ZSL London Zoo ZSL London Zoo News 2024

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Rohin said:
I too would prefer that the Cassons remain a swine house since they and taxonomic sections in general are getting rarer I feel. Although I feel like Malayan tapir specifically could do with more holders especially in the UK.
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The problem with getting Malayan Tapir again is availability. They would most likely have to import from Asia. Which is obviously do-able but complicated, expensive and time consuming
 
Nisha said:
The problem with getting Malayan Tapir again is availability. They would most likely have to import from Asia. Which is obviously do-able but complicated, expensive and time consuming
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I think housing a male is not that hard although they would have to be open to keeping a bachelor.
 
amur leopard said:
New year, new thread. Visited today - not too much to report but:
  • The little side enclosure at the far end of the Blackburn walkthrough (formerly oriole aviary) has been done up and is apparently awaiting new inhabitants. Given the great work done by the bird curator in recent times, hopeful that it'll be something nice.
  • Lilac breasted rollers now in the Blackburn walkthrough as well as the side enclosures.
  • Neither of the tunnels were closed today or a few days ago - wonder if the works will happen a bit later?
  • Part of the separation barrier between the okapi outdoors has been opened up - not sure what it might mean but...
  • Mongooses elusive as ever...
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Hi Amur,

Hoping to get in contact with you regarding interest around one of your images. Not sure if you need to follow me first to open up direct messaging here?

thx
 
Had a good visit to the zoo today. The babirusa piglets were lovely to watch, and I got a front row seat to lots of play-fighting while I was sheltering from the rain in the Casson's. Both boys are very nosey, and one in particular seems keen on straying away from his mother.

Managed to not just see a Chinese giant salamander, but see both salamanders and the Philippe crocodile who was tucked away at the back of their enclosure. Did notice several empty enclosures in the reptile house that I don't remember being empty, so does anyone know who was previously in:
1. The exhibit opposite the mountain chicken frog
2. The exhibit left of the emerald tree boa
3. The exhibit between the big-headed turtle and the roti snake-necked turtle.

Otherwise the only new thing I noticed was is a sign up by the On's enclosure regarding pacing being "part of the okapi love life". Combined with Mzimu being very interested in trying to get to her enclosure, it did make me wonder whether we should be expecting babies in the semi-distant future.
 
equidae said:
Had a good visit to the zoo today. The babirusa piglets were lovely to watch, and I got a front row seat to lots of play-fighting while I was sheltering from the rain in the Casson's. Both boys are very nosey, and one in particular seems keen on straying away from his mother.

Managed to not just see a Chinese giant salamander, but see both salamanders and the Philippe crocodile who was tucked away at the back of their enclosure. Did notice several empty enclosures in the reptile house that I don't remember being empty, so does anyone know who was previously in:
1. The exhibit opposite the mountain chicken frog
2. The exhibit left of the emerald tree boa
3. The exhibit between the big-headed turtle and the roti snake-necked turtle.

Otherwise the only new thing I noticed was is a sign up by the On's enclosure regarding pacing being "part of the okapi love life". Combined with Mzimu being very interested in trying to get to her enclosure, it did make me wonder whether we should be expecting babies in the semi-distant future.
Click to expand...
1) Gidgee Skinks. A keeper told me they will be replaced by either Rhinoceros Ratsnakes or a new species of lizard for the zoo (not sure what)
2) Lake Patzcuaro Salamander - off display for a little while now (stock list states only one female at the zoo)
3) Vietnamese Pond Turtle - all turtles on display are kept alone to prevent fighting, not sure where this turtle is but sometimes hides on land
 
