ZSL London Zoo ZSL London Zoo News 2012

Thanks for the bird ID Volvox. all I've ever seen wild at the Zoo is a group of house sparrows stealing meat from the vultures, grey herons stealing fish from the penguins, ducks and moorhens in the gorilla enclosure and the odd robin.

I really like open enclosures - nothing between my camera and the animal. They do need a bit of animal sense from visitors though and sadly I don't see a lot of that happening.
 
The moorhens are great. There is a new batch of youngsters who are now fully grown but lacking the red head, and their plumage is browner than the adults. They don't seem to have got the message that they're supposed to be waterbirds, and go striding about the tarmac on their enormous feet looking for sandwiches. They look quite exotic and we're forever having visitors report to us that "one of your birds has escaped from the aviary"!

To be fair, most visitors are sensible in the walkthroughs, once they understand that the squirrel monkeys are not "tame". Some just get so excited and involved they forget how close they're getting; and just a few go all macho and insist they don't mind if they get bitten! Easily discouraged. We all have our methods.
 
They might have learnt from the mass of Moorhens at the London Wetland Centre who also hang around the picnic areas. When I took my partner down there last year it was sort of a running joke that you could not turn around without seeing a moorhen. We thought we had fund a quiet corner by the cottage and sat down for a minute remarking on the lack of Moorhens. Then a rustling underneath the bench we were sat on and out strolled a baby Moorhen.

They seem to have the knack of urban adaptability. Coots too. As long as there is enough water to nest on then they make the best of whatever is on land nearby.
 
Thanks for the comprehensive breakdown of cat species held Dassie Rat, it shows just how poor London's offering is, even when the tigers are back! Even some small zoos can offer far better!
 
pipaluk said:
Thanks for the comprehensive breakdown of cat species held Dassie Rat, it shows just how poor London's offering is, even when the tigers are back! Even some small zoos can offer far better!
Click to expand...

Quite - although quite a few of these totals are inaccurate, either listing species not held, missing out species which are held, or not counting multiple subspecies in one location, the overall picture is sound.
 
Dassie rat said:
According to Zootierliste the following UK zoos have wild cats:
Ashford: Puma, fishing cat, northern lynx, ocelot, Pallas' cat, serval, rusty-spotted cat, tiger, clouded leopard, jaguar, lion, leopard, snow leopard, cheetah
Ballaugh: Northern lynx
Banham: Geoffroy's cat, ocelot, Pallas' cat, tiger, snow leopard, cheetah, lion
Bassenthwaite: Fishing cat, northern lynx, serval
Begelly: Ocelot
Belfast: Asian golden cat, lion, cheetah, tiger
Birmingham: Northern lynx, ocelot
Blackpool: Lion, tiger
Blair Drummond: Lion, tiger
Borth: Geoffroy's cat, northern lynx, ocelot, leopard
Bristol: Sand cat, lion
Broxbourne: Puma, ocelot, Pallas' cat, northern lynx, leopard, snow leopard, cheetah, lion, tiger
Caldergelen: Wild cat
Camperdown: Wild cat
Canterbury: Northern lynx, wild cat
Chessington: Lion, leopard, tiger
Chester: Serval, lion, jaguar, cheetah, tiger
Chestnut Centre: Wild cat
Colchester: Geoffroy's cat, leopard, lion, tiger, cheetah
Colwyn Bay: Margay, snow leopard, tiger
Combe Martin: Lion, snow leopard
Comrie: Wild cat
Cotswold: Jaguarundi, Pallas' cat, leopard, lion, clouded leopard
Cromer: Puma, margay, ocelot, jaguar
Cupar: Northern lynx, wild cat
Dartmoor: Puma, serval, northern lynx, jaguar, lion, tiger, cheetah
Drayton Manor: Fishing cat, Geoffroy's cat, wild cat, northern lynx, leopard
Drusilla's: Serval
Dudley: Northern lynx, Geoffroy's cat, lion, tiger, snow leopard
Dundee: Northern lynx
Eagle heights: Cheetah
Edinburgh: Margay, serval, Asian golden cat, leopard, lion, jaguar, tiger
Exmoor: Sand cat, caracal, puma, fishing cat, leopard
Fife: Wild cat
Galloway: Leopard cat, northern lynx, wild cat, serval
Gentleshaw: Puma, northern lynx, wild cat
Hamerton: Jaguarundi, little tiger cat, serval, rusty-spotted cat, cheetah, tiger
Heythrop: Leopard, lion, tiger, snow leopard
Highland WP: Northern lynx, Pallas' cat, wild cat, tiger
Howletts: Wild cat, fishing cat, ocelot, Pallas' cat, serval, northern lynx, lion, clouded leopard, leopard, tiger, snow leopard
Kessingland: Serval, lion, cheetah
Knowsley: Lion, tiger
Linton: Leopard, clouded leopard, lion, tiger, snow leopard
London: Serval, lion
Longleat: Lion, tiger, cheetah
Mablethorpe: Northern lynx, wild cat
Malton: Northern lynx, lion, tiger
Marwell: Sand cat, ocelot, serval, leopard, tiger, snow leopard, cheetah
Milnthorpe: Snow leopard
New Forest: Northern lynx, wild cat
Newchapel: Wild cat
Newchurch: Geoffroy's cat, ocelot
Newquay: Northern lynx, fishing cat, lion
Paignton: Lion, cheetah, tiger
Polbeth: Wild cat
Porfell: Caracal
Port Lympne: Black-footed cat, caracal, northern lynx, fishing cat, wild cat, margay, ocelot, Pallas' cat, serval, rusty-spotted cat, lion, clouded leopard, tiger, snow leopard, cheetah
Reaseheath: Serval
Rutland: Puma, leopard
Sandown: Jaguar, lion, tiger
Shaldon: Ocelot
Shepreth: Puma, northern lynx
South Lakes: Lion, jaguar, tiger
Tamar: Wild cat
Thrigby Hall: Leopard cat, Asiatic golden cat, leopard, clouded leopard, snow leopard, tiger
Tropiquaria: Wild cat, serval
Twycross: Wild cat, leopard, snow leopard
West Midland: Lion, tiger
Whipsnade: Northern lynx, tiger, lion, cheetah
Wingham: Caracal, puma, wild cat, jaguar, lion, tiger
Woburn: Northern lynx, lion
Wraxall: Lion, tiger
Yorkshire: Leopard, lion, tiger

