ZSL London Zoo Memories of London Zoo (and whipsnade)

Let's move on to Whipsnade. I first visited in 1971 or '72. I had already visited Chester, London, Bristol and Burford (then newly opened) but I remember seeing many species for the first time including Cape buffalo, musk ox, European bison, moose, swamp deer, hog deer, great Indian rhino, Cape hunting dogs, mountain zebra, spectacled bears, Thomson's gazelles and mara (I've probably missed some). There were also plenty of cranes and waterfowl.
The basic layout of the zoo is largely unchanged, but almost all the enclosures have changed their names. I think their old names were the names of the fields in the original Hall Farm, for example I think the European bison were in Chartley Paddock, where the Przewalski's horses are now (if I've got that wrong, I'm sure Pertinax will correct me ;)).
The brown bear enclosure is unchanged, except that you used to be able to walk towards the escarpment along either side of the enclosure. The path on the side nearer the main entrance (the north-east) went through a wooded area between some small enclosures for lynx and jaguars and several paddocks for cheetahs, ending up at a very small cage for the spectacled bears (the male was a nice specimen but the female was very small and very stereotyped). The penguin enclosure is still in the same place a little further on, but it was rebuilt several years ago.
The other bears were also badly housed. The polar bears lived further around the escarpment, on a small patch of grey concrete surrounded by thick black bars bent over at the top to make a row of forbidding black spikes pointing down into the enclosure. The Kodiak bears lived nearby in a bare concrete pit, it was very ugly, but I remember seeing four cubs playing happily there with their mother.
The old lion pen had the same nasty bars; it's still there, but it was used for anoa the last time I was there. At least it is a fair size, and the tiger pen was similar.
Many animals have been moved and new houses have been built since that time. But the giraffes are unchanged and the hippos are still in the same pools, although their house is new. The chimp house is much the same too, but the new paddock is on the site of the old cheetah enclosure.
 
Whipsnade

gentle lemur said:
almost all the enclosures have changed their names. I think their old names were the names of the fields in the original Hall Farm, for example I think the European bison were in Chartley Paddock, where the Przewalski's horses are now (if I've got that wrong, I'm sure Pertinax will correct me ;)).
The path... ending up at a very small cage for the spectacled bears (the male was a nice specimen but the female was very small and very stereotyped).
The old lion pen had the same nasty bars; it's still there, but it was used for anoa the last time I was there. At least it is a fair size, and the tiger pen was similar.
Many animals have been moved and new houses have been built since that time. But the giraffes are unchanged and the hippos are still in the same pools, although their house is new. The chimp house is much the same too, but the new paddock is on the site of the old cheetah enclosure.
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I've always had a strong affection for Whipsnade, one of the three zoos of my childhood(the others being ZSL & Bristol)

You're right, the lovely old names are from when it was a farm estate- Flintpit paddock (opposite the bears-it used to have the Axis deer), Spicer's field, Lady Anne's (?) walk, I can't remember many of them now. There are still a few signs on the drives. I can't remember where the Chartley cattle were...;) The pair of Hartmann's Zebras were in a small paddock(now has Nile Lechwe) just to the right inside the entrance to Asian Plains- the stallion was the son of the mare- back then they were the only Mountain zebras in UK- later on it/they joined the Marwell group. Hunting Dogs were in a simple but quite spacious enclosure in the same area- there were about five dogs.

The Spectacled bears' cage was little more than a dog kennel. They were 'dumped' there from London Zoo (as is now happening with the Sloth bears...) They were called 'Spencer' and 'Nina' and she had cubs several times but unsurprisingly couldn't rear them in those conditions. Apart from Jersey, this pair were at that time the only Spectacled bears in UK. After the female died (she suffered from prolapses) the male 'Spencer' was sent to Jersey but sadly I don't think he fathered any cubs there.

Lion and Tiger Dells- have now gone completely- filled in and just a grassy viewpoint. (the original Indian rhino paddock is similarly no more) The Tiger dell in particular was very naturalistic and both(built in a time long before the Safari Parks) were spacious and very natural. By contrast the Polar and Kodiak bear enclosures, which disappeared earlier than the Big Cat ones, were very ugly...

