DCzootripper
Well-Known Member
Imagine you have 10 years to run London zoo, what do you remove? What do you re-purpose? what do you add? The Only real goal is to become a better zoo than when you begin. I am interested to see your ideas!
What is the way forward for london zoo
- Thread starter DCzootripper
- Start date
Kalaw
Well-Known Member
If I had 10 years to run the zoo, these would be my 10 priorities, mainly focusing on finding a use for empty areas.
Most of these should be somewhat realistic. In an ideal world, London would have Zürich levels of investments from city-based businessmen and could expand into the nearby park, build a world-class rainforest house and acquire some manatees and elephants, but none of that will ever happen in the short-term. That said I'm not taking this too seriously so I won't be considering the availability of stock for certain species etc.
1) Reopen to the North Bank of the Regent's Canal, though the existing aviaries (if they are even still standing) will need drastic renovation as they were incredibly derelict. Historically, there were three bird exhibits here: a pheasantry, an owlery, and a crane and goose paddock. I would bring back the pheasantry with an emphasis on the titular pheasants as well as passerines, but larger birds such as hornbills and owls will be avoided. I will also create a Prague-esque walkthrough for native species with (much like the Prague aviaries once did) hedgehogs and native reptiles dwelling on the ground portion. Finally, instead of the crane and goose paddock, I would construct a cassowary paddock, which given the flightless nature of the bird would not require clipping or pinioning.
2) Permanently open the Cassons (I have no idea why they keep closing and reopening them). In keeping with the Southeast Asian theme of the area, I would construct various terrariums that could hold reptiles and small mammals from that corner of the globe. A slightly more fantastical addition (which may be more plausible than it seems given recent breeding success) would be pangolins, which for whatever reason I have often dreamt about going on display in the Cassons. Again helping with the S.E.A. theme, move the Babirusa over to the RRH paddock and bring back Malayan Tapir for the current Babirusa paddock. That said, I do love seeing the RRH at London so I'm not sure what I would do with them. I know some American zoos mix them with gorillas so they could go in the expanded 'Gorilla Kingdom,' but I also know many zoos have struggled with gorilla mixes in general over the years.
3) As has recently been suggested and debated in the news thread, bring back the Giant Anteaters and Vicunas, permanently acquire Capybara and potentially even Brazilian Tapir (if the paddock is big enough) to create a South American mixed-species enclosure on the empty lawn opposite 'Tiny Giants.'
4) Renovate 'Meet the Monkeys' so it no longer has to be a dead end. If the problem is the rumoured drainage difficulties causing flooding at the latter end of the enclosure, then perhaps a boardwalk could resolve this. This would greatly reduce the necessity of backtracking to get from this area to Blackburn in spite of them being right next door, and would also mean the aforementioned South American zone could continue with the squirrel monkeys and the coatis on the other side of the walkthrough.
5) Sun Bears in front of the Mappins. The smallest of bears, I think the current wallaby and emu enclosure would be more than big enough, though their aboreal nature would have to be catered for by extensive climbing. A nice tribute to the history of bears in the Mappin grottos, and also a way of creating another mini geo-zone with the tigers, gibbons, babirusas and Komodos all nearby.
If I'm not mistaken, Whipsnade's current geographical theming was a gradual process that came about by slowly replacing animals with ones from the same region as their neighbours. I could definitely see this happening at London; in fact, I feel it has already begun.
6) Pinioned and wing-clipped birds is my least favourite trend in modern zoos, and sadly London still does it with the historic Three Island Pond. I don't know if this would violate the Pond's listed status, but if at all possible, I would net it over and find some more interesting birds to mix with the existing flamingos and pelicans, much like what Exmoor has done. If netting it over is not possible, then I would bring over the Sitatunga from Whipsnade and, taking inspiration from Prague, create a swampland enclosure for this species.
7) This one will certainly never happen as the zoo has already confirmed its future plans for the Reptile House (an interactive, educational thing for children), but as it is not listed, I would do something similar to what they did with the Parrot House and demolish everything except the historic entrance archway, which is a gorgeous facade. Again, like the Parrot House entrance now being opposite the Macaw Aviaries, I would transport this entrance to Barclay's Court and have it opposite SLoRA.
