ZSL London Zoo The Mappin Terraces inhabitants, London Zoo

I love this thread, also I personally think If the mappins were to make a comeback at London zoo, they should do the same concept design of the sloth bear enclosure where the bears get the primary space and most of the bear pits, except make it for sun bears, make the pool at the bottom of the exhibit be for Asian short clawed otters, and mix the sun bears with agile gibbons, with taller climbing structures for the gibbons that the sun bears wouldn't be able to access, and the gibbons get the enclosure that the langurs used to live in. Also the upper bear viewing would re-open.
 
Agreed, it's really interesting to see the potential the Mappins held long past its peak - it makes the current setup (structural issues notwithstanding) all the more disappointing.

Personally I do think the Mappins will be redeveloped sooner rather than later - I would predict once the gorilla and capybara exhibits are completed discussion will begin on what to do with them. Sun bears would be a perfect fit, and I'd quite like to see the classic zoo binturong mix with them. My slightly left-field pick, especially as it goes against the historical theme of the exhibit and would require a lot of work, would be to house Malayan tapir in there alongside an arboreal species.

If anyone has any more pictures of the sloth bears when they were there they would be much appreciated!
 
cerperal said:
Personally I do think the Mappins will be redeveloped sooner rather than later - I would predict once the gorilla and capybara exhibits are completed discussion will begin on what to do with them. Sun bears would be a perfect fit, and I'd quite like to see the classic zoo binturong mix with them.
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Some years ago, there was a similar thread, and somebody mentioned that The Mappin Terraces practically lack indoor accommodation, which makes keeping tropical animals difficult.

It seems that every few months to a year, a new person starts again a discussion 'what London Zoo could do to improve itself'. This zoo raises insane interest and sympathy among people, and completely wastes this interest.
 
I think one of the major considerations when doing something with the Mappins is that anything with the terraces is likely to be very expensive.

That said, I am sure there are many options for something more interesting and less common than wallabies and emus that could be done with the lower portion.
 
DCzootripper said:
I visited London zoo yesterday, and I chuckled to myself thinking that there was a time when people thought dolphins could live in the exhibit's lower sectors.
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As someone whose early years coincided with the dolphin boom of the 1960s and 1970s, many people expected dolphins to live in places a lot less suitable than that. Looking back it is hard to believe.
 
I remember the Langurs having an indoor viewing window near the Aquarium entrance, what is there now? Is that where the Darwin's Frogs are now?
 
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