ZSL London Zoo London Zoo Aquarium

L

Linnaeus

Member
Hello all zoochatters,
Can someone please give an update on the closure of the LZ aquarium? For me personally this, and the reptile house, were the absolute highlights of a trip to LZ; most of the birds and mammals can be seen elsewhere but LZ's aquarium and reptile house always had new species on show. If the aquarium has now gone then I can't see much reason for another visit to LZ.
Linnaeus
 
chaotic_froggie said:
Does anyone know what they are going to do with the aquarium building?
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The aquarium was closed for safety reasons as the building was considered to be structurally unsound.

In the current economic climate, I doubt there will funds available to renovate the building so I imagine it will remain closed for the foreseeable future.
 
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I have a question about the first London Aquarium. When was the building demolished, in 1929 or 1930, and what is in its place today? I think a flamingo /duck pond ?
 
Bib Fortuna said:
I have a question about the first London Aquarium. When was the building demolished, in 1929 or 1930, and what is in its place today? I think a flamingo /duck pond ?
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London Zoo's first aquarium, the Fish House of 1853, was converted into the Diving Bird House which is still shown on the 1929 London Zoo map although it was demolished around this time.

This building was close to the old Parrot House (now also demolished). Today that area of the zoo is occupied by the current penguin exhibit.
 
Tim May said:
London Zoo's first aquarium, the Fish House of 1853, was converted into the Diving Bird House which is still shown on the 1929 London Zoo map although it was demolished around this time.

This building was close to the old Parrot House (now also demolished). Today that area of the zoo is occupied by the current penguin exhibit.
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Tbh I preferred the Parrot House!
 
Tim May said:
London Zoo's first aquarium, the Fish House of 1853, was converted into the Diving Bird House which is still shown on the 1929 London Zoo map although it was demolished around this time.

This building was close to the old Parrot House (now also demolished). Today that area of the zoo is occupied by the current penguin exhibit.
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Thank you, Tim. But in the 1929 Map, the Diving Bird House isn't at the side of the current Penguin Beach-which is located on the right side of the former Teahouse (today's Giftshop ?), and a House for Small Cats-formely used for small Mammals , while the Diving Bird house is on the right side of the big lawn, between the Prarie dog enclosure and the Old Refreshment Rooms ( the later Parrot House).And this place is, I think, now just an open space or maybe a part of the Butterfly Paradise. Or I am wrong ?

So do you haveany Idea where I can get more Information about the old Aquarium-when it was used for fish- except old guides and John Edwards Book ? Everything would help, especially if I can get information from old articles available in the internet. Thank you.

By the way-the new Zoomaps are poor....:(
 
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Bib Fortuna said:
Thank you, Tim. But in the 1929 Map, the Diving Bird House isn't at the side of the current Penguin Beach-which is located on the right side of the former Teahouse (today's Giftshop ?), and a House for Small Cats-formely used for small Mammals , while the Diving Bird house is on the right side of the big lawn, between the Prarie dog enclosure and the Old Refreshment Rooms ( the later Parrot House).And this place is, I think, now just an open space or maybe a part of the Butterfly Paradise. Or I am wrong ?
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I must admit that I found it difficult to compare an old map of the zoo with the current one and determine exactly where the Fish House / Diving Bird House would fit in today's zoo. This is why I deliberately wrote "that area of the zoo" rather than explicitly stating "the site of the old Fish House"
Bib Fortuna said:
So do you haveany Idea where I can get more Information about the old Aquarium-when it was used for fish- except old guides and John Edwards Book ? Everything would help, especially if I can get information from old articles available in the internet. Thank you.
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I don’t know if you're familiar with the books "List of the Vertebrated Animals Now or Lately Living in the Gardens of the Zoological Society of London". Several editions are available on-line from the Biodiversity Heritage Library; these will provide a list of the fish species present in the zoo.

It's also worth searching the British Newspaper Archive which is available on-line. This is sure to have some press reports about the old Fish House.
 
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I was at the zoo yesterday. It was busy and felt good. The reptile house was heaving and full of excited visitors, with good displays all round and a good information board about Joan Proctor in the entrance; such a shame this is closing too. I was underwhelmed and than disappointed with the marine displays, I hadn't expected there too be much but had not understood that it would be one large aquarium of coarl with a few fish, one tiny display of upside down anenomes and another small one with moon jellyfish.
 
Apologies for the appalling typing errors in my previous post! Still depressed about the loss of all those aquatic species...
 
Pacu said:
Still depressed about the loss of all those aquatic species...
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I don't know whether there are still any fishes 'behind the scenes' in the old Aquarium or elsewhere in London, but I presume that some of the reef fishes are tucked away somewhere, eventually to be gradually introduced into the new reef tank when it is fully established, but this is necessarily a slow and unpredictable process: the old Aquarium had several well-established reef tanks with a range of invertebrates and fishes, so the staff do know what they are doing. Remember that a range of freshwater species from Regent's Park are on show at Whipsnade where there is also a significant off-show area too.
 
gentle lemur said:
I don't know whether there are still any fishes 'behind the scenes' in the old Aquarium or elsewhere in London, but I presume that some of the reef fishes are tucked away somewhere, eventually to be gradually introduced into the new reef tank when it is fully established, but this is necessarily a slow and unpredictable process: the old Aquarium had several well-established reef tanks with a range of invertebrates and fishes, so the staff do know what they are doing. Remember that a range of freshwater species from Regent's Park are on show at Whipsnade where there is also a significant off-show area too.
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That new large tank has been set up for a long time now and I doubt there will be too many more fish added to it. I agree, though, that there are still some species in the old aquarium. I haven't been to the small Whipsnade aquarium yet; it looks quite good but it would also have looked quite good in London. The only other fish I think on show are some blind cavefish in the nightlife area and possibly some piranha in the rainforest look out (both too crowded for me on Tuesday). I am a firm supporter of London but I think they have got this wrong.
 
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