ZSL London Zoo LONDON ZOO Cotton Terraces UPDATE.

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Pertinax

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
I visited ZSL yesterday for about three hours. A bit rushed but I saw most of the main exhibits. This was my first visit in about four years. The chief impression was that the compromise of mixing old and new, ancient and modern in terms of buildings and animal exhibits is even more marked than ever...

Some comments;

Gorilla Kingdom- see seperate post on this and remaining monkey areas.

Cotton Terraces- this long description is chiefly for Glyn.... I will try and upload some photos as well. Currently it exhibits the following; 3 Giraffe, 2 Okapi, 4 Chapman Zebra, 1(?) Malayan Tapir, 2 RR Hogs, 2 Warthogs, 4.0 Hunting Dog.
The Okapis have been moved into the end enclosure which formerly held the Bongos(currently at Whipsnade) It has been sanded and the water moat has been infilled and is now a dry sloping ditch. A long glass viewing window has been situated on the corner of the outside paddock. The indoors is again open to the public(hasn't been for many years) and has been given a face-lift but is basically the same raised stalls, but now with mesh, not heavy-barred fronts.. The Okapis(a pair) have two of them. (I think the male Okapi is now 'Dicky' who was born Rotterdam and formerly was at Chester).
The Chapman zebras have the opposite two stalls which access the next paddock along- the one formerly used by the Okapis. They are not mixed with the Giraffe in the adjacent paddock.
The Giraffe paddock now has a raised walkway at the end where the third building is(Tapir house) where visitors can go up and watch(or participate in ?) the Giraffes being fed browse. The outdoor giraffe and Zebra paddocks still have a water moat but its now deliberately overgrown and blends in much better. The inside of the Decimus Burton House is unchanged but the smaller stalls at either end of the house are currently empty.
There is one Tapir in the other end house nearest the tunnel(again the inside is 'open' for viewing). I suspect it will soon leave/ be moved and the enclosure be renovated- perhaps for the Bongos' return? This whole area is now 'Africa' and the Malayan tapir does not fit. There are currently no Antelope at all so the Bongo do seem the likeliest to return.

The Hunting Dogs occupy a redesigned enclosure along the bottom range of paddocks, replacing the Arabian Oryx. It has been landscaped to resembled a naturalistic sandy 'savannah' with mounds and shelters etc. Opposite the toilets under the Giraffe house is a long viewing window for this enclosure. THIs is a now a VERY nice enclosure for this species- perhaps the best I've seen. At either end are the enclosures for Red River Hog and Warthog( currently one pair of each)
 
thankyou so much for your detailed response, alot bette than anything youll find on their (extremely good) website. london zoo is my second favourite zoo in the world, and i follow its progress as closely as i can. having lived and worked in camden town for a year with the zoo in my backyard, you really do fall in love with place.
the glass viewing areas sound innovative. can the pig species and wild dogs be viewed from the canal side? shame the zebra arent being mixed, although some zoos do this extremely succesfully and others report aggression.
the malayan tapir was always an incredibly poor exhibit. not so much in terms of design, its just that the animal never venured outside, whether it was 30 degrees or 3 degrees and was always inside its rather depressing barn area.
cant wait for the pics. go london zoo
 
I thought you'd appreciate this.... I took a whole of photos for you too but I need my daughter to upload them for me and she's not around at present- maybe tomorrow.

1. You can't access the canal side anymore- probably because there would be direct access to the huntingdogs. This really is a very good exhibit- I was impressed and it takes a lot to impress me nowadays. You probably can remember- the central paddock of those three is very long so there's a lot of room for them to run if they want to.(of course they were pretty inactive on my visit but that's not the point). Its the same long paddock that had the Blackbuck before the Oryx.

2. Zebras- I'v seen them with the Giraffe in the past(not this group- a long time back) Maybe they are still planning to do it- I think they haven't been there very long.

3. Tapir- I have never seen one outside at ZSL either. Its the first time I've been inside those two 'houses' for about twenty years- they've always been permanently closed to the public in between. I'm pretty sure the Tapir will be moved as its not African, and they'll redesign the enclosure to match the Okapi one at the other end- and bring back the Bongos- that's my guess.

I'm doing a Gorilla Kingdom/Sobell's description for you- I 'lost' it first time around. Will try again....:(
 
ok ill wait up for it. its nearlyone in the morning, so type quick. lol
the interior of the old bongo house/current okapi has, like you said been closed for ages, but i hope theyve changed it so its not like the interior of the malayan tapir building.
the empty stall you referred to in the first post is where the nyala were in 2005. and in the very end of 2005 the gazelles were relocated to the end exhibit of the canal exhibits with the oryx left just in the centre, who in turn replaced the river hogs who in turn replaced the anoa. one big game of musical chairs
 
When I went there was only 1 tapir. I think that the zoo may be phasing the species out.

The male is dicky. Chester were a bit annoyed when he was sent back to London, as he had a character.
 
glyn said:
ok ill wait up for it. its nearlyone in the morning, so type quick. lol
the interior of the old bongo house/current okapi has, like you said been closed for ages, but i hope theyve changed it so its not like the interior of the malayan tapir building.
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The interior of the Malayan tapir(formerly Camels) house is now open too. The tapir was sitting in one stall(took a shot of that too). The next stall was flooded or had been made into a bathing pond... The fronts of those stalls now have natural wood battening covering the tiles to make them less 'stark' looking and the bars have also been replaced by mesh. It was pretty smelly in there...
 
Writhedhornbill said:
When I went there was only 1 tapir. I think that the zoo may be phasing the species out.