As for what I would do with the site of the old Reptile House: a new Aquarium, completely from scratch. Or perhaps pinnipeds, something that I really feel is missing with neither ZSL collection holding them at the moment.
8) Much like the pangolins in the Cassons, this is one that came to me in a dream: Giant Otters in the former Giant Tortoise enclosure. It would need quite a bit of a transformation, but I think it would really work.
9) Completely net over 'Penguin Beach' and hold a myriad of interesting seabirds. Eiders, puffins and guillemots would be my priorities. None of those very realistically attainable, but the bird department has been doing very well in recent times.
10) Bring back the hummingbirds, but not in their former room in Blackburn (which I quite like the current inhabitants of), but instead in the space opposite the Pavilion in their own devoted walkthrough greenhouse.
Most of these should be somewhat realistic. In an ideal world, London would have Zürich levels of investments from city-based businessmen and could expand into the nearby park, build a world-class rainforest house and acquire some manatees and elephants, but none of that will ever happen in the short-term. That said I'm not taking this too seriously so I won't be considering the availability of stock for certain species etc.
1) Reopen to the North Bank of the Regent's Canal, though the existing aviaries (if they are even still standing) will need drastic renovation as they were incredibly derelict. Historically, there were three bird exhibits here: a pheasantry, an owlery, and a crane and goose paddock. I would bring back the pheasantry with an emphasis on the titular pheasants as well as passerines, but larger birds such as hornbills and owls will be avoided. I will also create a Prague-esque walkthrough for native species with (much like the Prague aviaries once did) hedgehogs and native reptiles dwelling on the ground portion. Finally, instead of the crane and goose paddock, I would construct a cassowary paddock, which given the flightless nature of the bird would not require clipping or pinioning.
2) Permanently open the Cassons (I have no idea why they keep closing and reopening them). In keeping with the Southeast Asian theme of the area, I would construct various terrariums that could hold reptiles and small mammals from that corner of the globe. A slightly more fantastical addition (which may be more plausible than it seems given recent breeding success) would be pangolins, which for whatever reason I have often dreamt about going on display in the Cassons. Again helping with the S.E.A. theme, move the Babirusa over to the RRH paddock and bring back Malayan Tapir for the current Babirusa paddock. That said, I do love seeing the RRH at London so I'm not sure what I would do with them. I know some American zoos mix them with gorillas so they could go in the expanded 'Gorilla Kingdom,' but I also know many zoos have struggled with gorilla mixes in general over the years.
3) As has recently been suggested and debated in the news thread, bring back the Giant Anteaters and Vicunas, permanently acquire Capybara and potentially even Brazilian Tapir (if the paddock is big enough) to create a South American mixed-species enclosure on the empty lawn opposite 'Tiny Giants.'
4) Renovate 'Meet the Monkeys' so it no longer has to be a dead end. If the problem is the rumoured drainage difficulties causing flooding at the latter end of the enclosure, then perhaps a boardwalk could resolve this. This would greatly reduce the necessity of backtracking to get from this area to Blackburn in spite of them being right next door, and would also mean the aforementioned South American zone could continue with the squirrel monkeys and the coatis on the other side of the walkthrough.
5) Sun Bears in front of the Mappins. The smallest of bears, I think the current wallaby and emu enclosure would be more than big enough, though their aboreal nature would have to be catered for by extensive climbing. A nice tribute to the history of bears in the Mappin grottos, and also a way of creating another mini geo-zone with the tigers, gibbons, babirusas and Komodos all nearby.
If I'm not mistaken, Whipsnade's current geographical theming was a gradual process that came about by slowly replacing animals with ones from the same region as their neighbours. I could definitely see this happening at London; in fact, I feel it has already begun.
6) Pinioned and wing-clipped birds is my least favourite trend in modern zoos, and sadly London still does it with the historic Three Island Pond. I don't know if this would violate the Pond's listed status, but if at all possible, I would net it over and find some more interesting birds to mix with the existing flamingos and pelicans, much like what Exmoor has done. If netting it over is not possible, then I would bring over the Sitatunga from Whipsnade and, taking inspiration from Prague, create a swampland enclosure for this species.
