ZSL London Zoo My recent visit

devilfish

devilfish

Well-Known Member
If I've got the time off, I try to go to the zoo as often as I can (usually about once weekly when not in exam time.) On Tuesday's visit, however, I was lucky enough to witness a lot of very interesting behaviours and a few differences to normal visits - perhaps due to the great weather and low number of visitors. I've got a few questions but I'll bullet point to summarise:
  • The filefish in the aquarium was doing very well after her operation the previous day.
  • The reptile house is once again displaying a crocodile newt, though this was in a yet unlabelled tank.
  • I saw one of the gorillas sitting inside for the first time; really cool to get up close.
  • The pygmy hippos were locked away 'with the vet' - anyone know what for?
  • The red pandas were really active and moving around a lot, another personal first.
  • I found the aardvarks sleeping as usual (the female woke up for feeding time), but the meerkats were jumping on them whilst they were sleeping!
  • A yellow mongoose was missing it's right eye, anyone know how this happened? Before Tuesday, I had only seen two mongooses at any one time, so I'm not sure if this is a new development.
  • I actually saw the mara in 'meet the monkeys' for the first time. Three were sitting together under a bush and let me get really close.
  • In the blackburn, I saw a sunbittern spreading its wings right next to the path - absolutely beautiful. Again, another first.
  • One of the Mount Apo lorikeets looked in a bad way as it fought with one of the others. Feathers plucked and seemed really nervous. I pointed this out but would like to see how they've displayed it next time.
  • I saw the female tapir for the first time in almost a year, but this time she was with her calf; not much of a baby anymore though.
  • The area around the lemur house (and 'happy families') was closed for emergency resurfacing - the sign said they were doing it for five days, so I assume its all clear for the weekend.
Any info on the hippos or mongoose would be appreciated.
Thanks :D
 
Where abouts are the red panda? I always look out for them when i visit but always manage to miss them!
 
^In a very dissapointing enclosure may i add.

At least someone has seen a tapir, i was very dissapointed on my visit easter time, when they were a no-show.
 
The red panda enclosure is a bit sad, especially now that all the leaves are dead and have dried up. They do seem to enjoy it though (when they're not asleep) and there are some great interactions between the pair.
I was very surprised to see the tapirs, the house has been closed for a very long time, and they're hardly ever outside. I was about to bypass their enclosure to save the disappointment but I like to walk round the whole zoo. Very impressive seeing both mother and child; the 'baby' would often wander off and then come running back to mum, I could have watched them for a lot longer.
 
I've uploaded some photos from my three most recent visits, which include some of my 'phenomena' described above.:D
 
I went again yesterday, the most notable thing being the addition of a couple of African brush-tailed porcupines in Gorilla Kingdom. They have replaced the monitor which, as of last week, was 'very ill' and in the zoo's hospital. The enclosure was being renovated last Wednesday so I was very pleased to see these little rodents. I was surprised at their resemblence to coypu (at least their front end.) A great addition to the collection.
Also:
  • There was an animatronic T-rex skeleton in Barclay Court, outside the gift shop, advertising 'Night at the Museum 2'
  • The comet moths in Butterfly Kingdom have finally emerged from their cocoons - absolutely beautiful.
A couple of photos should be coming up soon.
 
I've also added a few London Zoo photos to the gallery if anyone is interested, dating back to April 25th, this year.
 
What animals are in the Zoo World building at the moment, just out of interest.
 
Tigerlemurguy said:
What animals are in the Zoo World building at the moment, just out of interest.
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As I remember there are:

Bactrian Camel
Bearded Pig
Pygmy Hippo
Skunk
Aloatran Gentle Lemur
Chinchilla
Meerkat
Ruffed Lemur
Ferret
Greater Bushbaby
Burrowing Owl
Maybe Coati.

There's probably something I have missed.
 
