Jambi
Well-Known Member
Thank you for these replies. With tennisfan's post in mind, I may push the visit back to either April, May or June, we'll see.
ZSL London Zoo ZSL London Zoo News 2024
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Thank you for these replies. With tennisfan's post in mind, I may push the visit back to either April, May or June, we'll see.
Actually I have just rechecked and in Most of March 2025 the zoo will be open from 10pm to 5pm
Opening Times | London Zoo
Last week I saw one Splendid Sunbird, I didn't see any Trogons there either, but as you wrote, the second pair were much visible.
Kalaw
Well-Known Member
This was the case on Sunday as well, and it was wonderful to watch Bhanu relaxing on his raised platform while the cubs played energetically below. A family of lions altogether is a real treat, although it did make me wonder how I managed to pass one visitor pass the lions at the same time as me and complain that the exhibit was a ‘cop-out’ due to the presence of only one lion…
Wonderful to learn that the sunbirds (or at least one of them) is still there. They do like hiding in the offshow portion, behind the bamboo fencing and through the archways at the back, so can require some patience to see, but usually a short wait all but guarantees at least a brief sighting, hence my concern. The trogons, on the other hand, are slightly more of a worry, as the male in particular is usually very brave and can be seen lingering around the raised wall to the right of the walkthrough, although I won’t worry until hearing something official, as there are, of course, other explanations.
Aw that's a shame. I wonder why they left?
cornu aspersum
Well-Known Member
According to ZTL, there's also 'Deeping St James (The Exotic Pet Refuge)'.
According to ZTL the monkeys are still at London Zoo: ZootierlisteHomepage
cornu aspersum
Well-Known Member
I assume their status may not have been updated.
Laboratory 7
Well-Known Member
Or ZTL is correct and zsl still has them and someone has jumped to the zoochat default of I've not seen them so they must have gone!
cornu aspersum
Well-Known Member
Kalaw
Well-Known Member
If the spider monkeys are indeed gone, I wonder what the reasoning for it is? The facilities aren't of a poor quality, the species is decently interesting and rare, and as there were still 2.1 left at the start of the year, I can't imagine they all just passed away. The only real issue at the moment is that the spider monkeys aren't typically very active, and when they are, the window is not big enough to facilitate for all the crowds that they generate in what is already a fairly small and busy building.
Hopefully they are still there, and if not, then something interesting will go in their place.
Hopefully they are still there, and if not, then something interesting will go in their place.
cornu aspersum
Well-Known Member
I do remember the viewing to be quite cramped and awkward. It would have have been nice if the enclosure was expanded.
Kalaw
Well-Known Member
Visited today for the second time within seven days, with this visit being much more comprehensive and long-lasting than the last.
I began with Gorilla Kingdom, and was delighted to see the pair Madagascar Crested Ibis in Meet the Neighbours, my first time seeing the species at London Zoo since they arrived last summer, and indeed just my second time seeing this species in general after a very distant view in Zurich's Masoala last year, with this one being much more up-close. The White-crowned Robin-chats and the unsigned fish (presumably carp) in the pool were also much more active and visible. Kiburi (silverback) was right up to the glass indoors, and the size of him proved quite remarkable, with one of the babies being visible clinging onto the mother nearby, although sadly I couldn't find the other (most likely wrapped up with one of the many female gorillas who were lying down). The pool in the Diana Monkey indoor enclosure, which was designed with macaques in mind, and as such had me fearing that it would become unused and drained in their absence, was filled again, and much cleaner than it was back when the macaques were held, which was very nice.
Managed to see the Reeve's Muntjac in Land of the Lions very close, which was nice, as this is usually one of the hardest animals in the entire zoo to locate. All three cubs were still in the smaller 'station' enclosure, all playing, much like last visit, right up against the glass viewing area. On this visit, Bhanu was less social and could be seen in the larger moated enclosure near the vultures, where he was roaring quite magnificently throughout the day, and doing us a favour in the process by drawing crowds away from the cubs. Despite being the same time of day and the same day of the week as last time, with the cubs even more active, the crowds were significantly reduced. Managed to see the Lion House entrance sign mentioned upthread from this viewing, but was pleasantly surprised to see that you can also look down to it from a part of the lions' boardwalk, opposite the temple-themed room. A tight angle, but it is pictured below.
