ZSL London Zoo A review of London zoo

[gentle lemur]

I made my annual visit to Regents Park yesterday.
As usual my first stop was the Reptile House, as I like to shoot photos there while it is quiet. It's always been one of the Zoo's best features, but I thought it was better than ever - waxy monkey frogs, Vietnamese mossy frogs, a bigger range of dartfrogs, Madagascar spiny-tailed iguanas and Boelen's pythons. As well as my personal favourites, the king cobra and the pig-nosed (Fly River) turtles. The only thing that spoiled it for me was a man complaining loudly because he couldn't see the crocodiles, which were both hiding (they came out later and I hope he came back to see them).
I was really disappointed by the Nightlife section (formerly Moonlight World) - I think they have tried to put a little extra illumination in the public area, but they have used small coloured lights, which cause horrible reflections in the cage fronts. They have also made the cage signs far too bright, which also makes it hard to see anything in the displays. The first display is a jumble of junk street furniture and is unlabelled - I presume it's for brown rats. Apart from some cave cockroaches and crickets, the next displays are for Panay cloud rats, giant jumping rats and Australian water rats. The only things I saw on my first visit were a house mouse and an Australian water tail - just one body part from 4 species of rat is hardly impressive. To be fair, the new naked mole rat display was OK and the loris, bats and pottos were visible.
By the time I got to the gorillas, they were scattered around and quite inactive, but it was very hot so I don't blame them. Likewise the Malayan tapirs were sitting in the shade of their shelter, but the pygmy hippos were enjoying each other's company in their pool. I managed to catch the aardvark's feeding too.
I agree with Pat's comments about the Blackburn Pavilion and the Giants & Dragons display, which both look well. I did see the zebras and female okapi in their outside paddocks, but I didn't go inside to check the paintwork
I really like the new Penguin pool because the penguins were porpoising in it which was wonderful; I have only seen this before at Edinburgh. I think this may be due to the pool's size, including the depth, and perhaps to the vigorous water movement too. I hope other zoos in the UK will meet this standard.
Another new feature that I like at both Regents Park and Whipsnade is the series of Heritage signs about the history of the different features in the zoos. They aren't flashy or exciting, but they do add value to a visit and show a little of the long history of ZSL.

Alan

 

[Shorts]

The only things I saw on my first visit were a house mouse and an Australian water tail - just one body part from 4 species of rat is hardly impressive.

I saw a lot of House Mice in the Jumping Rat and Loris enclosures (they was also plenty in the Cotton-topped Tamarin enclosure directly above).

I managed to see an Australian Water Rat in an enclosure inside the Casson Pavilion (easier to photograph also).

 

[IanRRobinson]

The Moonlight World at RP used to be one of its great strengths; one of Europe's finest nocturnal houses. I know some posters like the rainforest area (about the only thing now to be seen on the ground floor by the general public) but it was created at a terrible cost - about half the exhibit space in the nocturnal area went.

Even if Frank Wheeler hadn't been a pal, I'm bound to say I find the shell of the area left a sad, pale shadow of former glories. And I know I'm not the only one to think that way.

 

[Pertinax]

Even if Frank Wheeler hadn't been a pal, I'm bound to say I find the shell of the area left a sad, pale shadow of former glories. And I know I'm not the only one to think that way.

No you aren't. When I visited recently, I was amazed at how little of the building (both levels) is now accessible to the public compared to formerly. At its height 'the Clore' boasted an amazing collection but it certainly doesn't now.

 

[Shirokuma]

When I saw the small but very nicely done Tropical Rain forest building at Woodland Park Zoo I felt all the more disappointed by what the Clore has become. The free flight room at Woodland Park is very similar to the rainforest area in the Clore but much more atttractive somehow. The rest of the building also compares favourably with small, beautifully designed enclosures.

In Clore's defence, I have always been succesful in spotting the inhabitants of the Nightlife section.

 

[johnstoni.]

I think this is indicative of the death of reverse-lighting 'houses' for larger 'small' mammal species, particularly in the UK. I think the last large exhibit of this kind will be Bristol's 'Twilight World'. Today I think of potoroos, sloths, bats, rat kangaroos, spiny mice, douracoulis, aye-aye, brush-tailed porcupines, aardvarks, zorilla, sand cats and fennec foxes all kept in duirnal exhibits, often with outdoor enclosures. While some don't show themselves as much as they might if they were displayed in reverse lighting, it is telling how many comments I see on this site where 'no shows' have occurred in reverse-lighting situations.

I think, for longevity's sake, London did well to reduce the nocturnal section IMHO. The Clore will not produce a decent fruit bat exhibit, and the suggestion on the Masterplan for the East Tunnel to become a bat exhibit suggests to me that ZSL are thinking long-term about more appropriate space for their bats.

I think the memory of such a diverse collection of mammals is very fresh in the minds of those of us who saw the Clore in its heyday. But the many younger visitors who now visit don't have that reference point to compare it to. However, opening up the rest of the top level, perhaps with the 'units' combined into just four or five enclosures, could really tell a longer 'story' if reopened.

Out of interest, what's left? I know the right arm corridor is off-exhibit, and that this leads to some small outdoor cages (one of which is the converted wombat exhibit), and then to the little triangular open-air enclosure. Is the back part that used to house the black rats, chipmunks etc (with a central outdoor cage for lemurs/sakis/pine martens) still there, or did this area become the rainforest lookout? I can never work it out when I visit.

 

[volvox]

The right-hand corridor and everything behind it, which includes a couple of outdoor areas, is off-show; not quite sure which bit you specifically mean but through a "no entry" door at the back of the Rainforest is an enclosure for two red-ruffed lemurs and across the corridor from them a nice open area with mongooses which can also be seen through the window to the side of the Rainforest exit door. The "no entry" door isn't private as such; it leads to a large education room which is used for visiting school groups but isn't accessible to the general public. I think that was created at the same time as the rest of the Clore reconstruction.

By the way, the open, slightly hilly area to the east of the otters (between them and an admin block) is currently being prepared for some reindeer who should arrive soon!

 

[trixie]

Pat .might i suggest if you are going to a few of the Zoos,it may be cheaper to get a season ticket that gets you free in some of the other zoos.It could work out cheaper depending which others you can get to.