Before the existing Chimp House was built(1970's?), the chimps previously used to live on an outdoor island. I can't ever remember seeing them and I've never been sure which one- presumably one of the two almost in the centre of the park, which have also housed squirrel monkeys, seals etc.
Giraffe house is pretty much unaltered except I think the public area and glass windows were added more recently. The grotty old sheds made out of 'sleepers' for the Hippos are still there behind the new building and I think are connected with it and may still be in use.

In its heyday Whipsnade had one of the finest, most complex collections of ungulates in Europe. Those days are long gone but its still an excellent collection.
 
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I have never been to Whipsnade. The original (tecton?) elephant house, do you know what now occupies this building?
 
Pertinax said:
You're right, the lovely old names are from when it was a farm estate- Flintpit paddock (opposite the bears-it used to have the Axis deer), Spicer's field, Lady Anne's (?) walk, I can't remember many of them now. There are still a few signs on the drives. I can't remember where the Chartley cattle were...;) The pair of Hartmann's Zebras were in a small paddock(now has Nile Lechwe) just to the right inside the entrance to Asian Plains- the stallion was the son of the mare- back then they were the only Mountain zebras in UK- later on it/they joined the Marwell group. Hunting Dogs were in a simple but quite spacious enclosure in the same area- there were about five dogs.
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I knew you'd remember some of the old names. I'd forgotten the ones you mention, but I do remember Holly Frindle paddock, I think that was next to the lookout point, where the white rhinos are now.
I have a vivid memory of the hunting dogs, because I went to Whipsnade one bitterly cold winter day (I'd have sort through my photos to find the date, perhaps Jan '73) and I watched with the keeper as the female dog emerged from her burrow with the body of a very young cub, which had presumably died during the night. She then did what she would have done in the wild - she ate it, swallowing the little body completely to leave no trace or clue for predators. It was a very sad sight, but I had the strong feeling she was doing her duty and in a strange way, I was impressed by her instincts.

Alan
 
... I think another one is Cut-throat Paddock...

When I was just a little nipper we would visit Whipsnade and I'd go off and explore all the animal enclosures alone. I remember at the Hunting Dog enclosure running along the fence to excite the dogs who responded on their side. As they got more excited they would start jumping, leaping higher and higher,at which stage I became frightened they might leap over, despite the overhanging fence, so I hurriedly left the scene..... (I don't behave like this any more....)
 
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I was reading through my old London Zoo guide books (1983 and 1994 in particular) and they both show plans for the Mappin Terraces

1. 1983 - They were going to become a huge polar bear exhibit, featuring underwater viewing and conifer forests. Arctic foxes, mountain goats, birds and otters were also going to be included. A new aquarium was also going to be built and insects would inhabit the old aquarium under the mountains.

2. 1994 - It was going to be a massive gorilla exhibit complete with stream and waterfall with rocks and trees. From the picture, the current viewing area would still be used and there would be glass viewing passages either side of the terraces.

I would've loved to seen these implemented!

Does any one know why the plans changed within 11 years? (I assume the reason they didn't come to fruition was the cash crisis...)

In my opinion, these would've been much better exhibits than the Asian theme. I'll try to get pictures uploaded...
 
I'm guessing that money problems prevented the original polar bear arctic exhibit from going ahead, plus that £10 million from the Thatcher government was so badly needed by the time it arrived I doubt any could have been set aside for a capital project, especially one that involved great structural alteration as would be required to make that exhibit a reality.

I think the latter project was just abandoned because the mappin terraces are not really suitable for great apes, as in where do you put the indoor accomodation, plus the risk of escape is fairly high. Most zoos housing their gorillas in the open do not risk a simple electric fence, either there are solid, high walls or water-filled moats.

The more I think about it, the more I get why they are thinking in terms of an australian exhibit. The mountain tops do resemble rocky outcrops in the australian bush, and presumably this would vacate the current australia house for the camels to move back into, so the hippos could have the camel paddock in the casson and they could finally give the malayan tapirs a decent home in the old hippo area (here's hoping).
 
johnstoni said:
I'm guessing that money problems prevented the original polar bear arctic exhibit from going ahead, plus that £10 million from the Thatcher government was so badly needed by the time it arrived I doubt any could have been set aside for a capital project, especially one that involved great structural alteration as would be required to make that exhibit a reality.
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There was a big story in the British press at the time saying that the money was mispent on the top brass and flash cars ect with very little going on animal exhibits
 
CZJimmy said:
I was reading through my old London Zoo guide books (1983 and 1994 in particular) and they both show plans for the Mappin Terraces
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A third plan was for a 'Bamboo Forests of Schezhuan'- in other words a Chinese exhibit featuring Giant Panda + other species. I think all those plans fell over due to te cash crisis.
 