The UK zoos with the most cat species are:
Port Lympne: 15
Ashford: 14
Howletts: 11
Broxbourne: 9
Banham, Dartmoor, Edinburgh, Marwell: 7
Hamerton, Thrigby Hall, Wingham: 6
Chester, Colchester, Cotswold, Drayton Manor, Dudley, Exmoor, Linton: 5
Click to expand...

Good work, but unfortunately Zootierliste is a bit out of date (as can often be the case with smaller and less visited collections). Off the top of my head, on a very quick glance over, Shepreth is missing Tigers, Camperdown is missing Lynx and Exmoor is missing Fishing Cats and Cheetahs (I think they may also have Jaguarundi, but currently off-show). Also Mablethorpe no longer hold Northern Lynx, nor Gentleshaw Puma. There may be other errors too, I can only comment on those I've visited fairly recently.
 
I visited the zoo today (my first visit since July) and was quite pleased with what I saw. I'll try not to repeat anything previously mentioned, and I'll stick some photos in the gallery.

There's a bunch of new species on display in the aquarium, including a group of young Queensland lungfish.

The amphibian displays in the reptile house look bigger and more varied than before. The vast majority are empty; some have curious theming, and two species are currently on display in this wing: Lake Oku clawed frogs (Xenopus longipes), and Mallorcan midwife toads. The clawed frogs have their own tank as well as several vivaria in a glass-fronted 'breeding suite' alongside the midwife toads and their tadpoles. It's a similar set-up to the pupfish and Partula breeding areas elsewhere in the zoo. A few other species are now on display in the reptile house, but nothing (new) yet of the promised venomous snakes. But progress is promising! :D

There was only a single hummingbird on display in the Blackburn, and the barrier which distances the public has been removed. Although this is great for taking photos or watching the hummingbirds, I worry it might intimidate them. Today it just sat on a perch every time someone approached. It probably doesn't help that the feeder is on the front of the aviary (next to the public).
 
Dartmoor also no longers holds servals, their last one died a couple years ago of a rectal tumour. It was quite old. I not aware that they have replaced them since.
 
