ZSL London Zoo What happened to London Zoos Last Pandas

bongorob said:
Grey Gibbon (Hylobates moloch) 3
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The trio of grey gibbons were moved from Whipsnade when the Sobell Pavilions opened.

Although listed as Hylobates moloch, I believe that the grey gibbons were really Hylobates muelleri although, of course, in those days the two forms were considered conspecific.
 
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Do you know how long the Douc's lived there Tim? They are not listed in the 1973 Rare Species Census at London, but Twycross is listed as holding 0.2. I went in March 1973 but I do not remember Dopuc Langurs at Twycross.
 
bongorob said:
Sorry, but 12 Orangs is the total held at London Zoo during that period. A footnote explains that the figure includes a breeding colony housed in anothe rpart of the Zoo. 6 were bred during that time, of which 1 did not survive.
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Some were probably in the Tecton round gorilla house
 
bongorob said:
Do you know how long the Douc's lived there Tim? They are not listed in the 1973 Rare Species Census at London, but Twycross is listed as holding 0.2. I went in March 1973 but I do not remember Dopuc Langurs at Twycross.
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Offhand I don't know exactly how long the douc langurs lived there but it wasn't long.

(I don't remember seeing them at Twycross either; London and Howlett are the only zoos in the UK where I've seen douc langurs.)
 
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bongorob said:
Sorry, but 12 Orangs is the total held at London Zoo during that period. A footnote explains that the figure includes a breeding colony housed in another part of the Zoo. 6 were bred during that time, of which 1 did not survive.
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pipaluk said:
Some were probably in the Tecton round gorilla house
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I think that some were definitely in the old Tecton Gorilla House
 
Funnily enough I was just thinking this the other day after I visited Edinburgh to see the pandas there before they go and this thread came up.

I do wonder if London Zoo will ever get Pandas again?

As much as I do hope they will - I would be very suprised if they did. At least not for a couple of decades, given the recent geopolitical state of affairs with China.

We’ve been lucky to have them at Edinburgh for the past 12 years at least, that in itself was a bit of a fluke. I do believe that one of the London Pandas can be viewed at the natural history musuem in Edinburgh, although I have visited there recently and nowhere it states where it was from, I only found that out subsequently online.
 
Cat-Man said:
London never should have gone out of Orangs. They had a strong history with them, and a terrible history with Gorillas.
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I don’t think you’re alone with that opinion!

I don’t ever recall a specific reason why London decided to get rid of them, other than visitors complaining they always “looked bored/sad.” Maybe it was because of the emotional/historical ties to Guy and the tea party history with the Chimps. Although I’m sure ‘chatters of a certain age will vouch for Bulu!

Who knows, maybe they’re destined for Whipsnade? I can but dream!
 
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GeeZee said:
.... I do believe that one of the London Pandas can be viewed at the natural history musuem in Edinburgh, although I have visited there recently and nowhere it states where it was from, I only found that out subsequently online.
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Indeed London Zoo's giant panda "Ching-Ching" is mounted in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. (It's sometime since I last visited that museum so am not certain that it's currently on exhibit.)

Incidentally this museum has several interesting ex-zoo animals including London Zoo’s quagga mare that arrived at the zoo on 15th March 1851 and died 7th July 1872.
 
Tim May said:
Indeed London Zoo's giant panda "Ching-Ching" is mounted in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. (It's sometime since I last visited that museum so am not certain that it's currently on exhibit.)

Incidentally this museum has several interesting ex-zoo animals including London Zoo’s quagga mare that arrived at the zoo on 15th March 1851 and died 7th July 1872.
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Ah yes that was the one! There was actually 2 pandas on display im not sure who the other one was. It was a bit dissapointing that they didn’t actually give any details about the specific individual.
 

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Panthera1981 said:
Who knows, maybe they’re destined for Whipsnade? I can but dream!
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I dream of a day where Whispnade has all 3 great apes, maybe Bonobos too, and London has moved pandas into the current gorilla enclosure (or even in front of the Mappins?)
 
Panthera1981 said:
I don’t think you’re alone with that opinion!

I don’t ever recall a specific reason why London decided to get rid of them, other than visitors complaining they always “looked bored/sad.” Maybe it was because of the emotional/historical ties to Guy and the tea party history with the Chimps. Although I’m sure ‘chatters of a certain age will vouch for Bulu!

Who knows, maybe they’re destined for Whipsnade? I can but dream!
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London has an orang-utan which was crucial in Darwin refining his theory of evolution, so there was plenty of history there, too!
I imagine they always looked sad because the enclosure was average
 
GeeZee said:
Funnily enough I was just thinking this the other day after I visited Edinburgh to see the pandas there before they go and this thread came up.

I do wonder if London Zoo will ever get Pandas again?

As much as I do hope they will - I would be very suprised if they did. At least not for a couple of decades, given the recent geopolitical state of affairs with China.

We’ve been lucky to have them at Edinburgh for the past 12 years at least, that in itself was a bit of a fluke. I do believe that one of the London Pandas can be viewed at the natural history musuem in Edinburgh, although I have visited there recently and nowhere it states where it was from, I only found that out subsequently online.
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Why was Edinburgh getting pandas a bit of a fluke?
 
Cat-Man said:
Why was Edinburgh getting pandas a bit of a fluke?
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Well, at the time it was highly expected that London Zoo would receive them when the discussions were first made in the mid 2000s, and was supported by the mayor at the time - Boris Johnson. Colchester also expressed serious interest.

Maybe the term fluke could be applied generally anyway as it was the current political climate at the time that allowed it all to happen, I could elaborate further on this but back then diplomatic relations between China and the UK were experiencing a “golden era” of cooperation whereas now it’s quite the opposite.

It was an unlikely coalition of the likes of Nick Clegg and Alex Salmond who made it happen, including the RZSS management at the time comprising of eccentric (but brilliant) individuals such as Ian Valentine, which is most likely why it went to Edinburgh as opposed to London.
 
GeeZee said:
Well, at the time it was highly expected that London Zoo would receive them when the discussions were first made in the mid 2000s, and was supported by the mayor at the time - Boris Johnson. Colchester also expressed serious interest.

Maybe the term fluke could be applied generally anyway as it was the current political climate at the time that allowed it all to happen, I could elaborate further on this but back then diplomatic relations between China and the UK were experiencing a “golden era” of cooperation whereas now it’s quite the opposite.

It was an unlikely coalition of the likes of Nick Clegg and Alex Salmond who made it happen, including the RZSS management at the time comprising of eccentric (but brilliant) individuals such as Ian Valentine, which is most likely why it went to Edinburgh as opposed to London.
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I think Ching Ching may have been the other panda on exhibit as it was uploaded by @TeaLovingDave saying that the other one was.

full
 
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