In Blackburn Pavilion, a Javan Green Magpie was visible (which is becoming an increasingly common sight, although seeing it used to be all but impossible), and the newly arrived Grosbeak Starlings were just as loud and impressive as last time. Thankfully, I was wrong to worry about the Splendid Sunbirds, as both were very much visible in the smaller walkthrough - the second trogon pair, however, were not, which leads me to believe that the presence of two pairs was only a temporary thing while one of them found a new home; it is of course all speculation at this point, as I couldn't find a keeper to ask on the matter, and it is equally possible that the trogons were simply hiding, but I cannot help but wonder what that second collection may be. Apologies if this is old news, but three very cute Burrowing Owl chicks are currently performing quarantine in one of the old stables of the Ambika Paul Children's Zoo, which is kept very dark and quite hard to view, but all three were visible. They very recently arrived from an unspecified collection. Regarding the camel discussion briefly mentioned upthread, the two have been separated on both of my recent visits, which does make me wonder why, as this never used to be the case.
I managed to find the Mindanao Water Monitor in the Attenborough Komodo Dragon House this time, which was wonderful, although I wouldn't be surprised if it was in front of me last time as well - the individual was much smaller than I remember it being in its old home in the Reptile House, and was very well camouflaged among the leaf litter, leading to me looking for a much larger lizard than the one that was actually present, and as such I needed a fellow visitor to point it out to me. By accident, I attended the Komodo talk, and actually found it much more informative than I had expected - among other things, I was interested to learn that it was at London Zoo where parthenogenesis (a form of asexual reproduction) was first observed in Komodos, with one of the zoo's former females laying a clutch of viable eggs. That said, the keeper admitted that Chester Zoo made the same discovery at a similar time, with both collections claiming to be where it was seen first.
The zoo was celebrating World Giraffe Day in the form of a multitude of interactive educational facilities within the Cotton Terraces. I wasn't able to find any of the Ostrich, which was odd, as if I am not mistaken the males are yet to have left for Whipsnade and the females should remain for quite some time, but as they have two (?) offshow yards this is hardly anything to worry about. No sign of the Kirk's Dik-dik who were reported as having arrived upthread, although the Natal Red Duiker made up for this by being far more active than usual. Has anyone seen them (or for that matter signage for them) since their arrival? Saw the Warthogs and African Hunting Dogs, which is normally a challenge, but it was very sad to see the Pygmy Hippo enclosure without Thug.
In the Clore Pavilion, I managed to locate the last female Red-cowled Cardinal for the first time since she moved into Rainforest Life. A very attractive bird indeed, and one that seemed to get along very well with the monkeys and such, making me wonder why she is the only bird still kept in the building. There has been a baby White-faced Saki, who is adorable and came very close at one point due to how lively the mother that she was being held by was. To answer questions upthread about the spider monkeys, it does indeed seem as though they are gone - signage is gone and some of the climbing equipment within the enclosure has been taken down. However, unless a keeper has confirmed it, this by no means guarantees that the species has left the collection - after the macaques and colobus moved, there are a lot of enclosures in Gorilla Kingdom that have been temporarily incorporated into neighbouring enclosures, but could easily welcome spider monkeys. The former sengi enclosure has been boarded over. Downstairs, there are no longer any Malagasy Giant Jumping Rats in with the Pottos and Moholi Bushbabies, but there are some in the entrance enclosure, shared with Grey Slender Loris, yet again.
I finished the day with a return to SLoRA, which I would strongly recommend visitors to leave until later on in the day due to the fairly extreme crowds at busier times. I was delighted to see that both the Sardinian Brook Salamanders and the Gidgee Spiny-tailed Skinks have had offspring, with countless remarkably young larvae (too small for a phone camera to focus on) found throughout the enclosure, on the glass and elsewhere, while two skink hatchlings could be seen in the centre of the enclosure. The real highlight, however, was to see that I was wrong about only the tadpoles of the Mallorcan Midwife Toads being on display, as a male was present in the land portion, making for the first time that I had seen an adult of this species and the first time that I had seen an enclosure featuring both tadpoles and mature frogs in a zoo. What made this encounter even better was the fact that the male was performing their namesake behaviour of carrying strings of eggs on their back!
(A poor quality image due to it having been taken from a phone, but I thought this was far too unique a behaviour for me not to showcase)
Overall, a very good visit, and it was especially nice to see the lion cubs once again, and that SLoRA is developing magnificently with even more offspring.