I went for another good long visit to London Zoo today. These are the things I can immediately think of that are of note:
  • The viewing window to the Oriental fire-bellied toad has been covered up again, and the signage has all been removed.
  • A couple of new bird species have been added to the Bird Safari walkthrough - there were signs for white-faced whistling duck (which I did not see) and hooded merganser (of which I saw two).
  • Don't know if this is news exactly, but I noticed that the small containment cage for the small Indian mongooses has now been opened up and lots of lengths of piping have been laid down in the main outdoor enclosure, so I assume the mongooses can now access the full space. Didn't see any however.
  • Quite a few changes in Tiny Giants:
    • The jungle nymphs have moved into the golden-eyed stick insect tank, just after the big introductory section with the locusts, American cockroaches and garden chafers.
    • In turn, the jungle nymph tank is now home to a completely new species for the zoo - the hooded giant katydid (Siliquofera grandis).
    • The African field crickets in the cylindrical tank have been replaced by a large group of question-mark cockroaches, which have been kept at the zoo but lived off-show each time I have visited.
    • The golden-eyed stick insects have in turn replaced the Philippine leaf insects.
    • There is a new colony of honeybees, visible in a standard hive in a small garden next to the observation beehive. A sign on the glass hive says that the zoo is waiting until the colony establishes and starts producing more queens before moving bees into this observation hive.
    • The former gooty sapphire ornamental tarantula tank near the end of the spider section is now home to a Mexican redknee tarantula (Brachypelma hamorii), presumably one from the breeding room next to the spider walkthrough.
  • It was very good to see all four bokiboky - the two in the old gentle lemur enclosure and the two in Rainforest Life were all active.
  • The tree shrew was now signed in Night Life, although I did not see it. Also did not see the harvest mice, giant rat, mouse lemur or moholi galago, but I did manage to get good views of all three loris species for the first time, which was a positive.
  • Both gorilla babies were now 'toddling', and going a little bit away from their mothers.
  • Also had a very good view of both the babirusa piglets.
  • A pair of macaws (I think blue-and-yellow, but the latest stocklist does not mention them) absconded during the bird show. I do not know if the birds had been retrieved by the time I left, although there was a keeper walking around and scanning the trees in Regent's Park.
  • A question - does anyone know what, if anything, is being kept in the room just across from the burrowing owl aviary at the entrance to the petting zoo? The window was exposed and inside the room there were a couple of racks with soil-filled tanks on them.
 
DesertRhino150 said:
I went for another good long visit to London Zoo today. These are the things I can immediately think of that are of note:
  • The viewing window to the Oriental fire-bellied toad has been covered up again, and the signage has all been removed.
  • A couple of new bird species have been added to the Bird Safari walkthrough - there were signs for white-faced whistling duck (which I did not see) and hooded merganser (of which I saw two).
  • Don't know if this is news exactly, but I noticed that the small containment cage for the small Indian mongooses has now been opened up and lots of lengths of piping have been laid down in the main outdoor enclosure, so I assume the mongooses can now access the full space. Didn't see any however.
  • Quite a few changes in Tiny Giants:
    • The jungle nymphs have moved into the golden-eyed stick insect tank, just after the big introductory section with the locusts, American cockroaches and garden chafers.
    • In turn, the jungle nymph tank is now home to a completely new species for the zoo - the hooded giant katydid (Siliquofera grandis).
    • The African field crickets in the cylindrical tank have been replaced by a large group of question-mark cockroaches, which have been kept at the zoo but lived off-show each time I have visited.
    • The golden-eyed stick insects have in turn replaced the Philippine leaf insects.
    • There is a new colony of honeybees, visible in a standard hive in a small garden next to the observation beehive. A sign on the glass hive says that the zoo is waiting until the colony establishes and starts producing more queens before moving bees into this observation hive.
    • The former gooty sapphire ornamental tarantula tank near the end of the spider section is now home to a Mexican redknee tarantula (Brachypelma hamorii), presumably one from the breeding room next to the spider walkthrough.
  • It was very good to see all four bokiboky - the two in the old gentle lemur enclosure and the two in Rainforest Life were all active.
  • The tree shrew was now signed in Night Life, although I did not see it. Also did not see the harvest mice, giant rat, mouse lemur or moholi galago, but I did manage to get good views of all three loris species for the first time, which was a positive.
  • Both gorilla babies were now 'toddling', and going a little bit away from their mothers.
  • Also had a very good view of both the babirusa piglets.
  • A pair of macaws (I think blue-and-yellow, but the latest stocklist does not mention them) absconded during the bird show. I do not know if the birds had been retrieved by the time I left, although there was a keeper walking around and scanning the trees in Regent's Park.
  • A question - does anyone know what, if anything, is being kept in the room just across from the burrowing owl aviary at the entrance to the petting zoo? The window was exposed and inside the room there were a couple of racks with soil-filled tanks on them.
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Thanks for the update, some interesting news in there.

Lovely to see two new additions to the bird collection, even if they both are fairly common in zoos. The bird department has been growing steadily over the past few years, presumably down to the appointment of Gary Ward as Curator of Birds, and it is nice to see that expansion continue.

Shame about the toads - I never got to see them on-display. I wonder if that area will ever hold anything permanently onshow.

The macaws would have been Blue-throated Macaw (Ara glaucogularis), which do look very similar to Blue-and-yellow, a species which as you say the collection does not hold, and has not done so since the early 2010s.
 
