ZSL London Zoo Visiting London Zoo
- Thread starter HuxleyPig
- Start date
Just got back from the zoo today, and it was an incredibly enjoyable day. Despite the coach arriving in London an hour and a half late and the hour walk to the zoo, I still managed to see everything in the 5ish hours I had left.
I've got to say, after reading lots of grumblings about London, I was pleasantly surprised. I know some enclosures could do with expanding or demolishing and that some enclosures are a bit on the pokey side, but all the new exhibits are very well designed.
Personal highlights, for me, were seeing some animals for the first time, including African Wild Dogs, Komodo Dragons, Aardvarks and Galapagos Giant Tortoises (which are SO much bigger than I imagined - seeing them on the television or in books really doesn't do them justice).
I particularly enjoyed the aquarium, seeing loads of marine and tropica fish that I sell at work and in some cases keep as pets. I also thought B.U.G.S was class, as was the reptile house.
The new lion cubs were very cute, and one came right up to the window and looked me in the eye. I love it when that happens. The gorilla enclosure was, in my opinion, very impressive, although I know some don't like it. I think, at least, it's an incredible improvement on what they were living in.
I also like what they've done with the old elephant house and the emu and wallaby enclosure is great (however the enclosure really does have much more potential).
It was really really quiet, also, which made for a really peaceful day. However there was several incidents of school kids running amok when being unattended. I gave 'don't do that' glances to them as they 'tried to blind the tortoise with the flash' and slapped the tiger glass window. Some kids were yelling, properly yelling, at a Wild Dog, at which point I gave them the glance and he apologised and told his friends to shut up as well, which I think the Wild Dog appreciated somewhat.
All in all, a very enjoyable day. I took over 300 pictures. xD
I've got to say, after reading lots of grumblings about London, I was pleasantly surprised. I know some enclosures could do with expanding or demolishing and that some enclosures are a bit on the pokey side, but all the new exhibits are very well designed.
Personal highlights, for me, were seeing some animals for the first time, including African Wild Dogs, Komodo Dragons, Aardvarks and Galapagos Giant Tortoises (which are SO much bigger than I imagined - seeing them on the television or in books really doesn't do them justice).
I particularly enjoyed the aquarium, seeing loads of marine and tropica fish that I sell at work and in some cases keep as pets. I also thought B.U.G.S was class, as was the reptile house.
The new lion cubs were very cute, and one came right up to the window and looked me in the eye. I love it when that happens. The gorilla enclosure was, in my opinion, very impressive, although I know some don't like it. I think, at least, it's an incredible improvement on what they were living in.
I also like what they've done with the old elephant house and the emu and wallaby enclosure is great (however the enclosure really does have much more potential).
It was really really quiet, also, which made for a really peaceful day. However there was several incidents of school kids running amok when being unattended. I gave 'don't do that' glances to them as they 'tried to blind the tortoise with the flash' and slapped the tiger glass window. Some kids were yelling, properly yelling, at a Wild Dog, at which point I gave them the glance and he apologised and told his friends to shut up as well, which I think the Wild Dog appreciated somewhat.
All in all, a very enjoyable day. I took over 300 pictures. xD
Glad to hear you had a great day, I must admit I'm a big fan of London zoo, its got so many interesting and well present exhibits which you don't always see in this country. I must agree with you about the giant tortoises, when I say another species at Bristol i was shocked by their size, totally not what you expect. Looking forward to seeing some of your snaps!
what are the vertebrates (not insects or any other invertebrates) they have in the BUGS exhibit
Also Brown Rats, Roulroul, Montserrat Oriole (? - working from memory!), Red-tailed Racer, Golden Mantella, and various fish, including a big display of Barombi Mbo cichlids. Probably some more I'm forgetting.
When I was there ar the end of December Naked mole rats were in the nocturnal house and the golden headed lion tamarins in the rainforest experience (or something like that
) above the nocturnal house.
devilfish
Well-Known Member
As well as brown rats, Bali starlings, roulroul partridge, red-tailed ratsnake, axolotl, golden mantella, Barombi Mbo cichlids, Native marine fish species including Shanny, and some tropical marine species including regal tang, Banggai csrdinalfish and copperband butterflyfish. Blue poison dart frogs were previously on display. I rushed through BUGs when i visited last month so I'm probably out of date and I've likely forgotten a few.
When I was there ar the end of December Naked mole rats were in the nocturnal house and the golden headed lion tamarins in the rainforest experience (or something like that
Both species are in those locations *and* in BUGS.
London does a fair bit of doubling. I still don't get why they have two displays of Red-bellied Piranha (Clore Rainforest and Aquarium), given that they have multiple species of piranha in the collection anyway!
devilfish - I knew I'd seen Bali Starling and Montserrat Oriole in that aviary in the past but couldn't remember which was current! Also used to be Madagascar Partridge, pre-Roulroul.
When I was there ar the end of December Naked mole rats were in the nocturnal house and the golden headed lion tamarins in the rainforest experience (or something like that
They are in both houses!