As of a couple of weeks ago, they had no lemurs in the Casson (Dana the black and white lemur is in an outdoor enclosure behind the hippo pool and there are a couple of Alaotran gentle lemurs in Animal Adventure)


I'm going at some point next week - does anyone want me to see/ask/check anything in particular?
 
nayer said:
does anyone want me to see/ask/check anything in particular?
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Whether there is any news on the male Gorilla front? They probably will not tell you where he is coming from (even if they know themselves) but may tell you approximately when a transfer is likely or why it hasn't happened yet. This is now taking a long time in my opinion.:(
 
I agree, with the number of spare males around in the UK you would think they would of had one in the bag a while ago
 
MARK said:
I agree, with the number of spare males around in the UK you would think they would of had one in the bag a while ago
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There are actually very few 'spare' males in the Uk apart from(of course) at Port Lympne and you're aware of the poor relations between PL and ZSl. ZSl's Hunting Dogs came all the way from Europe- not from Kent which is a lot nearer, so I think it may be the same re the Gorilla male.

There are several in Europe that are suitable however and I think he is more likely to come from there. Two possibles are living in the bachelor group at Loro Parc, Tenerife; Maayabu (born Stuttgart 1988) and Leon(born Ramat Gan Israel 1998)- both these were mother-reared which is by far the best option for a prospective breeding male.
 
ok apart from the PL males what about Paignton zoo they may have a mature male?, lets hope London zoo gets a breeding male soon
 
MARK said:
ok apart from the PL males what about Paignton zoo they may have a mature male?, lets hope London zoo gets a breeding male soon
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Paignton have Pertinax (my namesake) who is fully adult in his late twenties, and Kumbuka aged 11. Neither are very suitable- Pertinax is a good stabilising influence on the younger males in that all-male group, but is not very fit anyway. Kumbuka is a bit young and also related to two out of the three females at London. Both were handreared- another minus point to me.

I'd be happy to see a Port Lympne male go to London even though they are nearly all from the same genetically well represented line and several were handraised. For the 'political' reason I think one from Europe is still the more likely choice. Its been six months now:(
 
THIS IS NOT FACT JUST MY OPINION!

Could the reason be that London is slow in bringing in a new male be that one or more of the females could be pregnant?
Rather than risk an introduction of a new male and all the disruption that could cause,
whilst the female/s are pregnant or even with young.
As i say this is not a hard fact, just supposing here
 
kiang said:
THIS IS NOT FACT JUST MY OPINION!

Could the reason be that London is slow in bringing in a new male be that one or more of the females could be pregnant?
Rather than risk an introduction of a new male and all the disruption that could cause,
whilst the female/s are pregnant or even with young.
As i say this is not a hard fact, just supposing here
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it did mention in the annual report that Bobby mated Mjukuu quite frequently, so it's not out of the question that hecould've mated Effie as well in the time they spent together.
 
kiang said:
THIS IS NOT FACT JUST MY OPINION!

Could the reason be that London is slow in bringing in a new male be that one or more of the females could be pregnant?
Rather than risk an introduction of a new male and all the disruption that could cause,
whilst the female/s are pregnant or even with young.
As i say this is not a hard fact, just supposing here
Click to expand...

Yes its a possibility, but I would of thought getting a new male in asap would stabilise the group and hopefully trick the new male into think the birth when it happened was his, therefore London not having to wait 4 plus years before introducing a new male.
 
taun said:
Yes its a possibility, but I would of thought getting a new male in asap would stabilise the group and hopefully trick the new male into think the birth when it happened was his, therefore London not having to wait 4 plus years before introducing a new male.
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Not necessarily - I think I'm right in saying that Effie has a history of not rearing her own infants and you can never be sure what's going to happen with a first birth, if Mjukuu is pregnant. I would be surprised if Bobby turns out to have been fertile, but ZSL must know by now.
On the other hand, I doubt if you could fool a male in the way you describe as he would be unlikely to mate with a pregnant female and so he would 'know' that the infant was not his.

Alan
 
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