I'm sure, now, albeit to a lesser extent, the top-level management command management salaries and various other perks. Only back then it was the old school management, before the days of any PR or marketing departments to speak of. The zoo just didn't have business-minded people at the top to generate revenue from marketing and fundraising. To be fair, they were not different really from any of the museums, botannical gardens etc which recieved government funding year on year. I'm pretty proud of our better UK zoos these days when you think that most of the big US collections get public money, to spend on crazy fake trees and vast swathes of artificial rockwork ;)

I had forgotten about the Panda exhibit on the mappins. It could have even worked. But then it was enough of an effort for them to bring in the last giant panda let alone build a new exhibit. Especially in the press, from the late 80's to mid nineties, any decision London made was criticised against all the things they 'should' be correcting first, ie why are they getting pandas/ koalas when they should be improving conditions for this or that animal etc etc, kind of that 'schools and hospitals' mentality we british seem to love....the press would often give lists of all the crumbling buildings that needed millions just to keep them going, like the snowdon was often quoted as needing a huge amount of money just to maintain the stucture, although to my knowledge it hasn't been touched, mabye this was all just hot air?
 
The Snowdon Aviary suffered for many years from splits in the mesh though no birds seemed to escape. I visited it last year and it seemed rather dirty and rundown, compared to earlier days with far fewer bird species kept (about eight)than previously.
its amazing how London's fortunes have changed in the last fifteen years- from the 1990 low point of near closure, to the current 'boom' time with new buildings and older enclosures being renovated as well. There seems little critisism of London Zoo nowadays either, perhaps the press are in tune with what seems to be the current 'pro London Zoo' mood.
 
Pertinax said:
The Snowdon Aviary suffered for many years from splits in the mesh though no birds seemed to escape. I visited it last year and it seemed rather dirty and rundown, compared to earlier days with far fewer bird species kept (about eight)than previously.
its amazing how London's fortunes have changed in the last fifteen years- from the 1990 low point of near closure, to the current 'boom' time with new buildings and older enclosures being renovated as well. There seems little critisism of London Zoo nowadays either, perhaps the press are in tune with what seems to be the current 'pro London Zoo' mood.
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I believe at some point in the past black kites have escaped from the Snowdon, UK birdwatchers still see them from time to time and so black kite reports in the South of England are held with some contention these days.
 
My first visit was in 2004 i think, i remeber seeing the two chimps in the small end cage of the monkey area, with only a tire and a few red hoses :(

the clore house was boiling (this was in may) and the radiators were on full heat

never saw any of the bears! meet the monkeys had just opened and also remeber a small stone house in a small small enclosure but is not there any more, anyone remeber this, it is near the anteaters?
 
my only visit to either zsl parks is whipsnade in 2006, old rhino, house/yards, no sloth bears, old gaur housing, old cheetah enclosures
 
kiang said:
No Jimmy that is where the two females went, one of the enclosures on the canal side of the terrace.
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They were kept in the corner paddock nearest the park/road, where the Okapis are now. They used the moat to bathe in too.

Early memories of London?

Guy the Gorilla(obviously)
Brumas the polar bearcub (just)
Big male Orangutan(Jiggs) hidden under straw so you never saw him properly.
White rhinos in old cattle sheds
Hippos in the Decimus Burton House( phew, I can still smell them now)
 
From my first visit, in 1998.

Seeing a giant anteater in the larger outdoor enclosure of the Clore Pavillion.
Entering the Casson Pavillion to see elephant and rhino on either side. The smell was very distinctive too.
A pygmy hippo grazing
A sloth bear playing with a boot (for some reason my memory sets the bear on one of the mountains, despite the fact they never had access up there).
Watching the lion cubs play with their mother indoors.
A mural of a compsognathus against the foot of a sauropod in the Reptile House.
Looking at dart frogs.
 
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