The male is dicky. Chester were a bit annoyed when he was sent back to London, as he had a character.
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Yes, I knew it was Dicky. I reckon one okapi has as much character as another though. They needed to move them round (Chester-London- Bristol) for genetic reasons though. Bristol have LOndon's previous male, Chester have the calf(now grown-up) that was born at Bristol. London got Dicky from Chester.
 
I've seen the Malayan Tapirs in the outside enclosure, even swimming in
the moat, though I couldn't get a picture - too many people in the way. When it came out of the water the other visitors all went. Typical!
 
This is really(Malayan Tapir) another species that they could house in the 'ZooWorld'/elephant house if they renovated one of the vacant dens(took out the aviaries - they are only small, situated right at the back. Its nice and dark in there and you'd actually be able to see the animals too. The dry moat could be turned into a swimming pool for them too. Outside they could give them half the area used by those Bearded Pigs plus another pool......
 
The zoo has a very large area on both the north and south banks of Regents Canal. I have often wondered why the Malayan tapirs remain on the old moated exhibits of the cotton terraces when they could have acres of wooded or grassed paddocks by the canal.
 
I suspect the remaining Malayan tapir(is it only one?) will soon be moved as its now living in the 'African Zone'

Certainly it would make sense to use those sloping areas for animal enclosures of some sort. Maybe the trees all have preservation orders and can't be put at risk from animal damage?
 
i actually dont think london zoo needs any more space from regents park, nor does it need to develop the canal bank into new exhibits. the canal bank, is in essence a fascinating eco-system in itself, alive with wildlife and recognised as being significant to the city's biodiversity. the only chang eii would like to see is a cantilevered wooden boardwalk built out to heighten the sense of excitement-it is possible, particulalrly for non-English visitors, to get excited to see robins, and squirrels, and if the zoo continues to progress as it is, and becomes as much a must see as Sydneys Taronga, or California's San Diego Zoo, or Singapores Zoo, then more international tourists will visit and the zoo should be presenting some local English wildlife.
In addition, its important for English people too!
There are large areas of the zoo still free of protection zones which are currently under utilised. In the main gardens, the old owl aviaries, pygmy hippo paddock and kiosk could all be demolished, creating enough space to develop a grand-scale exhibit.
Future developments in London Zoo will be a compromise between the old and the new. As potholed as it is by listed buildings, there is no reason why London Zoo couldnt reclaim a premier position in the international zoo community, particualrly in terms of design.
 
glyn said:
Future developments in London Zoo will be a compromise between the old and the new. As potholed as it is by listed buildings, there is no reason why London Zoo couldnt reclaim a premier position in the international zoo community, particualrly in terms of design.
Click to expand...

From the atmosphere there the other day- it was very busy- plus the new building designs and enclosure viewing improvements, I'd say it definately could- given time.
 
It would seem a shame if London gave up on their Malayan Tapirs having finally produced a calf three years ago. Their enclosure is surely too small to comfortably house Bongo? When a zoo participates in a breeding programme, loses the odd adult over the course of it, but never really produces any significant number of offspring, I can't help feeling like it is a waste if they then leave the collection to make way for a more relevant species in terms of the exhibit (in this case Africa). Somebody mentioned how the Casson pavillion would be suitable, but this is located in an even busier part of the zoo, and again the animals have no privacy and very little cover when outdoors.
 
Hadley said:
It would seem a shame if London gave up on their Malayan Tapirs having finally produced a calf three years ago. Their enclosure is surely too small to comfortably house Bongo?
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I didn't say they would be giving up on the tapirs, but when you come out of the Tunnel the whole Cotton terrace era is now labelled 'African zone' with a wooden palisaded 'entrance' As it encompasses the tapir enclosure I feel sure it/they will be moved. The Bongo were formerly in the enclosure at the other end which is a 'twin' of the tapir one- if they lose the moat here too, it will add extra space as they've done for the Okapis. The Bongo group, now at Whipsnade, number only about six animals- its a big enough area for that number.
 
the casson pavillion could easily be adapted to display tapir i reckon. installing semi-mature trees would be a good start, as well as planting out the actual moat with bamboo and other screening plants. earth mounds and plenty of other vegetation could help too
 
Talking about this on the 'Tapir' thread on the general forum too. Another suitable place would be behind the Ostrich House where the Anoas are currently kept- it is already quite a shady paddock and it needs completely updating- they could put in a pool etc or even split the sealion pond for these two semi-aquatic species, Pygmy hippo and Tapir.
 
The current Anoa paddock would really suit a species like the Malayan Tapir, but the zoo seems unable (through cost or restrictions on a listed building?) to build an indoor pool for the Pygmy hippos, which is why they are only in their paddock for the warmer months, so it may not be possible to do the same for tapirs. The Casson pavillion is really my least favorite building in any zoo, but I agree that it could be modified to house these animals too. I can't imagine ZSL not refurbishing it as a completely new exhibit at some point though, I would be surprised if they just moved existing species into it when enclosure space was required.
Does anyone know what the plans for the Casson pavillion are?
 
Yes, the problem with the Anoa paddock is the indoor area- there's no display area for people to see tapirs if they were indoors. As Hadley says, construction of an indoor pool could also be a problem for the reasons mentioned.
The elephant house does present a better indoor display opportunity, and as Glyn said, the outdoor area could be planted with partgrown shade trees- apart from that its fairly suitable already.

I don't have any idea what the future holds for that building. Its always seemed very underused since the elephants and rhinos left as it was built on a scale for the Pachyderms and smaller animals(even camels) seem dwarfed by its size. Maybe a 'rainforest' would work?
 
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