Oh how horrible. How did that get in? Lots of wild grey herons do hang around to steal fish. Hope the new little one they just introduced to the big pool is ok. He/she was behaving oddly last time I was there a couple of weeks ago. Looking up at the sky a a lot. Probably just not liking being in with the big penguins though.
 
Oh dear. Avian malaria is horrible, almost impossible to spot until its too late and the whole rest of the group will have needed treatment immediately just in case too which involves given them all 3 doses of medication at precise time intervals. Hope the others are all ok now.
 
A bit of an update from when I visited this week:-

They are landscaping some of the new empty tanks in the west wing of the Reptile House.

Except for the pole in the south-east corner, the roof netting is up in Tiger Territory, although the sections were attached to each other they still had to join them up properly.

In the old (indoor) camel area (in the Casson) they were making a start in adapting it for the tapirs.

Previously, in the outdoor area, they had removed the soil/sand that had been used to fill in the pool (I couldn’t believe how big/deep this was – I’d be interested for someone to confirm what this has been used for in the past – it’s in the area nearest Animal Adventure).

In the aquarium they have cordoned off the left-hand side (as you go in) of hall 1 “We are currently rebuilding part of the Aquarium to create new facilities for breeding seahorses as well as a base for our fish conservation programme, Fishnet. Find out more at: zsl.org/fishnet”.

The old tiger area is currently empty but looks very strange as it has new, very green grass, ready for its new (tiger) arrivals!
 
stulch said:
A bit of an update from when I visited this week:-

They are landscaping some of the new empty tanks in the west wing of the Reptile House

Except for the pole in the south-east corner, the roof netting is up in Tiger Territory, although the sections were attached to each other they still had to join them up the properly.

In the old (indoor) camel area (in the Casson) they were making a start in adapting it for the tapirs.

Previously, in the outdoor area, they had removed the soil/sand that had been used to fill in the pool (I couldn’t believe how big/deep this was – I’d be interested for someone to confirm what this has been used for in the past – it’s in the area nearest Animal Adventure).

In the aquarium they have cordoned off the left-hand side (as you go in) of hall 1 “We are currently rebuilding part of the Aquarium to create new facilities for breeding seahorses as well as a base for our fish conservation programme, Fishnet. Find out more at: zsl.org/fishnet”

The old tiger area is currently empty but looks very strange as it has new, very green grass, ready for its new (tiger) arrivals!
Click to expand...

Will be very interesting to see photos of the new Tiger exhibit. I wonder when the first Tiger will arrive, I believe they will hold three Tigers is this correct?

Gorillas- Has 'Kumbuka' arrived yet? It was stated on an this (?) thread that he was due to arrive in August however I am unsure on the situation. Could somebody clarify the situation?
 
stulch said:
In the old (indoor) camel area (in the Casson) they were making a start in adapting it for the tapirs.

Previously, in the outdoor area, they had removed the soil/sand that had been used to fill in the pool (I couldn’t believe how big/deep this was – I’d be interested for someone to confirm what this has been used for in the past – it’s in the area nearest Animal Adventure)!
Click to expand...

I assume you are referring what was originally the elephant's outdoor bath? In the 70s they had regular elephant bathtimes in the indoor pool(now pygmy hippos) but when the elephants all became too big for the indoor pool, they continued the display outside in fine weather for some time.
 
Jordan-Jaguar97 said:
Will be very interesting to see photos of the new Tiger exhibit. I wonder when the first Tiger will arrive, I believe they will hold three Tigers is this correct?
Click to expand...

I think I've heard that, but, it might have been on here!

Jordan-Jaguar97 said:
Gorillas- Has 'Kumbuka' arrived yet? It was stated on an this (?) thread that he was due to arrive in August however I am unsure on the situation. Could somebody clarify the situation?
Click to expand...

He hadn't when I visited, I said to someone there, when I asked four/six weeks ago someone said, November, when it's quieter, they hadn't heard that, they just kept hearing imminent and said it sounds like you know more than me, I just said my information might just be out of date!
 

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pipaluk said:
I assume you are referring what was originally the elephant's outdoor bath? In the 70s they had regular elephant bathtimes in the indoor pool(now pygmy hippos) but when the elephants all became too big for the indoor pool, they continued the display outside in fine weather for some time.
Click to expand...

The last picture above was taken with my back to Animal Adventure a few weeks ago, the pool is to the right / below the pile of sand / soil.
 
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