ZSL London Zoo Clore developments

To be quite frank, yes, the whole affair was nought but a cosmetic face lift with restructuring of the pipework and some misters dotted around the sides...

I do think the adverts are misleading and I think the feedback on the forums will be enlightening. I know quite a few of the keepers are unimpressed with the whole affair.

Essential maintenance had to be done and the zoo can't be judged for fixing the problem, however advertising it as something brand new, and suggesting that the whole building has been redone, is something that I don't agree with.

And Tim B, don't worry, the slender loris is going nowhere. I can also completely understand your rant. We've an entire building on the north bank for the sole purpose of housing school groups, why we need more elsewhere in the zoo is beyond me...
 
Sorry, I forgot my camera this morning. I was going to go back in the afternoon but the zoo was pretty busy and I wasn't feeling well but I hope to get there on Thursday.

Entering the Clore there is a foyer area with the additional areas to the right closed off. Immediately in front is a steamed up tank with leaf-cutter ants. It feels quite 'visitor centre-ish'. The doors open into the rainforest area as before.

First impressions: it's really not that different. It's certainly hotter and more humid with misters. There are branches, some with plants which reach across the visitor area and there is bark mulch/chips on the floor along the edge of the barrier.


The main enclosure is greener but it was hard to notice major differences. I wasn't overwhelmed.

The area at the far end has some large floor to ceiling fake tree trunks and a seating area which looks quite nice. I was feeling a bit hot and bothered and unwell so didn't linger but I noticed the same species as before with the monkeys and agouti and there is also a green iguana enclosure (can't remember if that was there before). The red ruffed lemurs have gone.

Going downstairs into the nocturnal area the first thing you notice is a large and quite bizarre tear drop style chandelier above the stairs. It looks awful and serves no obvious purpose, quite tacky actually.

The good news is that it does get better. There is a large window at rainforest ground level which now has tinted glass. It's very good and a trumpeter was right next to the window and was interesting to watch.

Going into the night life area the first exhibit is a brown rat enclosure based on a Tube station. It was brightly-lit and there are pipes which lead out with ropes inside. They go over your head and into a kind of metal drum and back again.

The rats are on your left and on your right are cave crickets and hissing cockroaches.

By the way, the floor is soft and springy and is quite nice to walk on.

Two cases linked by an external branch shaped tunnel house panay bushy-tailed cloud rat. Next is Malagasy giant jumping rat. I didn't see either. The enclosures are quite bright by the way.

There are various projections on the walls and floor. Some are branch shaped and look ok but some others which I will describe later are quite tacky.

There was also some water dripping down from the ceiling which I guess isn't supposed to happen.

The naked mole rats had a conventional tube enclosure on one wall and two large cases have been joined together for Australian water rat with lots of grass and a very murky pond. Couldn't see any animals. Again, quite a bright enclosure.

Next you turn a corner with projections saying 'creepy cave' 'bewildering bats' and 'ultrasonic utterings'. All well and good but I couldn't find any actual signage about the bats. Two cases house potto with tree trunks like those in the reptile house if that makes sense.

Then around the bat enclosure is cave-like mock rock and branches overhead. Also blind cave fish here. There is also a bubble window into the bats enclosure but it isn't very effective. The lighting is quite good with spotlights and there is a large skull and bones on the ground. The bats were very active but I always find it hard to actually see anything in this kind of exhibit.

Opposite is the armadillo enclosure which also has a skull and a reddish scrub/desert theme. There was an extremely active armadillo in full view and as I have never seen this species before it was a personal highlight.

The slender loris enclosure now has added protection of a large log infront with a soil bed from which logs and 'trees' come out. I'm not describing it well but it offers more privacy and makes a more interesting display. They were rather active and easily visible with a bit of patience.

Conclusions: the night life area is better than expected but the rainforest isn't very different at all. I certainly wasn't dazzled by the Costa Rican foliage.

I guess if it gets people coming to the zoo that's a good thing. Just don't expect too much.
 
