London Zoo 2002 - Front of the Tecton Gorilla House

FBBird said:

Tim May -- would these Kodiaks have had anything to do with the breeding pair they had at Whipsnade? I never remember seeing Kodiaks on the Mappins. They must have looked very big and out of place in this building. Mind you, so would an Elephant; how did they get it through the door? Maybe it was a small one....

Click to expand...

I am sure that there was a connection between the Kodiak bears in the Lubetkin Gorilla House and those at Whipsnade.

I am not sure of the details off-hand, I would need to check. I think, though, that the original Kodiak bears probably stayed in this house briefly before going to Whipsnade and that one or two of their Whipsnade born offspring were subsequently housed here.

Like you, I never saw Kodiak bears on the Mappin Terraces.

The use of this house for elephants was long before my time; I am sure that this was only temporary, but it has been quite well documented and I have seen photographs of elephants in here.

Maguari said:

Just in case anyone's wondering - when willtheman45 edited his post he took out the question I was answering here!

Click to expand...

Yes I should have mentioned ths-but thank you for answering my question anyway!

Tim May said:

I am sure that there was a connection between the Kodiak bears in the Lubetkin Gorilla House and those at Whipsnade.

Click to expand...

Lubetkin Gorilla House? Which is more proper to use, that or the Tecton Gorilla House?

Baldur said:

Lubetkin Gorilla House? Which is more proper to use, that or the Tecton Gorilla House?

Click to expand...

I don’t think it really matters; I used the term ‘Lubetkin Gorilla House’ because Lubetkin was the architect. However, Tecton was the name of Lubetkin’s architectural practice, so both are correct.

FBBird said:

This house was custom built for gorillas between the wars, in the days when gorillas were regarded as 'difficult' if not impossible. I believe the only gorillas ever to inhabit it were Mok and Moina, who lived only a few years.

Click to expand...

Of the two gorillas that originally lived in this building, I know that the mounted skin of ‘Mok’ is on display at the Leeds Museum. I would be very interested, please, if anybody knows what happened to the other gorilla ‘Moina’; is that in a museum somewhere?

(Apologies, I know that this is a controversial subject as some ZooChat members object to zoo animals being displayed in museums after death.)

Tim May said:

I am not sure of the details off-hand, I would need to check. I think, though, that the original Kodiak bears probably stayed in this house briefly before going to Whipsnade and that one or two of their Whipsnade born offspring were subsequently housed here.

Click to expand...

According to the London Zoo guide for 1958, this building housed two young male Kodiak bears that were born at Whipsnade in January 1954.

FBBird said:

I believe the only gorillas ever to inhabit it were Mok and Moina, who lived only a few years. . At one time the Zoo's breeding chimp colony was housed here, and I think I remember Orangs later on, but this may be a false memory. .

Click to expand...

Yes, Mok and Moina were the only Gorilla inhabitants. I think Mok, the male, died first, but he was a blackback by then- they did both nearly reach adulthood.

Orangutans did indeed follow the Chimp colony- there was need for overspill housing when the two males in the Sobells (Dodo & Saleh) became adult, so Saleh and one or more female(s) were moved in here.

Agree that Koala Bear is just about the most boring zoo exhibit -where image far outweighs the reality.

AN ELEPHANT?!
Koalas are a little bit dull not an animal to stand and stare at for hours on end but they are so cute.

London Zoo 2002

Koalas might be cute, but then so are lots of other things that actually do stuff. The Elephant may have been a small one. London Zoo are known to give elephants lots of overhead perching/flight space -- see the Casson house -- this one would do the same.

Yeah but koalas dont really need to take up much space which was why I thought that this would be an odd set up .