Kalaw
Well-Known Member
I own a very interesting London Zoo guidebook dating from 1966; 87 pages packed with interesting historic information and gorgeous illustrations, and may well be my favourite item in my (admittedly rather small) collection of zoological books. The other day, I was reading the chapter dedicated to the Children's Zoo, when something caught my attention; that being, the paragraph detailing the exhibit's Bushbaby Hall. The start of the paragraph reads:
"The new Bushbaby Hall in the Children's Zoo is an experiment to show these attractive small mammals in a special way. In the wild, they are mostly active at night-time and sleep during the day. In the new Hall, the lighting arrangement is reversed, with strong artificial 'day' lighting turned on at night and a dimmer 'night' lighting turned on during our daytime."
The use of a reverse lighting in nocturnal houses is commonplace these days, but describing it as an 'experiment' gives the impression that it was then seen as revolutionary. Do any members have any idea on the history of reverse lighting and whether it was indeed London who first adopted the practice. Bristol claims to have opened the world's first nocturnal house in 1954, but did they use the light cycle at first, and if not, when did they adopt it? Was the first reverse night cycle nocturnal house London, Bristol or somewhere else entirely that I am thus far unaware of?
It is also worth clarifying that, despite the name, galagos were not the only inhabitants of the Hall. Lorises, pottos and other nocturnal prosimians could all be found there.
Any information will be much appreciated!
"The new Bushbaby Hall in the Children's Zoo is an experiment to show these attractive small mammals in a special way. In the wild, they are mostly active at night-time and sleep during the day. In the new Hall, the lighting arrangement is reversed, with strong artificial 'day' lighting turned on at night and a dimmer 'night' lighting turned on during our daytime."
The use of a reverse lighting in nocturnal houses is commonplace these days, but describing it as an 'experiment' gives the impression that it was then seen as revolutionary. Do any members have any idea on the history of reverse lighting and whether it was indeed London who first adopted the practice. Bristol claims to have opened the world's first nocturnal house in 1954, but did they use the light cycle at first, and if not, when did they adopt it? Was the first reverse night cycle nocturnal house London, Bristol or somewhere else entirely that I am thus far unaware of?
It is also worth clarifying that, despite the name, galagos were not the only inhabitants of the Hall. Lorises, pottos and other nocturnal prosimians could all be found there.
Any information will be much appreciated!