I’m not sure of their links to the zoo, nor the age of the plans, but a look on the Rayhole Architects website shows a reimagined Mappins as a Snow leopard exhibit along with plans for a reimagined Casson, Giant panda exhibit and Aquarium
ZSL London Zoo The Mappin Terraces inhabitants, London Zoo
- Thread starter DCzootripper
- Start date
Thank you for the elaboration on the Sloth Bear campaign -- fascinating to imagine the zoo campaigning their return so directly to the public!
Mappin Terrace Snow Leopard Exhibit
London Zoo Master Plan
Renovated Elephant House (Cassons)
Australasia
Pygmy Hippo Exhibit
Snowdon Aviary
Aquarium
Giant Panda Exhibit
Restaurant Plaza
Found these on the Vault page and took a look. Had a little trouble until I used 'view source' to go directly to the images. Here's links for anyone else interested:
Mappin Terrace Snow Leopard Exhibit
London Zoo Master Plan
Renovated Elephant House (Cassons)
Australasia
Pygmy Hippo Exhibit
Snowdon Aviary
Aquarium
Giant Panda Exhibit
Restaurant Plaza
Nor me. Nothing happens
Sorry, I don't know why that didn't work. I re-uploaded all of the the images to an Imgur album here after downloading the direct links.
Kalaw
Well-Known Member
Love the idea of terrestrial ungulates inhabiting the ground portion of Snowdon Aviary, similar to the likes of Beauval, Doue and Rotterdam throughout Europe. Pygmy hippos may be a little too big, especially seeing as they already have an excellent enclosure elsewhere, but I would love to see them revisit the idea of bringing Red River Hogs there.
Making Monkey Valley into a mixed species enclosure would definitely elevate the exhibit and add interest when the Colobus are just sitting in the tunnel. I feel like river hogs would just destroy all the landscaping though (admittedly the Colobus have already done a good job of that). Duiker could work but then again they would probably be shy and hard to spot.
Bumping this thread a bit but thought others might find this interesting too!
This photo from 2006 shows an aerial view of the Sloth Bear enclosure on the Mappins in 2006, you can see they had access to 5 of the 6 upper level grottos (the 6th reserved only for the Hanuman Langurs on far right), the 3 in the middle had the moats filled in for access and the 2 to the left were accessible from there through gaps in the walls. You can see the two bears in centre of the second tier.
I'm sure there were good practical reasons they decided the enclosure wasn't suitable for bears anymore but on aesthetics alone I think this looks like a decent unique enclosure with a sort of ancient ruins theme. I only vaguely remember seeing them there in person and a downside was you could only really view them from ground level.
Here's a link to the original photo with high resolution when you zoom in. The site has aerial views of a lot of the UK, really interesting looking at what London and Whipsnade zoos looked like back then, especially at Whipsnade you can see practically every original enclosure including the Polar Bears and Tigers which were discussed in the Whipsnade thread recently.
https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/archive/collections/aerial-photos/record/24417_012
This photo from 2006 shows an aerial view of the Sloth Bear enclosure on the Mappins in 2006, you can see they had access to 5 of the 6 upper level grottos (the 6th reserved only for the Hanuman Langurs on far right), the 3 in the middle had the moats filled in for access and the 2 to the left were accessible from there through gaps in the walls. You can see the two bears in centre of the second tier.
I'm sure there were good practical reasons they decided the enclosure wasn't suitable for bears anymore but on aesthetics alone I think this looks like a decent unique enclosure with a sort of ancient ruins theme. I only vaguely remember seeing them there in person and a downside was you could only really view them from ground level.
Here's a link to the original photo with high resolution when you zoom in. The site has aerial views of a lot of the UK, really interesting looking at what London and Whipsnade zoos looked like back then, especially at Whipsnade you can see practically every original enclosure including the Polar Bears and Tigers which were discussed in the Whipsnade thread recently.
https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/archive/collections/aerial-photos/record/24417_012
Attachments
Strathmorezoo
Well-Known Member
From memory, I think that all animals were moved from the mappin terrace because the area was deemed to be structurally unsafe.
Another reason was behavioural. The breeding female Lanka suffered horribly from stereotypical behaviour, so it was felt best she would benefit from having an offshow facility at Whipsnade.
Personally I liked the exhibit, especially the mix with the langur. In hindsight, perhaps Sun bear would have been a better option.
Okay, I have to ask - how would the plan to turn the Mappin Terraces into a DOLPHIN exhibit have worked?
I think it meant a pool at the base of the Mappins. This is a view of part of that area circa 1984...
Attachments
Yes, the proposal (which was only a suggestion that was never, to my knowledge, followed-up in detail) was for the flat area that was the location of the penguin pool and ungulate enclosures. That area would have then been considered a fair size in relation to existing contemporary dolphin pools at that time. Fortunately it never happened, otherwise ZSL would have another site that would be difficult and costly to repurpose.
Actually, it seems the gibbons (or possibly just a single gibbon) was mixed with the langurs as I have pictures of the langurs on the Mappins, dated 3 years after this picture was taken.