ZSL London Zoo Which animals are difficult to see at London Zoo?

[Jambi]

I've arranged a visit to London Zoo in May, this will be my first visit in 17 years. For those who know the zoo well, are there any animals that are particularly hard to spot? Just so I can temper my expectations and not spend too long trying to spot them. I probably won't go around the whole site for the sake of time, I mostly want to prioritise the areas with the smaller species like Tiny Giants and The Secret Life of Reptiles and Amphibians, so I don't mind skipping some sections like, say, Monkey Valley or In with the Monkeys.

 

[Typhlonectes]

I've arranged a visit to London Zoo in May, this will be my first visit in 17 years. For those who know the zoo well, are there any animals that are particularly hard to spot? Just so I can temper my expectations and not spend too long trying to spot them. I probably won't go around the whole site for the sake of time, I mostly want to prioritise the areas with the smaller species like Tiny Giants and The Secret Life of Reptiles and Amphibians, so I don't mind skipping some sections like, say, Monkey Valley or In with the Monkeys.

SLORA everything is easy to spot apart from the Mossy Frogs, and the Giant Salamanders are a bit of a coin toss. Tiny Giants again everything is easy to spot aside from the House Spiders in my opinion.

 

[oflory]

Some missable animals but possible with persistence:

The Indian mongoose in Land of the Lions have become much more confiding. It sounds silly, but it is genuinely worth slowing your pace as you get to the viewing windows into their inside den. They will stare at you and then gently slip away into their nest boxes.

As I discovered today, if you have binoculars, you are much more likely to be able to spot the Darwin's frogs (near the toilets by the old Aquarium). Otherwise you are really limited to being lucky with animals being visible in the tanks closest to the window. Likewise, the semi-offshow Congo caecilians and Peter's cordylids are potentially spottable with binoculars but otherwise probably impossible to see.

The Javan green magpies are also quite shy, worth just walking past a few times - I almost always see them eventually.

I can't really think of anything else that is especially hard, other than the mossy frogs and the giant salamander mentioned above.

 

[gentle lemur]

The aye-ayes are rather hit-and-miss because they can appear and then disappear into the back den quite suddently, but it's worth spending some time in their area to get your eyes accustomed to the dark if the are active.

 

[Kalaw]

I think it is indeed the ex gidgee skink tank, it's the last one before you enter the reptile house proper, opposite the mountain chickens. The T. petersi tank is on the left at ground level

That was indeed the skinks, thank you. Wonder what the reason for parting with the skinks / moving them offshow was - they were nice animals and bred well.

I've arranged a visit to London Zoo in May, this will be my first visit in 17 years. For those who know the zoo well, are there any animals that are particularly hard to spot? Just so I can temper my expectations and not spend too long trying to spot them. I probably won't go around the whole site for the sake of time, I mostly want to prioritise the areas with the smaller species like Tiny Giants and The Secret Life of Reptiles and Amphibians, so I don't mind skipping some sections like, say, Monkey Valley or In with the Monkeys.

SLORA everything is easy to spot apart from the Mossy Frogs, and the Giant Salamanders are a bit of a coin toss. Tiny Giants again everything is easy to spot aside from the House Spiders in my opinion.

Seconding what was said about the frogs and salamanders, although I would also add the Tokay Geckos to that list. For the frogs, your best bet is the long vertical crack along the wall to the left of the enclosure, but even this far from guarantees a sighting. For the salamanders, it is easy enough to predict where they will be (both individuals have a particular crack / hollow rock which they prefer, and friendly keepers stationed throughout the house should be able to direct you to the right one), but the problem is that these cracks are quite deep, so barring on the rare occasions when their head is right at the front, you will likely not see them. I have never seen them leave these cracks, nor have I heard any other member report this. For the geckos, try the very top of the enclosure.

Moving away from SloRA, other than the examples already mentioned, the gentle lemurs spring to mind. They were hard enough to see back in the Lemur House, but now they have been moved to the former spider monkey enclosure in Rainforest Life, I suspect they are even harder to see, as that enclosure is much bigger and does not have an onshow indoor area (for a mostly nocturnal / crepuscular animal, this is of course an issue). In the same building, the bokies never used to be an issue, but perhaps this is just my bad luck but it feels as though they have become much harder to see since the enclosure was renovated. Armadillos all but impossible, aye-ayes and pottos fairly likely but could require patience.

I see also that you mention you won't see the whole site, and I would like to say that you must not skip Blackburn Pavilion! Easily the zoo's best exhibit, and if your last exhibit was in 2007, then that would I believe be the year before its renovation / modernisation, so anticipate a lot of change. As far as rarities go, look out for both Scarlet-chested and Splendid Sunbirds as well as Collared Trogons and Ornate Lories, with Grosbeak Starlings and Javan Green Magpies in the outdoor aviaries.

 

[Jambi]

Seconding what was said about the frogs and salamanders, although I would also add the Tokay Geckos to that list. For the frogs, your best bet is the long vertical crack along the wall to the left of the enclosure, but even this far from guarantees a sighting. For the salamanders, it is easy enough to predict where they will be (both individuals have a particular crack / hollow rock which they prefer, and friendly keepers stationed throughout the house should be able to direct you to the right one), but the problem is that these cracks are quite deep, so barring on the rare occasions when their head is right at the front, you will likely not see them. I have never seen them leave these cracks, nor have I heard any other member report this. For the geckos, try the very top of the enclosure.

