ZSL London Zoo ZSL London Zoo News 2024

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Visited today, not much to report. Managed to see about a dozen of the 53 individuals that are on-show over half an hour of waiting around, but they're exceedingly tough to photograph. They're really small - maybe an inch long, if that, and very green, although they blend in quite nicely with the vegetation around them. Very charismatic-looking little things. There are 27 tanks, of which 26 hold breeding pairs. Keeping fingers crossed!

Think Peters' keeled cordylids might be visible in the farthest most tank on the left beyond the Rhinoceros snake exhibit. No idea what's in the tank below the Dumeril's boa (home of the possible yellow anaconda) as I never saw anything there, but last year it housed a mountain adder. The pink snake is definitely a Corn snake though, I reckon.

As an aside, London's amphib collection has to be up there species-wise with the best in the UK, maybe even Europe. Can't think of many (or any?) zoos I've been to with a better, more well-rounded collection?
 
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According to Zootierliste, Chemnitz Tierpark has:
Axolotl, Oriental and Sasayama fire-bellied newts, Alpine, Danube, great, southern and Anatolian crested newts, Alpine, emperor, Hong Kong and cyan newts, Anderson's salamander, banded, European, North African, Oviedo and Central Spanish fire salamanders, Chinese giant salamander, Chinese and Wanggao warty newts, Dunn's oriental salamander, greater and lesser sirens, hellbender, Hokkaido, long-toed, marbled, red, seal, Siberian, southern Appalachian and Lake Patzcuaro salamanders, Italian alpine newt, Kaiser's spotted newt, marbled, roughskin and paddle-tail newts, Michoacan stream salamander, Okinawa sword-tail newt, Wenxian knobby newt, western tiger salamander, Ziegler's crocodile newt.
Anthony's poison arrow frog. bicolored, Golfoducean, green, harlequin, yellow-banded and black and blue poison dart frogs, dyeing dart frog, Amazon, golden, Maranon, spotted, strawberry and blessed poison frogs, Mission golden-eyed, Cuban, European, file-eyed, masked, orange-eyed, palm, red-eyed and common tree frogs, Tonkin bug-eyed frog, bony-head, yellow-bellied and common Indian toads, common midwife toad, giant and Oriental fire-bellied toads, green mantella, green puddle frog, greenhouse frog, Himalayan flying frog, lemur and orange-legged leaf frogs, lime and white-spotted reed frogs, little rock frog, Loja and Riobamba marsupial frogs, long-nosed horned frog, Majorcan midwife toad, Marbled Madagascan rainfrog, northern leopard frog, pied warted treefrog, Rio Pescado stubfoot toad, Wallace's flying frog, yellow-spotted tree toad, Yuscatan casque-headed tree frog
 
Visited today, not much to report. Managed to see about a dozen of the 53 individuals that are on-show over half an hour of waiting around, but they're exceedingly tough to photograph. They're really small - maybe an inch long, if that, and very green, although they blend in quite nicely with the vegetation around them. Very charismatic-looking little things. There are 27 tanks, of which 26 hold breeding pairs. Keeping fingers crossed!

Think Peters' keeled cordylids might be visible in the farthest most tank on the left beyond the Rhinoceros snake exhibit. No idea what's in the tank below the Dumeril's boa (home of the possible yellow anaconda) as I never saw anything there, but last year it housed a mountain adder. The pink snake is definitely a Corn snake though, I reckon.

As an aside, London's amphib collection has to be up there species-wise with the best in the UK, maybe even Europe. Can't think of many (or any?) zoos I've been to with a better, more well-rounded collection?
Some nice info on the Darwin’s Frogs. I think if all of London’s amphibian collection was on show it’d be on top hands down
 
Don’t know if it’s been mentioned yet that the enclosure has been opened up and the zebra giraffe and ostriches are now in together. Only zebra and ostriches out when I visited though, and both sticking to their respective sides still.

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Don’t know if it’s been mentioned yet that the enclosure has been opened up and the zebra giraffe and ostriches are now in together. Only zebra and ostriches out when I visited though, and both sticking to their respective sides still.

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This happens a couple of times a week/month as far as I know, since at least April this year. No idea what the long-term plan is aside from mixing all 3 species, but I've never seen all 3 out together. As you say, usually ostrich and zebra and generally staying away from each other. It's quite entertaining to watch the keepers removing the cables and the zebras in particularly trying to work out if they're scared or intrigued.
 
A few comments wrt to Rohain's post today,
Scaffolding was being errected on the full length inside of the hunting Dogs enclosure a week or so ago. .Some nearby areas used to store materials for or removed from the enclosure. All the screening look like simply resused screens.
There are no african hunting dogs at London currently - hence the opportunity to work on the enclosure.
Different Bokiboky are exhibited in both the lemur house and in the Rainforest enclosues..
Casson building tends to feature in ticketed meet Santa experience and some schools events this time of year.

What are you referring to as the 'Lemur House' - the old Roundhouse that previously lemurs or the current building adjacent to the lemur walk through? Do the Bokiboky have any outdoor enclosures?
 
