ZSL London Zoo Memories of London Zoo (and whipsnade)

C

CZJimmy

Well-Known Member
Based on the similar thread in the Chester forum, I thought I would start one about London (and Whipsnade can be included as well)

My first visit was in the late nineties/early milennium...

I remember someone poking the male gorilla with some straw until the gorilla just pulled the straw inside the cage.
I remember the Web of Life building being under construction...
There was a pygmy hippo being held in a temporary enclosure, in their current summer paddock.
The Mappin terraces held muntjac, lar gibbons, langurs as well as the bears.
The insect building was closed...
I vaguely remember seeing the elephants at bathtime, but we moved on quickly to see the rhinos due to the large crowds...

I'll have more when I can think of them...
 
I Didnt visit London until 2001 and Whipsnade until 2004. So theres not much to say really. I Do remember Maned Wolves though and there being Leopards and Lynx up where the cats are now at London.
 
I remember visiting London in 1963 and seeing Chi-Chi and a wildebeest. I think pellets were sold so that visitors could feed the ungulates.

I remeber entering via the North Gate opposite cranes and geese.

Also a baby Asian Elephant was walked by the keeper. I have a picture of me watching it, I'll post it if I can find it.
 
ZooMania said:
I Presume the elephant was at Whipsnade since London never bread a single elephant
Click to expand...

But they did import several young ones, if i remember correctly...

They built the pool indoors for these young elephants, then built the one outside when they became too big to use the indoor one
 
ZooMania said:
I Presume the elephant was at Whipsnade since London never bread a single elephant
Click to expand...

At that time most of the elephants imported were young calves which had been born in the wild or logging camps. I once went to a circus (Billy Smart's I think) and they had a herd of ten baby elephants, all probably under 5 years old.
 
OK, I'll do Regent's Park today and leave Whipsnade until later.
I first visited in 1970. I saw Chi-Chi, the giant panda who was a very old animal and lived in the end paddock of the hoofstock section, between the Bird House and the Penguin Pool, where the lions are now.
The big cats lived in the Lion House, which is now an empty space used for rides etc between the tigers and the Elephant House (or whatever they call it now). The cages were really old-fashioned with raised floors and lots of bars. The cheetahs lived in small pens beside the house.
The old Monkey House was on the site which is now Gorilla Kingdom. It ran parallel to the end of the Reptile House and the Stork and Ostrich House (which are both structurally unchanged). It had indoor and outdoor cages, but was also really small and old-fashioned. Its most famous occupant was Guy the gorilla.
The newest building was the Clore Pavilion, which I think had just opened. The old North Mammal House was still standing in the north west corner of the zoo, where the Education Centre is now, but it was empty. The rest of the north section of the zoo has changed very little over the years. Only the funny little Insect House beside the otters with the ugly little aviaries and the coypu pool behind it, together with the crane paddocks opposite the owls (beside the canal) have been demolished.
The other big change is that you used to be able to go to walk around more. You could walk through the Stork and Ostrich House, along each level of the Mappin Terraces and through each part of the deer, antelope, and cattle houses around the Giraffe House.
Regent's Park has always been a funny mixture of the old and the new and the good and the bad. Although some of the old is still quite good (like the Giraffe House), too much of the new has turned out to be bad - I'm sure Gerald Durrell was thinking of Sir Hugh Casson (who designed the Elephant House) when he said that the most dangerous animal that you can have in a zoo is an architect :D

Alan
 
My memories of London are only about as old as Jimmys. I remember, Leopard, Lion, Tiger, Clouded Leopard and Sand Cat up in the cat area.

There were Maned Wolves in the top paddock where Meet The Monkey's is.

The Black Rhinos were still there, I think the elephants had left for Whipsnade that same week or something.

Primates I remember were similar to the present collection-definitely Diana, Sulawesi crested macaque, golden lion tamarins (in the main monkey area) gorillas and chimps, gibbons in the big long cages that have now gone, lemurs (in the main monkey area) and a range of other guenon/langur style monkeys.

Hoofstock was about the same, except with rhino, nyala, bongo, arabian oryx. Camels lived in the orginal spot up near the bird house.

Not much has changed.
 
My first visit was 1990, as a child. I remember being amazed at the number and diversity of animals on show - before London, my zoo experience was limited to Dudley, Twycross and the Birmingham Nature Centre. I was probably far too young to appreciate the quality of the enclosures but I did know a rare species when I saw one, and in this case it was the okapi which astounded me. I was momentarily scared of going into the Snowdon aviary (my first experience of a 'walk-through' exhibit ;)). I also remember thinking how amazing it was that the zoo should also have such a brilliant aquarium, as if it wasn't right that both were included in the admission price! Oh, and the basement of the Clore pavilion with all those nocturnal animals, well that was a revelation at the time. Amazing to think that the zoo was really in the doldrums in those days.

As you can probably guess, I came away with a very positive opinion of the place. Now, of course, my views are more balanced ;). One of the real pleasures of walking round London these days is watching the rejuvenation of a once-great institution into a facility fit for modern times. Still some way to go, of course ;)
 
Hoofstock was about the same, except with rhino, nyala, bongo, arabian oryx. Camels lived in the orginal spot up near the bird house.

