ZSL London Zoo My first visit to London Zoo

[Bubbles]

I was planning to visit my local Zoo (Flamingo Land) later this year, but as it turned out I got to see London Zoo during a 5 day trip, and it was my ever visit. I was quite excited! I've been to London a few times, but have never had the chance to go, so didn't know what to expect so this is my account of the approx 5 hours we spent looking around.

We travelled on the Tube to Camden and from there it was only a 10 walk.. not far at all, so that was good and it was well sign-posted. I was surprised to find the Zoo divided by a bridge and an underpass, only because I didn't know there was Regent's Canal running through part of the Zoo! lol

First impressions was a little disappointing. At the point of entry there appeared to be an abandoned cage or aviary and nothing in it, but maybe they'll put something there eventually.

The first animals we went to see were the monkeys. It was quite dark inside, so taking photos was going to be tricky without using flash.

We saw the Goeldi's, Cotton-headed and Tamarin monkeys first.. some of them were effectively in an open enclosure inside the building, but they seemed to stay in amongst the habitat created for them, although one Taramin climbed up to the roof while I was trying to take a photo of it!

To be continued..

 

[Bubbles]

Meerkats

The cutest animals and the ones I like the most are the Meerkats.. and it was lovely to see the young ones huddled together with the parents and being able to take a photo of them all. However, I'm just curious to know why they were sleeping in their 'nest' out in the open? It did seem rather odd. Is that what they do in the wild when bringing up their young.. sleep in the open like that?

To be continued...

 

[Bubbles]

The Owls

I liked looking at the different species of Owls and we saw a couple of staff members try and worm and put a ring on one small owl, which was interesting to watch as it was giving them the evil eye. lol As the owls were behind wire, you need to put the lens in one of the gaps to get a decent shot, which I think I must have done for these. What I really wanted was one of those enormous cameras the Japenese seem to always have, the ones with the long lens attached. lol

To be continued...

 

[Bubbles]

The Snowdon Aviary

We walked through the enormous Snowdon Aviary to see all the birds, although I was a little worried I'd get covered in bird poo.. just one of the hazards you have to face I guess. lol

To be continued...

 

[Bubbles]

Birds

There were some lovely and colourful birds in just in front of the Snowdon Aviary, although they were difficult to spot at times. I suppose if you had all the time in the world to wait around you'd eventually see them all, but as some were quite shy taking photos proved quite tricky. I couldn't see the Kookaburra at first, so went off to look at the others and while looking at a Touraco I thought I heard the Kookaburra, so went back to find it perched on a branch, so I crept up very quietly and took the photo before it flew off towards the back of the aviary and out of sight again. In another part of the Zoo there were also Macaws and Hornbills... (see attached photos)

To be continued...

 

[Bubbles]

Reptile House

I quite liked the Reptile House.. as long as everything was behind glass I was fine, although I don't want to give the impression I was scared or anything... although I was glad there wasn't time to visit the Bug House.. lol

To be continued...

 

[Bubbles]

Giraffes

There appeared to be one Giraffe and one outside, so took the following photos..

To be continued...

 

[bongorob]

I'm glad you had a good day out at London.

 

[Bubbles]

Gorillas

I liked watching the Gorillas. There were 3 outside (including the silverback) and one inside. We were told to remain quiet as they were just introducing the three to the one inside. The Silveback kept going to see the one inside, via a special viewing hole, but couldn't get at it...probably just as well for the time being. lol The facial expressions of the one inside were funny..it looked really grumpy and fed up.

To be continued...

 

[Bubbles]

Komodo Dragon

I loved the Komodo Dragon's face peering at my camera ... it stayed there for ages hardly moving.. probably wondering what strange creatures we were standing behind the glass. lol

To be continued...

 

[Bubbles]

The Aquarium

I was most surprised to walk into the Aquarium and find it literally went on and on. I didn't realise it was so big... and so dark! Taking photos without flash in the darkness was almost impossible, but I managed a few, after trying to find the ones with the brightest tanks. lol

To be continued..

 

[mazfc]

I'm a bit confused, are these gorillas at flamingo land?

 

[Bubbles]

Other Animals..

Some photos of other animals we saw.. although the last one is just a genaral view of The Outback.

To be continued...

 

[taun]

I'm a bit confused, are these gorillas at flamingo land?

Bubbles has posted this in the Flamingo land forum not London.

 

[taun]

I liked watching the Gorillas. There were 3 outside (including the silverback) and one inside. We were told to remain quiet as they were just introducing the three to the one inside. The Silveback kept going to see the one inside, via a special viewing hole, but couldn't get at it...probably just as well for the time being. lol The facial expressions of the one inside were funny..it looked really grumpy and fed up.

To be continued...

Bubbles I think you may have mistaken a old female gorilla for a male (old females will sometimes look like she has a silver back).

This was done countless times at Bristol recently, to be fair thou the Bristol female gorillas are quiet big (in the belly that is).

 

[Bubbles]

We spent about 5 hours looking around the Zoo, (included half an hour lunch break) and still didn't see everything. I also could have done with going back and looking at various animals again, but didn't have time. So, if you're planning a visit allow 5 hours at the very least. We missed out seeing the Bugs, Blackburn Pavillion, Animal Adventure and Feeding of the Penguins, but did take in the show at the ampitheatre. I was knackered afterwards, you don't realise how much walking you do. I thought the Guidebook, with map included, was very good and it included a little bit of the Zoo's early history. I didn't have time to look at it going round, but read it afterwards and it mentioned some of the original buildings which I happened to have taken photos of. Looking forward to visiting my local Zoo later this year now, although it's very expensive at £25, compared to £18 we paid for London.

 

[mazfc]

Bubbles has posted this in the Flamingo land forum not London.

The silverback threw me a bit.

I haven't been to london zoo for years, would love another visit, maybe after kesho has settled.

 

[gentle lemur]

I'm sure Taun is right about the gorillas.
Kesho, who is only a potential silverback as yet, was the one you were lucky to see inside. The three outside were the females, Mjukuu is still quite slender (in spite of her pregnancy), but Zaire and Effie are quite large females, so if they are sitting down it is possible to mistake them for males, although when they walk it is easier to see that they are smaller and rounder than a male would be.
I saw 3 giraffes today (one adult and two part grown) otherwise I would agree with almost all of your report - but you missed a treat in the Blackburn Aviary, which is one of my favourite parts of the zoo - African pygmy geese, Mount Apo lorikeets, hooded pittas and (best of all) the blue-crowned lories.

Alan

 

[volvox]

I very much enjoyed your appreciative review Bubbles... but you'll have to come back because you missed so much! Especially the aardvarks in Animal Adventure, and yes, the Blackburn Pavilion. By the way, it was nice of you to try not to use your flash, but really it's only the gorillas who mind, all that camera flashing does irritate them, but no other animals seem to notice. Yes, there are three giraffes at the moment, and two new female African hunting dogs have just been introduced to the existing four brothers, so here's hoping for a bit of action there! Kesho's introduction to the three females is going very well so far, fingers crossed...

 

[Pertinax]

Kesho's introduction to the three females is going very well so far, fingers crossed...

Has he been with each of them yet?