I began with Gorilla Kingdom, and was delighted to see the pair Madagascar Crested Ibis in Meet the Neighbours, my first time seeing the species at London Zoo since they arrived last summer, and indeed just my second time seeing this species in general after a very distant view in Zurich's Masoala last year, with this one being much more up-close. The White-crowned Robin-chats and the unsigned fish (presumably carp) in the pool were also much more active and visible. Kiburi (silverback) was right up to the glass indoors, and the size of him proved quite remarkable, with one of the babies being visible clinging onto the mother nearby, although sadly I couldn't find the other (most likely wrapped up with one of the many female gorillas who were lying down). The pool in the Diana Monkey indoor enclosure, which was designed with macaques in mind, and as such had me fearing that it would become unused and drained in their absence, was filled again, and much cleaner than it was back when the macaques were held, which was very nice.
Managed to see the Reeve's Muntjac in Land of the Lions very close, which was nice, as this is usually one of the hardest animals in the entire zoo to locate. All three cubs were still in the smaller 'station' enclosure, all playing, much like last visit, right up against the glass viewing area. On this visit, Bhanu was less social and could be seen in the larger moated enclosure near the vultures, where he was roaring quite magnificently throughout the day, and doing us a favour in the process by drawing crowds away from the cubs. Despite being the same time of day and the same day of the week as last time, with the cubs even more active, the crowds were significantly reduced. Managed to see the Lion House entrance sign mentioned upthread from this viewing, but was pleasantly surprised to see that you can also look down to it from a part of the lions' boardwalk, opposite the temple-themed room. A tight angle, but it is pictured below.
In Blackburn Pavilion, a Javan Green Magpie was visible (which is becoming an increasingly common sight, although seeing it used to be all but impossible), and the newly arrived Grosbeak Starlings were just as loud and impressive as last time. Thankfully, I was wrong to worry about the Splendid Sunbirds, as both were very much visible in the smaller walkthrough - the second trogon pair, however, were not, which leads me to believe that the presence of two pairs was only a temporary thing while one of them found a new home; it is of course all speculation at this point, as I couldn't find a keeper to ask on the matter, and it is equally possible that the trogons were simply hiding, but I cannot help but wonder what that second collection may be. Apologies if this is old news, but three very cute Burrowing Owl chicks are currently performing quarantine in one of the old stables of the Ambika Paul Children's Zoo, which is kept very dark and quite hard to view, but all three were visible. They very recently arrived from an unspecified collection. Regarding the camel discussion briefly mentioned upthread, the two have been separated on both of my recent visits, which does make me wonder why, as this never used to be the case.
I managed to find the Mindanao Water Monitor in the Attenborough Komodo Dragon House this time, which was wonderful, although I wouldn't be surprised if it was in front of me last time as well - the individual was much smaller than I remember it being in its old home in the Reptile House, and was very well camouflaged among the leaf litter, leading to me looking for a much larger lizard than the one that was actually present, and as such I needed a fellow visitor to point it out to me. By accident, I attended the Komodo talk, and actually found it much more informative than I had expected - among other things, I was interested to learn that it was at London Zoo where parthenogenesis (a form of asexual reproduction) was first observed in Komodos, with one of the zoo's former females laying a clutch of viable eggs. That said, the keeper admitted that Chester Zoo made the same discovery at a similar time, with both collections claiming to be where it was seen first.
The zoo was celebrating World Giraffe Day in the form of a multitude of interactive educational facilities within the Cotton Terraces. I wasn't able to find any of the Ostrich, which was odd, as if I am not mistaken the males are yet to have left for Whipsnade and the females should remain for quite some time, but as they have two (?) offshow yards this is hardly anything to worry about. No sign of the Kirk's Dik-dik who were reported as having arrived upthread, although the Natal Red Duiker made up for this by being far more active than usual. Has anyone seen them (or for that matter signage for them) since their arrival? Saw the Warthogs and African Hunting Dogs, which is normally a challenge, but it was very sad to see the Pygmy Hippo enclosure without Thug.
In the Clore Pavilion, I managed to locate the last female Red-cowled Cardinal for the first time since she moved into Rainforest Life. A very attractive bird indeed, and one that seemed to get along very well with the monkeys and such, making me wonder why she is the only bird still kept in the building. There has been a baby White-faced Saki, who is adorable and came very close at one point due to how lively the mother that she was being held by was. To answer questions upthread about the spider monkeys, it does indeed seem as though they are gone - signage is gone and some of the climbing equipment within the enclosure has been taken down. However, unless a keeper has confirmed it, this by no means guarantees that the species has left the collection - after the macaques and colobus moved, there are a lot of enclosures in Gorilla Kingdom that have been temporarily incorporated into neighbouring enclosures, but could easily welcome spider monkeys. The former sengi enclosure has been boarded over. Downstairs, there are no longer any Malagasy Giant Jumping Rats in with the Pottos and Moholi Bushbabies, but there are some in the entrance enclosure, shared with Grey Slender Loris, yet again.