Visited today, not much to report. Managed to see about a dozen of the 53 individuals that are on-show over half an hour of waiting around, but they're exceedingly tough to photograph. They're really small - maybe an inch long, if that, and very green, although they blend in quite nicely with the vegetation around them. Very charismatic-looking little things. There are 27 tanks, of which 26 hold breeding pairs. Keeping fingers crossed!

Think Peters' keeled cordylids might be visible in the farthest most tank on the left beyond the Rhinoceros snake exhibit. No idea what's in the tank below the Dumeril's boa (home of the possible yellow anaconda) as I never saw anything there, but last year it housed a mountain adder. The pink snake is definitely a Corn snake though, I reckon.

As an aside, London's amphib collection has to be up there species-wise with the best in the UK, maybe even Europe. Can't think of many (or any?) zoos I've been to with a better, more well-rounded collection?
1] Does London Zoo still have Eth. Mountain Adder?
2] Does anything now inhabit the old Patzcuaro Salamander Tank?
 
1] Does London Zoo still have Eth. Mountain Adder?
2] Does anything now inhabit the old Patzcuaro Salamander Tank?

Was at London Zoo yesterday - Ethiopian mountain adders are still on-show, and the Patzcuaro salamander tank is still empty.

Saw all the on-show species in the reptile and amphibian house yesterday, as well as the corn snake in the off-show section. Saw two Darwin's frogs, one on each visit to their viewing window.

In news from Tiny Giants yesterday, the golden-eyed stick insects are now off-show (the enclosure they were in is home to the leaf insects again), and the tanks for both the golden weaver ants and the giant vinegaroon were covered over and apparently empty.
 
What are you referring to as the 'Lemur House' - the old Roundhouse that previously lemurs or the current building adjacent to the lemur walk through? Do the Bokiboky have any outdoor enclosures?
The 'lemur house' is how some regulars, myself included, describe the room of the Clore that houses Aye-ayes and the indoors for Ring-tailed Lemurs (as well as Lac Aloatra Gentle Lemurs until they recently moved out, and presumably their former enclosure is where the bokies live now).

Not an official term used by the zoo, and a fairly misleading name as it is not a standalone building, rather part of the Clore, but it is fitting with it only holding Madagascan species, and until recently only lemurs, as well as the rather redundant one-way system meaning that it can only be entered via the lemur walkthrough. Of course the walkthrough itself being one-way makes sense, but the indoor portion less so...

Nice to hear that a fair few people are having luck with the Darwin's Frogs. Can't wait to try my own luck with them soon!
 
as well as Lac Aloatra Gentle Lemurs until they recently moved out, and presumably their former enclosure is where the bokies live now).
The bokiboky were found at the front of the house, in an enclosure right next to door, leading to the walkthrough which is opposite the ring-tail lemurs' chutes for going outside.
 
Was wondering if anyone has any more information about the state of the following reptile species at London (i.e. are they still at the collection, any plans to move them on-display, whereabouts are they kept offshow), all of which were held at the zoo on 01/01/24 per the zoo's stocklist but are neither onshow nor in the semi-offshow 'breeding rooms' in SLoRA:

- Alligator Snapping Turtle
- Middle East Spur-thighed Tortoise
- Dumeril's Boa

Especially curious about the snapping turtles, which arrived from Paignton in May 2023, ahead of SLoRA's opening, giving myself and others the misleading impression that they were intended for SLoRA, although unfortunately this never came to be. I wonder if them, or either of the other two, will receive new independent homes, similar to what the Mindanao Water Monitors which were also once kept in SLoRA now have in the Komodo house. Least likely for the tortoises seeing as the zoo only had a single male remaining in January.
 
Was wondering if anyone has any more information about the state of the following reptile species at London (i.e. are they still at the collection, any plans to move them on-display, whereabouts are they kept offshow), all of which were held at the zoo on 01/01/24 per the zoo's stocklist but are neither onshow nor in the semi-offshow 'breeding rooms' in SLoRA:

- Alligator Snapping Turtle
- Middle East Spur-thighed Tortoise
- Dumeril's Boa

Especially curious about the snapping turtles, which arrived from Paignton in May 2023, ahead of SLoRA's opening, giving myself and others the misleading impression that they were intended for SLoRA, although unfortunately this never came to be. I wonder if them, or either of the other two, will receive new independent homes, similar to what the Mindanao Water Monitors which were also once kept in SLoRA now have in the Komodo house. Least likely for the tortoises seeing as the zoo only had a single male remaining in January.
I think the snapping turtles could have gone to Whipsnade as they have them behind the scenes. The tortoise is anybodies guess
 
Does anyone know the name of the species of fish that's sharing the Philippine crocodile's enclosure? Small brown striped fish.
 
Does anyone know the name of the species of fish that's sharing the Philippine crocodile's enclosure? Small brown striped fish.
The crocodile pool as well as a few other tanks throughout SLoRA (certainly the caecilians and probably a few others) hold Bristlenose Plecos (Ancistrus sp.). Per the 2024 stock list, the zoo is not aware of their exact species. Not exactly striped, but certainly brown and with very dense spots which could resemble stripes if moving by fast.

If it wasn’t a pleco, then that is likely a new species. If so, then it is very good to have more onshow fish species since the aquarium’s close, but I suspect a pleco is what you saw.
 
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