Moving away from SloRA, other than the examples already mentioned, the gentle lemurs spring to mind. They were hard enough to see back in the Lemur House, but now they have been moved to the former spider monkey enclosure in Rainforest Life, I suspect they are even harder to see, as that enclosure is much bigger and does not have an onshow indoor area (for a mostly nocturnal / crepuscular animal, this is of course an issue). In the same building, the bokies never used to be an issue, but perhaps this is just my bad luck but it feels as though they have become much harder to see since the enclosure was renovated. Armadillos all but impossible, aye-ayes and pottos fairly likely but could require patience.

I see also that you mention you won't see the whole site, and I would like to say that you must not skip Blackburn Pavilion! Easily the zoo's best exhibit, and if your last exhibit was in 2007, then that would I believe be the year before its renovation / modernisation, so anticipate a lot of change. As far as rarities go, look out for both Scarlet-chested and Splendid Sunbirds as well as Collared Trogons and Ornate Lories, with Grosbeak Starlings and Javan Green Magpies in the outdoor aviaries.

I definitely plan on going in Blackburn Pavillion, there are so many birds in there that I've either never seen before or only seen at Chester, it's going to be a high priority for sure. It's mostly the monkey walkthroughs I plan on skipping unless I have enough time for them.
That's sad to hear about the armadillos in Rainforest Life though, I love armadillos, but if they like to hide I won't get my hopes up too much.

 

[Daubentoniidae]

Since the pottos moved into where the short-tailed bats used to be they've become a lot harder to spot cause the lighting in the enclosure is pretty minimal and the enclosure is much larger. Night Life is an absolute gem of unusual species, always has been so I'd recommend staying for a while in there if you don't initially spot anything but usually there's something visible.

In Rainforest Life the tamandua can sometimes be tricky to spot, and the volunteer I spoke to about the armadillo said they saw it once in the 2 years in working in there. There's also a single bird still in the walk-through; the red-cowled cardinal is in there because apparently it was a bully to the other birds in Blackburn Pavilion.

The aye-ayes are usually very active, always the best zoo to see them in my opinion. and of course the new reptile house showcases the species they have (apart from the semi-offshow ones) very well.

 

[Regent]

I definitely plan on going in Blackburn Pavillion, there are so many birds in there that I've either never seen before or only seen at Chester, it's going to be a high priority for sure. It's mostly the monkey walkthroughs I plan on skipping unless I have enough time for them.
That's sad to hear about the armadillos in Rainforest Life though, I love armadillos, but if they like to hide I won't get my hopes up too much.

In Blackburn Pavilion

I definitely plan on going in Blackburn Pavillion, there are so many birds in there that I've either never seen before or only seen at Chester, it's going to be a high priority for sure. It's mostly the monkey walkthroughs I plan on skipping unless I have enough time for them.
That's sad to hear about the armadillos in Rainforest Life though, I love armadillos, but if they like to hide I won't get my hopes up too much.

In Blackburn Pavilion, 3 roul roul chicks.
There are 4 more pelicans now, making 6 all together. The 4 came from Blackpool Zoo, quite young
Also 2 female Diana monkeys, sisters are living near Gorilla Kingdom.

 

[Typhlonectes]

That was indeed the skinks, thank you. Wonder what the reason for parting with the skinks / moving them offshow was - they were nice animals and bred well.

Seconding what was said about the frogs and salamanders, although I would also add the Tokay Geckos to that list. For the frogs, your best bet is the long vertical crack along the wall to the left of the enclosure, but even this far from guarantees a sighting. For the salamanders, it is easy enough to predict where they will be (both individuals have a particular crack / hollow rock which they prefer, and friendly keepers stationed throughout the house should be able to direct you to the right one), but the problem is that these cracks are quite deep, so barring on the rare occasions when their head is right at the front, you will likely not see them. I have never seen them leave these cracks, nor have I heard any other member report this. For the geckos, try the very top of the enclosure.

Moving away from SloRA, other than the examples already mentioned, the gentle lemurs spring to mind. They were hard enough to see back in the Lemur House, but now they have been moved to the former spider monkey enclosure in Rainforest Life, I suspect they are even harder to see, as that enclosure is much bigger and does not have an onshow indoor area (for a mostly nocturnal / crepuscular animal, this is of course an issue). In the same building, the bokies never used to be an issue, but perhaps this is just my bad luck but it feels as though they have become much harder to see since the enclosure was renovated. Armadillos all but impossible, aye-ayes and pottos fairly likely but could require patience.

I see also that you mention you won't see the whole site, and I would like to say that you must not skip Blackburn Pavilion! Easily the zoo's best exhibit, and if your last exhibit was in 2007, then that would I believe be the year before its renovation / modernisation, so anticipate a lot of change. As far as rarities go, look out for both Scarlet-chested and Splendid Sunbirds as well as Collared Trogons and Ornate Lories, with Grosbeak Starlings and Javan Green Magpies in the outdoor aviaries.

The zoo parted ways with the Gidgee Skinks as they had little conservation value and no relation to the EDGE programme. Check my profile picture for the giant salamander in all his glory

 

[Kalaw]

The zoo parted ways with the Gidgee Skinks as they had little conservation value and no relation to the EDGE programme. Check my profile picture for the giant salamander in all his glory

Wow, I never realised ur profile was at SLoRA! Very envious that you managed to get such good views of them there!

 

[Typhlonectes]

Wow, I never realised ur profile was at SLoRA! Very envious that you managed to get such good views of them there!

After many many visits!