ZSL London Zoo Francois langurs?

[Bele]

London advertise the fact that their colobus and gorilla groups mix. I take it that this is now impossible?

Are there any tufted grey langurs left? (next to the diana monkeys).

There is now no possibility of mixing the gorillas and colobus . The ugly concrete 'tree' is still in the Gorilla Enclosure though .

I did not get around behind the Diana monkeys so cannot help with the langur question - the only bit I missed was around that path including the Birds of Prey aviaries .

 

[Pertinax]

There is now no possibility of mixing the gorillas and colobus . The ugly concrete 'tree' is still in the Gorilla Enclosure though .

Can you elaborate on why this potential mixing( I don't think it ever actually occurred?) has become a failure?

 

[johnstoni]

Well there was a colobus escape recently....so I'm guessing the tunnel wasn't secure or the tree itself allowed for them to escape.

If they are not going to bother giving the colobus access to the island I would hope they send the group to a collection that can give them an enclosure with some degree of height, as the old sobell cage which acts as their outdoor holding enclosure has a very low roof. I never expected, in a 5m development, to still see large monkey species in the original sobell cages, which is what we have with the diana monkeys and the colobus. At least the mangabey cage, originally for the diana monkeys when Gorilla Kingdom opened (until the managebeys began to breed), was rebuilt to give the inmates more space.

 

[Pertinax]

there was a colobus escape recently....so I'm guessing the tunnel wasn't secure or the tree itself allowed for them to escape.

I never expected, in a 5m development, to still see large monkey species in the original sobell cages, which is what we have with the diana monkeys and the colobus. At least the mangabey cage, originally for the diana monkeys when Gorilla Kingdom opened (until the managebeys began to breed), was rebuilt to give the inmates more space.

I'm surprised they haven't tried to rectify this problem rather than just give up (if that's what's happened). A number of other collections( mostly in Europe but also now Bristol)routinely have monkeys with Gorillas nowadays and barring a few accidents, generally it seems to work well and certainly makes for more eye-catching displays.

I agree it is pointless keeping the Colobus group indefinately in that cage. Perhaps the plan is at least to transform the other outside cages as they did with the Mangabey/Diana one- it is far more acceptable and in keeping with the whole area. And maybe if there is no Monkey/Gorilla mix they will simply do away with the horrible tree now.

 

[johnstoni]

I mean this is a concrete tree....I can't imagine its a small task dismantling it, and to be honest creating a better tunnel would surely work at a fraction of the cost. I think they'll probably just leave it there without the connecting tunnel for quite a while. The colobus are striking (visually, not literally), they're breeding (of course), and there aren't exactly huge numbers of surplus endangered central african primates needing space in european zoos.

I'm not really a fan of covered enclosures that appear to deny the fact that they are actually cages. I'm thinking Marwell siamangs, snow leopards (and at banham), where net-like mesh sits on tilted uprights, and the inmates sort of exist within the structure but are not encouraged in the design of the exhibit to really 'use' the mesh as there is nothing attached to it. Maybe I am too accustomed to old-style Howletts exhibits, but at least with a solid frame you can build plaforms and climbing structures all the way to the roof of the enclosure. The problem with the new-style mangabey cage at London is that there is no solid horizontal frame holding up the mesh, so the upper space can't be utilised by creating climbing structures. It would also be a shame to see the colobus in a similar setup, with a few upright dead trees connected by ropes. Ideally they would just raise the current roof of the colobus exhibit by 2-3 metres and keep the upper climbing frame which featured so heavily in the original sobell complex.

 

[Pertinax]

I'm not really a fan of covered enclosures that appear to deny the fact that they are actually cages. I'm thinking Marwell siamangs, snow leopards (and at banham), where net-like mesh sits on tilted uprights, and the inmates sort of exist within the structure but are not encouraged in the design of the exhibit to really 'use' the mesh as there is nothing attached to it.

Its a pity many of these modern enclosures contain so little for the animals to actually use, and so much of the extra space remains unused. Its like putting birds in an Aviary but not providing perches, so they can't use the flight space properly.

I think overall London's larger monkeys are rather 'bitty' at present. I'm surprised if they just give up with the Colobus/Gorilla mix as other places manage okay with these types of design, so why can't London? I would also welcome the idea of the Francois Langurs being moved elsewhere in the zoo(North Bank?) to a much more spacious enclosure- as I've said before I don't think the ex cat enclosures are suitable really for such a valuable and impressive species.

 

[Shirokuma]

as I've said before I don't think the ex cat enclosures are suitable really for such a valuable and impressive species.

I agree entirely. I also think that much more could be made of the fact that many animals are rare or unusual in the UK.

I think the average visitor would be impressed by signs pointing out 'only ones in the UK' or 'rarer than a giant panda' for example.

 

[Pertinax]

All 4 gorillas were together inside and , later , with access outside , all looked relaxed but not in close contact with each other . The volunteer in the area suggested the pregnancy story might be due to the portly appearance of Zaire , I thought she looked slimmer . Not easy to identify the new male as he is much the same size and colour of the younger females

I would expect to hear that the youngest female(Mjuku, from Chessington) will be the first to conceive- they can hardly fail with her and new male Yeboah as both are young and mother-reared. ZSL videos/reports say he's been mating with two females, but not which two, though I suspect that Zaire may be the one he hasn't- so far at least.

 

[Pertinax]

I think the average visitor would be impressed by signs pointing out 'only ones in the UK' or 'rarer than a giant panda' for example.

Yes, particularly if they were in a large purpose- built enclosure with plenty of vegetation, trees or other things to leap around on.

 

[Bele]

According to the Belfast thread the 3 new female Francois langurs came from China . I assume there will be exchanges between London females (5) and Twycross males (4) in time .

I also agree that some decent large primate enclosures would be a welcome development .

 

[Kifaru Bwana]

According to the Belfast thread the 3 new female Francois langurs came from China . I assume there will be exchanges between London females (5) and Twycross males (4) in time .

I also agree that some decent large primate enclosures would be a welcome development .

I would expect that in the long term ZSL will completely remodel its Primate House to enable more naturalistic exhibits to come up for the langurs, colobus, mangabey and Diana monkeys.

 

[Pertinax]

I would expect that in the long term ZSL will completely remodel its Primate House to enable more naturalistic exhibits to come up for the langurs, colobus, mangabey and Diana monkeys.

The remaining enclosures of the old Sobell pavilions are being used to house only the African species- Colobus, Mangabeys and Diana which fit with the African theme of 'Gorilla Kingdom'. (The 2(?) remaining Hanuman langurs are tucked away at the back of this area and will probably dissappear altogether) The other non- African monkeys, including the Francois Langurs, occupy the smaller ex Cat enclosures in the Cat Terrace area so the large Monkeys are currently split into two different areas.

I haven't heard of any plans to change/improve any of this in the near future.

 

[Shirokuma]

Saw 4 francois langurs today, it looks like the hanuman langurs have gone, there was a sign saying 'Home improvements - there are no animals here at present as the enclosure is being refurbished.'

 

[Pertinax]

it looks like the hanuman langurs have gone, there was a sign saying 'Home improvements - there are no animals here at present as the enclosure is being refurbished.'

The last Hanuman Langurs may have gone no further than a temporary cage in the Hospital, or may have been sent elsewhere. Can you find out?

 

[Shirokuma]

I'll probably be there on Thursday morning will see if I can find out.

 

[johnstoni]

The two female Grey langurs have not been listed on ISIS for some time.