Memo to self: eat lots of carrots before next visit to Regents Park. Night vision matters!

Alan
 
Last edited:
Sorry what I meant was there any indication of these species being exhibited, regardless of whether individuals were visible?
 
No there wasn't, I wondered about this when I read your post again. I didn't look for signs of tamandua but they may be back in the main enclosure, no sign of the other species mentioned, certainly not downstairs. One random exhibit is the external enclosure at the back on the ground floor which now houses yellow mongoose.
 
The Tamandua are definitely there. Along with the Slow Loris I saw them both Saturday although the Tamandua was curled up asleep in a box the hole time.
 
I went yesterday too, I have got some pictures that I will put up. Like Shirokuma says the changes aren't revolutionary, but I think they do make a real improvement to the main hall. The extra planting certainly improves the look of it, but I'm not sure how long they'll last.

Species:
Emperor tamarin
Golden-headed lion tamarin
Titi monkey
Two-toed sloth
Tamandua (didn't see- but asked. It's there apparently).

Grey-winged trumpeter
Sun bittern
Pope cardinal (apparently also called Red-cowled cardinal)
Oriole sp. (The little birds spent a lot of time mobbing the monkeys- I guess they'll get used to them in time.)

I actually quite liked the new night zone. It's easy to be critical of new developments- but actually it wasn't bad given what they'd started with. Didn't see the Panay Cloud Rats but saw everything else. The Australian water rats and armadillos were particularly active. Like Shirokuma says, the enclosures are not that dark.

Don't think there'll be galagos or douricouli either, Johnstoni, there's not space for them in the night zone that I can see.
 
Interesting as they still seem to hold pgymy slow loris and douracouli according to ISIS, as well as black-tailed and white-fronted marmosets. I hope the Casson won't be used to strand another handful of species with nowhere left to go after their exhibit was redeveloped, as with the sobell and the monkeys still in the cat terraces.

I have yet to visit this year but the description and photos suggest they have given up trying to prevent animals coming into the public space, and actually facilitated that, which I think needed to happen. I am hopeful that some of the glass cases have had the glass removed and form additional areas for the animals to use.

While I understand the need for off-exhibit areas, the fact that an entire wing of the Clore is still closed off, together with a number of outdoor enclosures to the back of the building (fairly recent additions) suggests real potential to increase the exhibits here in financially stronger times.

It also sounds like there were problems housing the yellow mongoose with the porcupines last year, and instead of sending this species to another zoo, they have just ended up in the Clore, which is a little pointless, seeing as the zoo has two meerkat exhibits already (plus one on what appears to be permanent standby if you count the old beaver pool along the path). It sounds like the yellow mongoose are where the 'overflow' otters were housed when the breeding got to a point that they separated them into single-sex groups.

I wonder what the issue was with the silvery and pygmy marmosets, as watching their interactions as well as with the golden-headed lion tamarins was really fascinating, and I think they brought a lot of life to the exhibit. It seems as if these two species have been replaced with just one, the emperor tamarins.

Its a shame the black-necked aracaris didn't work out, although I'm not sure what the story was here. At one point they seemed to be breeding elsewhere in the zoo, but last year ISIS recorded only 1 left. The individuals I saw in the Clore never loooked in particularly good condition, I'm sure they weren't moulting every time I visited. But conversely it seems that toucans seems to do better in this country when given outdoor access.

I think the addition of the trumpeters in 2008 and the tamandua in 2009 still make this exhibit very special. It would be easy to just have another walk-in primate enclosure, I'm glad this is not what has been created in the refurbishment this year.

So are the agouti back on the forest floor or are they still in the glass case with the goeldis monkeys?
 
johnstoni said:
Interesting as they still seem to hold pgymy slow loris and douracouli according to ISIS, as well as black-tailed and white-fronted marmosets. I hope the Casson won't be used to strand another handful of species with nowhere left to go after their exhibit was redeveloped, as with the sobell and the monkeys still in the cat terraces.