I finished the day with a return to SLoRA, which I would strongly recommend visitors to leave until later on in the day due to the fairly extreme crowds at busier times. I was delighted to see that both the Sardinian Brook Salamanders and the Gidgee Spiny-tailed Skinks have had offspring, with countless remarkably young larvae (too small for a phone camera to focus on) found throughout the enclosure, on the glass and elsewhere, while two skink hatchlings could be seen in the centre of the enclosure. The real highlight, however, was to see that I was wrong about only the tadpoles of the Mallorcan Midwife Toads being on display, as a male was present in the land portion, making for the first time that I had seen an adult of this species and the first time that I had seen an enclosure featuring both tadpoles and mature frogs in a zoo. What made this encounter even better was the fact that the male was performing their namesake behaviour of carrying strings of eggs on their back!
(A poor quality image due to it having been taken from a phone, but I thought this was far too unique a behaviour for me not to showcase)
Overall, a very good visit, and it was especially nice to see the lion cubs once again, and that SLoRA is developing magnificently with even more offspring.
Kalaw
Well-Known Member
(Apologies for posting twice in a row, but it was too late for me to edit the old post, and regardless this is a bit of a tangent).
I have checked Zootierliste regarding the spider monkeys, and they have been moved to former holdings, with a source from 17/06/24 mentioning that the last animals left to Wildside Animal Sanctuary. Strangely, a brief search implies that there is no such thing as 'Wildside Animal Sanctuary,' but there is such a place as 'Wildside Exotic Rescue,' a facility in Herefordshire that is not open to the public and is mainly specialised in rescuing exotic animals from the pet trade, which would make the idea of receiving spider monkeys from the zoo a little odd. A more likely interpretation would be that it is a reference to the 'Wildheart Animal Sanctuary,' which is of course the rebranded Isle of Wight Zoo, and does have facilities for primates. Indeed, ZTL lists them as a former holder of the Red-faced species kept by London, although without a source.
Is anyone able to confirm or deny whether this information is true, and if so which collection 'Wildside Animal Sanctuary' was a reference to? It's a real shame that this species seems to have departed London, but at the very least if they have left for the Isle of Wight, then they will still be onshow at a third British collection. Wonder what (if anything, that is) will replace them in Rainforest Life.
I have checked Zootierliste regarding the spider monkeys, and they have been moved to former holdings, with a source from 17/06/24 mentioning that the last animals left to Wildside Animal Sanctuary. Strangely, a brief search implies that there is no such thing as 'Wildside Animal Sanctuary,' but there is such a place as 'Wildside Exotic Rescue,' a facility in Herefordshire that is not open to the public and is mainly specialised in rescuing exotic animals from the pet trade, which would make the idea of receiving spider monkeys from the zoo a little odd. A more likely interpretation would be that it is a reference to the 'Wildheart Animal Sanctuary,' which is of course the rebranded Isle of Wight Zoo, and does have facilities for primates. Indeed, ZTL lists them as a former holder of the Red-faced species kept by London, although without a source.
Is anyone able to confirm or deny whether this information is true, and if so which collection 'Wildside Animal Sanctuary' was a reference to? It's a real shame that this species seems to have departed London, but at the very least if they have left for the Isle of Wight, then they will still be onshow at a third British collection. Wonder what (if anything, that is) will replace them in Rainforest Life.
Update on the Kirk's Dik Dik- I messaged London Zoo at the beginning of May (7 weeks ago) to confirm when they arrived and when they would be going on show and they replied back "yes they've arrived safely but are off show for a few more weeks yet".
Dr. Loxodonta
Well-Known Member
They have also introduced a new mate for the current individual, part of the reason for the move.
As far as I am aware the camels are only separated for part of the day, not unusual for animals for some feeds and monitoring purposes. They were together today.
Giraffes have been restricted for a couple of weeks to a third of the normal outside area due to some construction/ maintenance in the enclosure and neighbouring building. . Looks like reintroducing an enclosure spanning between side of giraffe house and side of pygmy hippo house.
Ostriches were in the screened enclosure behind the zebras.
Giraffes have been restricted for a couple of weeks to a third of the normal outside area due to some construction/ maintenance in the enclosure and neighbouring building. . Looks like reintroducing an enclosure spanning between side of giraffe house and side of pygmy hippo house.
Ostriches were in the screened enclosure behind the zebras.
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