ZSL London Zoo Clore developments

I visited today, and must admit that I actually quite liked it. Regarding the rainforest area: having been told from the start that it would be rebuilt by keepers, I was happy with what I found. The canopies above the walkways which allow birds and tamarins over people’s heads are an especially nice touch. The central area hasn’t changed much, but emperor tamarins are a nice addition, and it looks much healthier than it did before. Increased climbing structures - also good.
Night zone: Really good. It felt a lot cleaner and more pleasant than it was previously. I was lucky to see all the animals on display apart from the Panay cloudrunners. I think the douroucouli might be on display in the future, as there is an enclosure with a new-style sign for her hidden behind a pair of double doors between the slender loris and armadillo enclosures. It would have been nice to have the pygmy slow lorises and aye-ayes too, but the selection available is quite impressive. The armadillos went down really well with the public, but one thing I noticed was that of the nine mammal species on display (including the unlabelled bats), five are rats (Brown, ‘Panay bushy-tailed cloud’, Malagasy giant jumping, Australian water and Naked mole) – these are the first five mammal enclosures in the nightzone, which may seem a bit off-putting to someone who generally dislikes rats. Oh well.
As always, things could have been better, but considering we didn’t even know if there would be open access to the Clore Rainforest until recently, things have turned out nicely. In my eyes, London Zoo has had a number of disappointing exhibits and renovations in recent years, but the Clore’s new look certainly isn’t one of them.
 
When you put it like that you are quiet right. The remember full access to the upper floor some 23 years ago.
I've heard that the re-furbishment of Clore Rainforest cost over £120,000 and after reading your comments it looks like we have been mugged!
 
Animal Changes

The Trumpeter Birds (Donald and Ivana) have been removed from the Clore Rainforest for fear a school kid or child (before and during Summer Holiday) being bitten by a Trumpeter.
Management want the Volunteers to concentrate on keeping an eye out on the new baby Emperor Tamarins instead.
They will no doubt be returned during the low season when kids are back in school.

In the meantime, management wants the Southern Tamandua to be out and about for public display instead of sleeping during most of the day. Therefore they have replaced her closed sleeping box with an open plan exposed box which she HATES!
(Under Orders) Keepers have blocked up the other boxes. However, she successfully clawed through one of the boxes and went inside for a nice long nap.

Tamandua 1 Senior Management 0.

I'm rooting for the Southern Tamandua here as who wants to be a circus act for London Zoo PLC?
 
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