ZSL London Zoo ZSL London Zoo News 2014

Chlidonias said:
a fully-netted enclosure surely gives a lot more usable space for the lemurs though because there aren't the issues with trying to prevent them being able to get over the top. The walk-through at Melbourne Zoo (Australia) is fully-enclosed and it is great.

Has there been any real consideration at the zoo (not just on here) to turning the Snowdon Aviary into such a walk-through? I know colobus were discussed on here at one point, and I believe someone or two has suggested lemurs for it. Are there any structural problems with having lemurs in there? It seems like a perfect solution because it is really big, already in existence, and you can still have birds in there as well. Seems like a win-win all round.
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Could you have birds in there as well? Not small or breeding species probably. Hopefully they would only keep Madagascan species in there if they did, but that's somewhat limiting.

The thing about the Snowdon is that the walkway is very elevated, and so for much of the time I'd imagine visitors would be looking way down on the lemurs.
 
zooboy28 said:
The thing about the Snowdon is that the walkway is very elevated, and so for much of the time I'd imagine visitors would be looking way down on the lemurs.
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That would work quite well were it to be a colobus walkthrough; they would certainly make full use of the height.
 
think of the Fragile Forest at Singapore: birds, fruit bats, ring-tailed and ruffed lemurs, tree kangaroos, mouse deer, and quite a few others.

Obviously England is a little bit cooler than Singapore so the species selections would be different, but you could turn the Snowdon into a multi-species lemur walk-through so as well as the ring-tails you could have arboreal species like ruffeds and browns and whatever else the UK zoos have. Maybe get some sifakas. You could pretty easily combine birds with them I would think; Singapore doesn't seem to have issues, and there are other multi-species Madagascar enclosures elsewhere in North America and Europe.
 
I don't for one second think that primate walk-through enclosures need to be open-topped in order to work - in fact, there are many open-topped enclosures which don't, due to lack of vegetation and climbing opportunities.

I might be proved wrong, but the London design is significant because it doesn't appear to be intended for the lemurs to utilise the mesh for climbing and moving about the enclosure. Therefore, the need for a fully-enclosed environment appears to be health and safety/licencsing-related. I think that it's a shame the only relatively natural areas of woodland (on the canal banks), arguably the areas most suited to primates, are unlikely to ever be used given their proximity to the zoo boundary (there is essentially no perimeter fence along the south bank - anyone could alight from the canal and instantly be in the zoo grounds).

I suspect partly for this reason, the Snowdon may never be considered appropriate for anything too eye-catching or entertaining, despite the 2007 Masterplan mentioning colobus. The public towpath below, often busy with cyclists and pedestrians, is (at points) less than a metre from the mesh of the Snowdon aviary, and it is common to see brolga or ibis very close-by as you pass. I imagine there would be concerns with possibly unwanted attention of members of the public outside the zoo trying to provoke or feed primates. Wetland bird species are perhaps less likely to react to this kind of attention other than avoiding it. Of course, this would be remedied by strategic planting/fencing between the structure and the perimterer fence, but there may be the issue of its listed status preventing any obscuring of views.

Assuming the bachelor ring-tailed lemurs in the roundhouse are actually in line for what will be a much bigger enclosure, I think it is a good thing, and why not make use of some dead space between existing exhibits? However, I more suspect the off-show breeding group may be the ones to benefit from this new space, I only hope London relocates it's all-male group if so rather than leaving them in the roundhouse enclosure.

As an aside, it looks from the design as if part of the closed wing of the Clore will be used as the indoor accommodation. There are two off-show cages behind the Clore which would be adjacent to the walk-through space, and perhaps would be used to service the main enclosure. With access to multiple off-shoot enclosures and indoor quarters, I would imagine more than one lemur species would eventually be mixed here.
 
If the development includes part of the Clore, might this mean the aye-ayes going back on-show in a Madagascar area?
 
oflory said:
If the development includes part of the Clore, might this mean the aye-ayes going back on-show in a Madagascar area?
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Probably too much to hope for, but would be great if it happened!
I seem to remember reading that the gentle lemurs are also in that area of the Clore too?
 
Crowthorne said:
Not sure if this has been posted already, but London Zoo are running history tours on the last Friday and Saturday of the month, next dates are 26th and 27th September.

History Tours | Zoological Society of London (ZSL)
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A good idea, and good value as there is only a small extra charge: but they can't cover much history in 45 minutes. I think several ZooChatters could talk very interestingly for at least that long without mentioning anyone except Decimus Burton :)

Alan
 
I agree but finally, a serious attempt to acknowledge the significance of the zoo's history for visitors, rather than just showing a handful of photos and stating which buildings are listed. This reflects the increase in zoo history that has been rumbling for the past couple of years, so well done and let's have some more of it.
 
Went yesterday (a day too late for the history walk...maybe next month), there's a new baby Sulawesi/Celebes crested macaque.

Can anyone remember where the aye-ayes used to be? When I saw them (probably around 2000) I thought they were in the indoor-area of the Round House, but discussing with my family they think the aye-ayes were in Moonlight World/Nightlife. We can't both be right can we? :rolleyes:
 
They were certainly in the Round House when I last saw them (can't remember when but it would have been after 2005) but perhaps they sere in Moonlight World before that? You could both be right!
 