7) This one will certainly never happen as the zoo has already confirmed its future plans for the Reptile House (an interactive, educational thing for children), but as it is not listed, I would do something similar to what they did with the Parrot House and demolish everything except the historic entrance archway, which is a gorgeous facade. Again, like the Parrot House entrance now being opposite the Macaw Aviaries, I would transport this entrance to Barclay's Court and have it opposite SLoRA.
As for what I would do with the site of the old Reptile House: a new Aquarium, completely from scratch. Or perhaps pinnipeds, something that I really feel is missing with neither ZSL collection holding them at the moment.
8) Much like the pangolins in the Cassons, this is one that came to me in a dream: Giant Otters in the former Giant Tortoise enclosure. It would need quite a bit of a transformation, but I think it would really work.
9) Completely net over 'Penguin Beach' and hold a myriad of interesting seabirds. Eiders, puffins and guillemots would be my priorities. None of those very realistically attainable, but the bird department has been doing very well in recent times.
10) Bring back the hummingbirds, but not in their former room in Blackburn (which I quite like the current inhabitants of), but instead in the space opposite the Pavilion in their own devoted walkthrough greenhouse.
DCzootripper
Well-Known Member
If I were to make 3 Primary changes it would be these
1: Change the area from the coatis, all the way along behind the Blackburn pavilion and Tiny Giants until the parrot aviary into a new Australian area focused on the smaller wildlife of Australia, and themed to a gum tree forest, making enclosures for southern hairy nosed wombats, a walk thru aviary for various lorikeets and parrots, A small nocturnal house themed to a nature hide, featuring sugar gliders and possums, Southern Brown bandicoots and the Primary animal in visitor eyes, Southern koalas
2: This one is quite a small change but add some lodges similar to the ones near the Land of the lions, but behind penguin beach on a boardwalk, and theme them up to beach houses, possibly they could be slightly larger to account for more visitors who want to stay overnight
3: move the fish from tiny giants into Night life where it would be re themed so the rain forest is forests of the Land, and the ocean is now the rain forest of the sea, and move the nocturnal creatures into a giants of the Galapagos style building, and locate it behind the SLORA building. This would be a world class modern take on the nocturnal house design, featuring all new animals that were not in the Night Life, including pangolins and douroucouli. I am now aware by my plan there would be 2 nocturnal houses, but the more the merrier in my opinion.
1: Change the area from the coatis, all the way along behind the Blackburn pavilion and Tiny Giants until the parrot aviary into a new Australian area focused on the smaller wildlife of Australia, and themed to a gum tree forest, making enclosures for southern hairy nosed wombats, a walk thru aviary for various lorikeets and parrots, A small nocturnal house themed to a nature hide, featuring sugar gliders and possums, Southern Brown bandicoots and the Primary animal in visitor eyes, Southern koalas
2: This one is quite a small change but add some lodges similar to the ones near the Land of the lions, but behind penguin beach on a boardwalk, and theme them up to beach houses, possibly they could be slightly larger to account for more visitors who want to stay overnight
3: move the fish from tiny giants into Night life where it would be re themed so the rain forest is forests of the Land, and the ocean is now the rain forest of the sea, and move the nocturnal creatures into a giants of the Galapagos style building, and locate it behind the SLORA building. This would be a world class modern take on the nocturnal house design, featuring all new animals that were not in the Night Life, including pangolins and douroucouli. I am now aware by my plan there would be 2 nocturnal houses, but the more the merrier in my opinion.
The two main things I would want to do are both unrealistic.
1 - Expand further into Regent's Park. 36 acres is too small to hold the range of animals you would need to be regarded as a top class zoo with modern standards.
2 - Take a bulldozer to the Lubetkin Penguin Pool and the Casson Pavilion. Both of these take up valuable space. The penguin pool cannot be used for anything and the Casson Pavilion offers very inefficient use of space for the animals it is able to hold in modern standards. Sorry, but in a zoo, preserving wildlife should trump preserving architecture.
Given the above constraints, I do think for the most part London does do a very good job. Yes, the animal collection is nothing like it used to be, but that would be impossible with modern standards. It has a good and interesting selection of animals held in quality exhibits whilst working within limits the zoo has.
