because SLoRA is a major exhibit, so leaving it out of the map will be more questionable than, say, leaving out the Chinese Water Deer and Ostrich, who arrived in (if memory serves) June and July last year, but weren't on paper maps during my visit in August.
I was wondering if they would share with the Okapi. Nice they are mixing the Dik-Dik with the duiker
Laboratory 7
Well-Known Member
For the moment things can change!
Gabriel Furr
Active Member
Does anybody know why/if there was a reason for the tortoises to move to their upgraded enclosure? And does anyone know if they have outdoor access in their current enclosure?
The giant tortoises do not have outdoor acccess in their current exhibit.
cornu aspersum
Well-Known Member
Unfortunately I don't know about the former question, but they don't have outdoor access in their current enclosure.Edit: cross posted with @Tim May
Gabriel Furr
Active Member
Thanks, it's a shame they don't have outdoor access, isn't there a lawn with some trees behind the new enclosure?
cornu aspersum
Well-Known Member
Don't think I've noticed the lawn but their indoor area is very spacious so I doubt they're missing much. It'll also be hard to regulate the surrounding temperature.
- Status