ZSL London Zoo London Zoo News 2023

[Regent]

It maybe that the primate team wanted to ensure that the existing group settled into new environment. There have been a few squabbles with the group
The primate team then had to ensure that Kiburi settled in Gorilla Kingdom
The male macaque was eventually moved in with females which then led to the Diana monkeys moving and then a group of squirrel monkeys moved into the vacant Diana monkey area. All these movements and introductions needed to be monitored so the introduction of breeding male colobus may happen next year

 

[Zorro]

The 10 strong colobus troop do not have a breeding male. The current breeding male had a vasectomy and it seems that there are no immediate plans to bring in another breeding male.
The meerkats move is no surprise, there were only 3 meerkats in that area

I would of though moving the male Colobus to another collection would have been a better idea than a vasectomy even to another country!

 

[Regent]

I’ve no idea how old the male colobus is, perhaps also he had fathered a lot of youngsters and therefore, the blood line was exhausted. Pretty sure the decision to him the “snip” was taken after looking at other possibilities

 

[SwampDonkey]

I know the new reptile house is nearing completion. I will be going to ZSL in March 2024...can I expect it to be open by then? I really hope so, reptile houses are one of my favorite parts of zoos.

 

[Regent]

I know the new reptile house is nearing completion. I will be going to ZSL in March 2024...can I expect it to be open by then? I really hope so, reptile houses are one of my favorite parts of zoos.

There has been so many months delay on opening the new reptile house, one sincerely hopes that it’s open sometime in 2024

 

[DesertRhino150]

I know the new reptile house is nearing completion. I will be going to ZSL in March 2024...can I expect it to be open by then? I really hope so, reptile houses are one of my favorite parts of zoos.

The Events page on the ZSL website lists the Secret Life of Reptiles as 'coming soon', but gives a date of between the 6th and 31st January. If all goes well, it should be open by March.

What's on | London Zoo

 

[Panthera1981]

I know the new reptile house is nearing completion. I will be going to ZSL in March 2024...can I expect it to be open by then? I really hope so, reptile houses are one of my favorite parts of zoos.

Big ZSL openings usually coincide with the school holidays. March 2024 seems fair as Easter falls at the end of the month. I would imagine there will be test events and previews for Fellows, Members before then.

 

[SwampDonkey]

The Events page on the ZSL website lists the Secret Life of Reptiles as 'coming soon', but gives a date of between the 6th and 31st January. If all goes well, it should be open by March.

What's on | London Zoo

Big ZSL openings usually coincide with the school holidays. March 2024 seems fair as Easter falls at the end of the month. I would imagine there will be test events and previews for Fellows, Members before then.

Thank you both! We will be going sometime the week of March 7th-16th as we will be there for our school year's Spring Break holiday.

 

[Reptile House]

Going back to monkey valley, it would be fair, to say you can see where the money has been spent. However and regrettable there seems not much in there, it can be hard to spot a colobus at times, as they seem to be lazy and prefer warmth of their cabin over the behemoth enclosure. London Zoo originally proposed this to be a multi-specie enclosure and I would have hoped they took this route. Now I have no clue how to integrate animals together and whether the colobus monkeys would hung out with other species. The parrots kept by the penguins would be cool in there, also giving them more space to spread their wings - I know they’re not from the same continent originally. I wonder what other species could co-exist.

 

[Zorro]

Going back to monkey valley, it would be fair, to say you can see where the money has been spent. However and regrettable there seems not much in there, it can be hard to spot a colobus at times, as they seem to be lazy and prefer warmth of their cabin over the behemoth enclosure. London Zoo originally proposed this to be a multi-specie enclosure and I would have hoped they took this route. Now I have no clue how to integrate animals together and whether the colobus monkeys would hung out with other species. The parrots kept by the penguins would be cool in there, also giving them more space to spread their wings - I know they’re not from the same continent originally. I wonder what other species could co-exist.

Would flamingos be a good fit?

 

[Panthera1981]

Going back to monkey valley, it would be fair, to say you can see where the money has been spent. However and regrettable there seems not much in there, it can be hard to spot a colobus at times, as they seem to be lazy and prefer warmth of their cabin over the behemoth enclosure. London Zoo originally proposed this to be a multi-specie enclosure and I would have hoped they took this route. Now I have no clue how to integrate animals together and whether the colobus monkeys would hung out with other species. The parrots kept by the penguins would be cool in there, also giving them more space to spread their wings - I know they’re not from the same continent originally. I wonder what other species could co-exist.

The original plans involved African grey parrot, maybe that’s still feasible.

Could another primate be mixed in with the Colobus perhaps?

 

[Kalaw]

Turaco were also part of the plans, I believe, and given how many turacos, of multiple species, the zoo currently has, I think that is still very plausible…

 

[Zorro]

Turaco were also part of the plans, I believe, and given how many turacos, of multiple species, the zoo currently has, I think that is still very plausible…

These mentioned bird species would only be allowed there for part of the year, right?

 

[DesertRhino150]

These mentioned bird species would only be allowed there for part of the year, right?

If the zoo sourced some white-cheeked turacos, they could probably be able to be outside year-round - there has been one living wild in east London for about ten years now, so the climate may not be as much of an issue for that species.

 

[polarbear]

I think the plans for birds changed when the location of the external housing changed, and having to work around a listed structure. Agree it would give more interest in there, especially when the colobus are in their internal area, which is hard to view, but the monkeys do seem to be settling to using the space.

 

[Pertinax]

However and regrettable there seems not much in there, it can be hard to spot a colobus at times, as they seem to be lazy and prefer warmth of their cabin over the behemoth enclosure.

I did forecast this would be the case. Weather conditions play an important part I think, the ex Snowdon Aviary is in an open windy location( in the past the netting was often damaged as a result) and most monkeys do not like wind, or even just breezy conditions or low temperatures, or wet, hence they go indoors to avoid all these. Probably works okay during limited times they are out and about though..

 

[Zorro]

How did the vegetation hold up to this point it appeared they did not plant that much in there at the start?

 

[Tim May]

How did the vegetation hold up to this point it appeared they did not plant that much in there at the start?

The colobus monkeys have stripped the leaves off many of the trees in the Snowdon Aviary.

 

[Zorro]

The colobus monkeys have stripped the leaves off many of the trees in the Snowdon Aviary.

Thats all so far?

 

[oflory]

Thats all so far?

A video posted on the ZSL social media addressed this, actually - they have been experimenting with different trees/plants. They plan to continue planting camphor trees, which the colobus don't like.

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