Not much has changed.[/QUOTE]

Chris, i bet those rhino on the Cotton terraces are those two much talked about girls now dropping calves at Whipsnade.
 
No Jimmy that is where the two females went, one of the enclosures on the canal side of the terrace.
You must remember when they arrived at London they were a lot smaller than they are today so therefore more easily accomodated, i don't think they were at London for long though.
 
Oh I understand now, it would've been interesting to see them in there...

(Just to clarify, we are talking about the Indian Rhinos, right?)
 
kiang said:
Hoofstock was about the same, except with rhino, nyala, bongo, arabian oryx. Camels lived in the orginal spot up near the bird house.

Not much has changed.
Click to expand...

Chris, i bet those rhino on the Cotton terraces are those two much talked about girls now dropping calves at Whipsnade.[/QUOTE]

Ah no, sorrry. The rhino I was on about was a black in the Casson Elephant House.
 
Animals that i remember on the cotton terraces in 2001 (my first London Zoo visit) were
Malayan Tapirs - Remained at the back of the enclsoure
Giraffes - There were about 4 of them
Arabian Gazelle - I Only saw 1
Okapi - Id seen them at Bristol and Marwell before though i did stay at their enclsoure for a long time as they are one of my favourite animals.
Bongo - Quite a large herd if i remember right
Arabian Oryx - Stunning animal, i do wish they'd return to London instead of being wasted at Whipsnade
Red River Hog - only two of them
Bearded Pigs - First time i've seen them

Visited again in 2004 where i saw the Nyala
Visited again in 2007 where African Wild Dogs, Zebras and Warthogs were there
 
kiang said:
No Jimmy that is where the two females went, one of the enclosures on the canal side of the terrace.
You must remember when they arrived at London they were a lot smaller than they are today so therefore more easily accomodated, i don't think they were at London for long though.
Click to expand...

The two young female rhinos from Nepal were kept in the enclosure at the 'west' end of the Cotton terraces- this one has also had Bison, Gaur and more recently the Bongo antelope- it now houses the Okapis. They lived there for several months or longer, before transfer to Whipsnade.
 
gentle lemur said:
.
I first visited in 1970. I saw Chi-Chi, the giant panda who was a very old animal and lived in the end paddock of the hoofstock section.

The old Monkey House was on the site which is now Gorilla Kingdom. Its most famous occupant was Guy the gorilla.
The newest building was the Clore Pavilion, which I think had just opened.
Alan
Click to expand...

Chi-hi first lived in half of the rockwork circular enclosure near the old clock tower. The other half housed a mixed group of bears. This enclosure disappeared when the Sobell Pavilions were built.

I can quite clearly remember when Guy the Gorilla's outside cage had a glass screen- very dirty and reflective so that you could hardly see the occupant. There is a photo of it in Hediger's 'Man and Animal in the Zoo' book. The glass was removed from the cage some time in the early sixties I think but he carried on living in it for years to come- until the Sobells were built..

The old cattle sheds on the site of the Cat plaza also contained the White Rhino pair 'Ben' and 'Bebe' The Northern side of those sheds had a run of enclosures containing wild dogs and other mammals.

The Clore is on the site(I believe) of the original elephant house which I can juuuust remember. It had a large outside enclosure with a tall concrete plinth in the centre which was topped with an umbrella shade. It had a dry moat. I don't remember where the elephants went at night- it could have been down a ramp to stalls which were not on show to the public. The(female) elephants I first remember were the African 'Dicksie'- who later died in the moat accident in the Casson Pavilion enclosure ( she was pushed by another elephant- Lakshmi), and her Asian companion 'Rusty'.

I never remember seeing anything in the North Mammal House. I believe this is the building where the fabulous Thylacines were exhibited back in the early 1900's.

The strongest recollection of my earliest visits was the SMELL in the indoor Hippo house(a side wing of the Decimus Burton Giraffe house?) I don't remember the outdoor pool. The smell inside the house was from the filthy stagnant water in the hippos' pool, it was appalling- people stood looking at the hippos with handkerchiefs clamped over their noses and then came out of the house with a sort of glazed expression on their faces... .:D
 
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Pertinax said:
The Clore is on the site(I believe) of the original elephant house which I can juuuust remember. It had a large outside enclosure with a tall concrete plinth in the centre which was topped with an umbrella shade. It had a dry moat. I don't remember where the elephants went at night- it could have been down a ramp to stalls which were not on show to the public. The(female) elephants I first remember were the African 'Dicksie'- who later died in the moat accident in the Casson Pavilion enclosure ( she was pushed by another elephant- Laskshmi), and her Asian companion 'Rusty'.
Click to expand...

The elephants did indeed go down a ramp. Their indoor quarters were used as a bomb shelter as well at one point...

It was mentioned in a book called Zoo Tails by Oliver Graham-Jones, who was a former vet at the zoo.

Regarding your comment on the hippo house, he apparently had to live next door to it! ;)
 
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