There are though two weaknesses in my opinion.
1 - The section of the Mappins Terracing that is usable could be something much more interesting than just emus and wallabys. It is a decent sized area.
2 - I think the ungulate section of Into Africa is too small for the number of species they are currently trying to pack into it. I know doing so would lose some iconic species, but I would rather see it as just one very good enclosure for 1 or 2 species of mid sized ungulates.
1 - Expand further into Regent's Park. 36 acres is too small to hold the range of animals you would need to be regarded as a top class zoo with modern standards.
2 - Take a bulldozer to the Lubetkin Penguin Pool and the Casson Pavilion. Both of these take up valuable space. The penguin pool cannot be used for anything and the Casson Pavilion offers very inefficient use of space for the animals it is able to hold in modern standards. Sorry, but in a zoo, preserving wildlife should trump preserving architecture.
Given the above constraints, I do think for the most part London does do a very good job. Yes, the animal collection is nothing like it used to be, but that would be impossible with modern standards. It has a good and interesting selection of animals held in quality exhibits whilst working within limits the zoo has.
There are though two weaknesses in my opinion.
1 - The section of the Mappins Terracing that is usable could be something much more interesting than just emus and wallabys. It is a decent sized area.
2 - I think the ungulate section of Into Africa is too small for the number of species they are currently trying to pack into it. I know doing so would lose some iconic species, but I would rather see it as just one very good enclosure for 1 or 2 species of mid sized ungulates.
Dr. Loxodonta
Well-Known Member
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Paul.Haerle
Well-Known Member
I would finally add birds (for example Eastern Crested Guineafowl, Rameron Pigeon, Great Blue Turaco, Hamerkop, Lilac-breated Roller, Crowned Hornbill) to Monkey Valley
Kalaw
Well-Known Member
My thoughts precisely.
ZSL were serious about it and did attempt to expand into Regent's Park, getting approval from the park's operators, but local protest prevented it from ever coming to light. Exactly why another ten or twenty acres of zoo would bother them when there is still 400 or more acres of parkland to explore is beyond me, but unfortunately they were adamant enough that the zoo never got it done.
Going further back, I'm fairly certain that at the start of the 20th Century, there was a very serious offer to ZSL for them to expand, but they willingly declined it in favour of creating an entirely new site outside of the city on old farmland. This, of course, went on to become Whipsnade.
On top of that, I think a small ground-dwelling mammal would be wonderful. Perhaps another duiker species or moving the dik-diks over. Maybe even this could be where the Red River Hogs go should the zoo ever consider, as I suggested earlier, make the Cassons entirely Southeast Asian. It would add another dimension of activity to the aviary and recreate those fond memories of looking down the bridge back when there were birds in there and seeing peacocks and ibises below.
I recently suggested in the news thread keeping the giraffe and zebra paddocks as combined, but only holding giraffes in there. Of course, zebras will also be missed, but they won't be near as big a loss as the giraffes, and in my opinion the combined space is sufficient for a small group, preferably even exclusively females (until recently, the zoo seemed to be intending to give up on the holding of giraffe bulls, though at the moment they are temporarily home to a Reticulated bull named Wilfried). I personally think the pygmy hippo and okapi enclosures are really, really good, the warthog and hunting dog enclosures okay, and only their failed attempt at a mixed-species, giraffe / zebra / ostrich savannah truly poor.
Paul.Haerle
Well-Known Member
A nice idea but there‘s a problem:
If you have two or more hummingbirds, they would kill each other.
Wanderer
Well-Known Member
Could the Lubetkin penguin pool not house a species of waterfowl? It seems like a pretty simple solution.
Another option could be to add some kind of artistic installation to it. Like some cute penguin statues, or a collection of ship models. It would instantly make the whole thing look less sad and lonely.
Overall I think it's easier to find a solution for this one than for the Mappin Terraces or Casson Pavilion.
Another option could be to add some kind of artistic installation to it. Like some cute penguin statues, or a collection of ship models. It would instantly make the whole thing look less sad and lonely.
Overall I think it's easier to find a solution for this one than for the Mappin Terraces or Casson Pavilion.