Thank you Volvox! You’re right, they could have been moved. Really annoyed at myself for recycling the guidebook I got at the time, but only started properly collecting them recently. Real shame the aye-ayes are off-show, but if they don’t like the public that’s for the best. Still, as much as I love the Clore and Nightlife, I do miss the variety they had in the late 90s.
 
Animal Friendly said:
Posted on London Zoo's facebook today, a model of the new lion exhibit opening Spring 2016, to be named "Land of the Lions".
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Judging by the montage of 'photo impressions' not all the expenditure will be on the Lion enclosure itself. It seems like another 'immersion experience'(is that the right phrase for this?) with an 'Indian Village' and all sorts. A section of railway track features in the enclosure too (as in the Gir Forest) and the landscaping/planting does look as if it will provide a near approximation/ recreation of their wild habitat.

There is a 'Primate Fort' featured too- this shows Grey Langurs (by the look of it) and I would certainly welcome their return, an active an interesting species to display. I'm not quite so sure about the 'village' - is it necessary really?:confused:
 
A little bizarre and a little bazaar too :)
I had not expected bicycles as enrichment for the lions or their own exclusive railway siding either. The clothes washing theme from the pygmy hippos returns with what looks like extra bunting (and probably frolics), National Geographic meets The Two Ronnies, and then the monkeys have a ruin straight out of The Jungle Book (state of the art in 1894 ;)).
Can you imagine all the planning meetings? I bet they all had lists of gimmicky clichés. How hard they must have worked to fit in a ticket office and all those store fronts and the scooters and parking the Morris Minor outside BUGS!
Holy cow! Oops that's one trick they missed :D

Alan
 
Pertinax said:
Judging by the montage of 'photo impressions' not all the expenditure will be on the Lion enclosure itself. It seems like another 'immersion experience'(is that the right phrase for this?) with an 'Indian Village' and all sorts. A section of railway track features in the enclosure too (as in the Gir Forest) and the landscaping/planting does look as if it will provide a near approximation/ recreation of their wild habitat.

There is a 'Primate Fort' featured too- this shows Grey Langurs (by the look of it) and I would certainly welcome their return, an active an interesting species to display. I'm not quite so sure about the 'village' - is it necessary really?:confused:
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In short-No! These ideas look good on paper, but degrade and become neglected very quickly. Whipsnade's Lions of the Serengeti had a similar village theme and that didn't last long at all! Cheetah Rock's concept quickly became vandalised.

I've no problem with the return of langurs BUT what really grinds my gears is what will happen to the macaques and Francois langurs, both successful breeders. There is no long term plan for the evictees.

I look forward to ZSLs plans for the Mappins, no doubt involving a log flume and rollercoaster!:rolleyes::rolleyes.:rolleyes:
 
gentle lemur said:
A little bizarre and a little bazaar too :)
I had not expected bicycles as enrichment for the lions or their own exclusive railway siding either. The clothes washing theme from the pygmy hippos returns with what looks like extra bunting (and probably frolics), National Geographic meets The Two Ronnies, and then the monkeys have a ruin straight out of The Jungle Book (state of the art in 1894 ;)).
Can you imagine all the planning meetings? I bet they all had lists of gimmicky clichés. How hard they must have worked to fit in a ticket office and all those store fronts and the scooters and parking the Morris Minor outside BUGS!
Holy cow! Oops that's one trick they missed :D

Alan
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I dread to think what goes on in these planning meetings or some of the "ideas" these people come up with.

As I said previously, be in no doubt that these themed exhibits will age very quickly. RP really should be utilising what space it has, not giving it over to bicycles and temples.

I've no problem with redeveloping the Lion Terraces-theyve served their purpose but are now looking tired. But if I want to go to theme park I'll visit Disneyland thankyou very much.

Looks like they're aiming for the lowest common denominator with this one. Shame.:(
 
Panthera1981 said:
I dread to think what goes on in these planning meetings or some of the "ideas" these people come up with.

As I said previously, be in no doubt that these themed exhibits will age very quickly. RP really should be utilising what space it has, not giving it over to bicycles and temples.

I've no problem with redeveloping the Lion Terraces-theyve served their purpose but are now looking tired. But if I want to go to theme park I'll visit Disneyland thankyou very much.

Looks like they're aiming for the lowest common denominator with this one. Shame.:(
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No surprises here, I have to agree with you!
A zoo with a shortage of space( at least space they are prepared to use) and such a poor carnivore collection really can't afford to waste space & money on gimmicks like this. It appears my worst fears for this will be realised!
 
Panthera1981 said:
I've no problem with redeveloping the Lion Terraces-theyve served their purpose but are now looking tired. But if I want to go to theme park I'll visit Disneyland thankyou very much.
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It seems currently with each new exhibit at ZSL the themed aspect and 'set dressing' shifts up a gear. I think Tiger Territory is pretty good and the ancillary exhibits- 'watchtower' etc seem to fit okay too. But a whole 'village street' is going further still. I suppose their thinking is that if the Lions sleep 16 hours a day, they need some extra diversion for visitors to look at. But I agree the costly 'props' soon start to look tired and slowly disintegrate. Of course this is only a photographic mock-up impression- the end result may be a more simplified than it appears ( he says hopefully).

I fear that every new(major) exhibit at London will be increasingly heavily themed like this- its the direction they are going in. Not sure I like it too much- lets have the new big landscaped enclosure(s) for the Lions by all means, but preferably without the rest.
 
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