ZSL London Zoo ZSL London Zoo News 2024

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The burrowing owls when in quarantine were housed in a different corner area of Animal Adventure which had limited viewing.

Their current onshow enclosure is at the entrance to Animal Adventure.
 
Strange how they took so long to make these announcements about the gorilla babies,
given it was pretty obvious which sex they were very early on and became an open secret. But it's said there may have been some doubt over the sex of one of them which meant to be sure, may have delayed it somewhat. But glad I was not wrong anyhow....
 
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Also interesting that with these names they have deviated from the African -sounding names which seem almost obligatory for baby gorillas these days. I quite like the change. Mind you, 'Gernot' is a very unusual name too, I believe there is some history there as to the choice. And an advance warning- from his current look, Gernot is likely to be a very handsome-looking silverback.
 
Pertinax said:
Also interesting that with these names they have deviated from the African -sounding names which seem almost obligatory for baby gorillas these days. I quite like the change. Mind you, 'Gernot' is a very unusual name too, I believe there is some history there as to the choice. And an advance warning- from his current look, Gernot is likely to be a very handsome-looking silverback.
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Gernot was named after the partner of a significant donor to ZSL’s international work for wildlife.

Venus are Juno are of course the names of Roman goddesses, symbolising love and fertility; and marriage and childbirth respectively. The use of Roman names is certainly novel for this species. Londoninum was the capital of Roman Britain (and founded by Romans). Throughout Europe, there’s countless cities with significance to the Roman Empire; but within Britain, Londinium (London) was arguably the most significant. As these infants mature and disperse to other zoos, it’s a nice tie to their birthplace.
 
Pertinax said:
Also interesting that with these names they have deviated from the African -sounding names which seem almost obligatory for baby gorillas these days. I quite like the change. Mind you, 'Gernot' is a very unusual name too, I believe there is some history there as to the choice. And an advance warning- from his current look, Gernot is likely to be a very handsome-looking silverback.
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How well represented is Kumbuka’s (Gernot’s father’s) bloodline?
 
Panthera1981 said:
How well represented is Kumbuka’s (Gernot’s father’s) bloodline?
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Not that highly. Kumbuka was one of only two offspring (both male) of a wildcaught male Keke. The other one (Kumbuka's halfbrother) is in Lisbon Zoo and only has one offspring himself. So on that side, Gernot could be potentially valuable as a breeding male in time. I rather hope he doesn't leave the UK but that's always decided by EEP depending on genetics etc.
 
Tetradactyla said:
I visited the zoo today for, I believe, the first time this year, ostensibly to get my first look at the Secret Life of Reptiles and Amphibians (which I enjoyed despite not being a particularly big aficionado of frogs) and the baby gorillas. Effie seems to be more inclined to lay her offspring on the floor next to her rather than hold them, like Mjukuu does, which led to a slightly dicey moment when Effie took a few steps away to grab a piece of food, only to turn around and find a suddenly altogether-too-close Mjukuu attempting to retrieve the "unattended" infant! I've never seen a teleporting gorilla before, but Mjukuu didn't half shift when she saw her chance! :D

Things of potential note:

- The Blackburn Pavilion was closed today for some "sprucing up".

- Overheard a member of staff say that the coppery titi monkey in Rainforest Life has lost "her" mate. Unfortunately I was on my way out of the door at this point, and unable to go back and check, but I don't recall seeing more than one of them as I walked around :(

- As noted earlier in this thread, the white-faced saki monkeys in Rainforest Life have indeed had another baby, bringing the group number up to four (mum Kaituma, dad Milagre, and a previous female (?) offspring).
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Sorry if this is repeating an earlier response, but speaking to one of the keepers yesterday, it seems that sadly both of the old pair of Titi monkeys have now died, and a new pair are expected to be introduced but are currently off show
 
LucasRyan said:
The remaining hunting dogs were euthanised this week due to age related health issues. The enclosure remains empty for now, but in the near future the plan is to bring in a new male and female hunting dog pair, maybe the ones at Whipsnade.
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So sad when that decision has to be made. My thoughts are with the keepers and vets who have to process this.
 
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