ZSL London Zoo ZSL London Zoo News 2024
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Baringogiraffe12
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These are the first cubs born since the new exhibit was opened to survive, yes.
Not a bad start to the year for London, two gorillas born, three lion cubs and the new reptile/amphib exhibit opening.
Baringogiraffe12
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I'd be interested to know if they did plan on breeding Asim and Gaysha again, I would bet against them breeding again with them having six cubs already and the two females at Paignton (their offspring) are in a non-breeding situation.
Kalaw
Well-Known Member
Fantastic news in all regards - brilliant for the animals in question and the keepers that care for them, brilliant for London as a whole (no doubt lion cubs are an excellent tool for the marketing department!) and brilliant from a conservational standpoint as Bhanu and Arya are, I believe, subspecies-pure Asiatics (unless the recent taxonomic changes may bring that into question?). Such an exciting time for ZSL and London Zoo.
Two adults, Bhanu and Arya
Whom is the male parent?
Bhanu.
I've forgotten to visit the water deer on my last two visits much to my later frustration!
in terms of timing, I've found the gorillas to be out and about mid to late afternoon, so if they are indoors or not visible earlier, you could try a quick final visit before closing time. I would agree Rainforest / Night-life are best visited towards the end of the day as they tend to be less busy with visitors and the bats are more active. The good news is that the since last weekend the closing time is 6pm, and the visitor numbers thin out after around 4pm so the final two hours are always my favourite time to visit.
If the weather is cold look for where the heaters are positioned - the tigers have recently been in their "cave" near the entrance opposite gorilla kingdom. The female lion has just given birth so you will be lucky to see her, but the male Bhanu, is often out and roaring. As others have said here, with Monkey Valley your best bet is to look across from the Into Africa area when you arrive out of the tunnel and see if they are active or not - it's wonderful if they are and you get to walk through amongst them, but chances are you should be prepared not to see them out.
Final piece of advice: don't be shy of asking the keepers or volunteers about feeding times or where/when to see the animals if you can't see them, they are very willing to help.
Kalaw
Well-Known Member
That's odd, as I have found on recent visits that the gorillas are most active in the early to mid afternoon, but are entirely indoors (or sometimes not even visible, often retreating to the offshow portion of their indoor area on the other side of their overhead passage) by the late afternoon. On my visit last Friday, for example, we had some excellent gorilla activity shortly after lunch time exploring the outdoor area, before they went indoors, and then after some great activity there, they went to the offshow portion. A return to their exhibit later on in the day revealed that they were still offshow. Perhaps, as a result of their intelligence, gorillas have a more varied routine, or perhaps the birth of the two babies has made them more unpredictable?
Gorillas have a fairly regular routine which may be tweaked depending upon weather. When scheduled the gorilla talk is normally at 2pm which typically coincides with one of the outside feeds. There are other feeds at other times of the day but are more variable in timings.
Thanks, that's good to know as I usually leave them until later. Either way, since the arrival of Kiburi they've been outside much more frequently in general, and often as the whole group I've found.
cerperal
Well-Known Member
I've done about a quarter of the overall collection and if the quality is maintained I think it's going to be quite easy to sum up my thoughts. Kiburi was outside when I arrived, but then went in for a kip. He's a thoroughly impressive gorilla. Managed to see one of the babies as well, but hopefully I'll see the other when I go back later.
I've had a gander at where the Congo Caecilians are meant to be but can't find any vivariums, aside from one that's had a blind drawn on it. But the entire place is absolutely packed today so again I'll have another look later.
SLoRA is worse than the tube! But all the exhibits are fantastic. I've done a decent number of reptile houses both at home and on the continent and though the collection is smaller than most the quality of exhibits and what's in them is pretty much second to none. Thanks for the pointers all, they've been an absolute godsend so far to let me be more directed (and dodge in between the crowds).
I've had a gander at where the Congo Caecilians are meant to be but can't find any vivariums, aside from one that's had a blind drawn on it. But the entire place is absolutely packed today so again I'll have another look later.
SLoRA is worse than the tube! But all the exhibits are fantastic. I've done a decent number of reptile houses both at home and on the continent and though the collection is smaller than most the quality of exhibits and what's in them is pretty much second to none. Thanks for the pointers all, they've been an absolute godsend so far to let me be more directed (and dodge in between the crowds).
Excellent news, and relief! Considering Bhanu’s age, and his failure to dominate the previous lionesses, I thought it would never happen.
Oh that’s awesome!
The info I got on a visit last year was that the tiger pair wouldn't breed anymore. They would house the current pair until they pass so It would be a while for new cubs to be born.
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