DesertRhino150 said:
  • Don't know if this is news exactly, but I noticed that the small containment cage for the small Indian mongooses has now been opened up and lots of lengths of piping have been laid down in the main outdoor enclosure, so I assume the mongooses can now access the full space. Didn't see any however.
Click to expand...

The mongooses can indeed access the whole enclosure now; I saw one leg it back to the containment cage and then to the pipe leading to an offshow area once it realised I was watching.

You need real patience to see the mongooses. I was successful on my last visit by waiting for a good half hour at around 3:30 pm. One popped its head out for long enough to get a half-decent photo, and then made a few subsequent showings at the entrance to the pipe. Hopefully they'll eventually become a bit more showy, although I don't have high hopes.
 
DesertRhino150 said:
The one other thing I have just remembered - the Alaotran gentle lemurs no longer seem to be on-show; they were not visible in the former spider monkey enclosure and the signage seems to have been taken down as well.
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i don’t believe the signage for the Gentle lemurs was ever placed there so what appears to be removed signage is actually from the earlier spider monkey departure,
 
Think with the death of one of the orginal giraffe in London zoo they have said rather than whipsnade housing 6 giraffe including Wilfred which could be tight space wise and London zoo only housing 2 but has space for 3 .. it make sense to move him in the hope he will be moved on in 2025! Khari was a bull at London zoo and came from whipsnade doing the same thing till another zoo was found!
 
DesertRhino150 said:
I went for another good long visit to London Zoo today. These are the things I can immediately think of that are of note:
  • The viewing window to the Oriental fire-bellied toad has been covered up again, and the signage has all been removed.
  • A couple of new bird species have been added to the Bird Safari walkthrough - there were signs for white-faced whistling duck (which I did not see) and hooded merganser (of which I saw two).
  • Don't know if this is news exactly, but I noticed that the small containment cage for the small Indian mongooses has now been opened up and lots of lengths of piping have been laid down in the main outdoor enclosure, so I assume the mongooses can now access the full space. Didn't see any however.
  • Quite a few changes in Tiny Giants:
    • The jungle nymphs have moved into the golden-eyed stick insect tank, just after the big introductory section with the locusts, American cockroaches and garden chafers.
    • In turn, the jungle nymph tank is now home to a completely new species for the zoo - the hooded giant katydid (Siliquofera grandis).
    • The African field crickets in the cylindrical tank have been replaced by a large group of question-mark cockroaches, which have been kept at the zoo but lived off-show each time I have visited.
    • The golden-eyed stick insects have in turn replaced the Philippine leaf insects.
    • There is a new colony of honeybees, visible in a standard hive in a small garden next to the observation beehive. A sign on the glass hive says that the zoo is waiting until the colony establishes and starts producing more queens before moving bees into this observation hive.
    • The former gooty sapphire ornamental tarantula tank near the end of the spider section is now home to a Mexican redknee tarantula (Brachypelma hamorii), presumably one from the breeding room next to the spider walkthrough.
  • It was very good to see all four bokiboky - the two in the old gentle lemur enclosure and the two in Rainforest Life were all active.
  • The tree shrew was now signed in Night Life, although I did not see it. Also did not see the harvest mice, giant rat, mouse lemur or moholi galago, but I did manage to get good views of all three loris species for the first time, which was a positive.
  • Both gorilla babies were now 'toddling', and going a little bit away from their mothers.
  • Also had a very good view of both the babirusa piglets.
  • A pair of macaws (I think blue-and-yellow, but the latest stocklist does not mention them) absconded during the bird show. I do not know if the birds had been retrieved by the time I left, although there was a keeper walking around and scanning the trees in Regent's Park.
  • A question - does anyone know what, if anything, is being kept in the room just across from the burrowing owl aviary at the entrance to the petting zoo? The window was exposed and inside the room there were a couple of racks with soil-filled tanks on them.
Click to expand...
Any news regarding the Monkey Valley if they might have replaced the Alfa male yet?
 
Rosie183 said:
Think with the death of one of the orginal giraffe in London zoo they have said rather than whipsnade housing 6 giraffe including Wilfred which could be tight space wise and London zoo only housing 2 but has space for 3 .. it make sense to move him in the hope he will be moved on in 2025! Khari was a bull at London zoo and came from whipsnade doing the same thing till another zoo was found!
Click to expand...

Khari was temporarily housed at Chessington with the bachelor group not London.. That was supposed to be only for a few months but kept on getting extended until the the move to Europe was eventually completed.
 
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