I have yet to visit this year but the description and photos suggest they have given up trying to prevent animals coming into the public space, and actually facilitated that, which I think needed to happen. I am hopeful that some of the glass cases have had the glass removed and form additional areas for the animals to use.

While I understand the need for off-exhibit areas, the fact that an entire wing of the Clore is still closed off, together with a number of outdoor enclosures to the back of the building (fairly recent additions) suggests real potential to increase the exhibits here in financially stronger times.

It also sounds like there were problems housing the yellow mongoose with the porcupines last year, and instead of sending this species to another zoo, they have just ended up in the Clore, which is a little pointless, seeing as the zoo has two meerkat exhibits already (plus one on what appears to be permanent standby if you count the old beaver pool along the path). It sounds like the yellow mongoose are where the 'overflow' otters were housed when the breeding got to a point that they separated them into single-sex groups.

I wonder what the issue was with the silvery and pygmy marmosets, as watching their interactions as well as with the golden-headed lion tamarins was really fascinating, and I think they brought a lot of life to the exhibit. It seems as if these two species have been replaced with just one, the emperor tamarins.

Its a shame the black-necked aracaris didn't work out, although I'm not sure what the story was here. At one point they seemed to be breeding elsewhere in the zoo, but last year ISIS recorded only 1 left. The individuals I saw in the Clore never loooked in particularly good condition, I'm sure they weren't moulting every time I visited. But conversely it seems that toucans seems to do better in this country when given outdoor access.

I think the addition of the trumpeters in 2008 and the tamandua in 2009 still make this exhibit very special. It would be easy to just have another walk-in primate enclosure, I'm glad this is not what has been created in the refurbishment this year.

So are the agouti back on the forest floor or are they still in the glass case with the goeldis monkeys?
Click to expand...

The agoutis appeared to have a double glass case of their own, in the alcove at the far end of the room.
 
They were housed in a case here before the refurbishment, after causing too much damage to plants in the main biome. At the time, they were replaced I think by Red-footed tortoises, which I assume have now gone.
 
The agouti are not in on there own there is a species of Tamarin in with them. I also think they may have access to the outside enclosure at the end of the Clore building though I am not sure if the agouti also have access.
 
So it sounds like they have been moved to the right of their former enclosure, into the area formerly occupied by gentle lemurs? Which do have an outdoor enclosure, however there may not be ground-level access, so possibly only the primates in with them can access the outdoor area.
 
Good grief! I suppose seasoned London Zoo visitors should be used to disappointment, and expectation levels should be fairly low, but the newly redeveloped Clore is just a joke. Sure, it's quite a nice exhibit - as it was last year. And it's got quite a nice selection of species - as it did last year. But how they can have the chutzpah to suggest that this is a new exhibit, and to market is as such, is just beyond belief. A few piles of mulch on the visitor path, a papier mache tree or two, half the upper house closed off, and some Australian water rats. These latter are great, by the way, but they don't turn an old exhibit into a new one.

Went to the zoo today and was thoroughly dis-spirited by the whole experience. The African Bird Safari was closed (not sure whether this was a short term thing or not); the painting of the Lion Terraces is just tacky beyond belief; and there's a big wooden thing on the lawn which apparently represents a termites' nest (I think).
 
Sooty the African Bird safari is closed as they are renewing the netting. The netting is now back in place from the last time I visited (2 weeks ago) I imagine it should be re-opened very soon.

The agouti are opposite the iguana's on the left hand side at the end of the clore with the pirana and the iguana on the right and a mixed Tamarin exhibit on the far back wall.

Johnstoni I do not know if you are aware that the gentle lemur are now in animal adventure. You can view them through a stable door they are at the back of the donkey paddock.

The wing of the clore on the right hand side if you walk through the main entrance is as I am told is being used for quarantine currently. If you go to the right side of the Clore and look through the windows you can still see the exhibits through the door these have not changed however I do not know the plans for this area but the hold more Tamarin species.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top