ZSL London Zoo ZSL London Zoo News 2011

No idea – but they will, all in good time. I'm sure the keepers won't announce it – they don't want anyone turning up to watch – the area was roped off on Wednesday morning to give Kesho and Zaire a little peace and privacy while they met up.
 
volvox said:
I'm not sure what you mean by the porcupine enclosure in the gorilla kingdom...
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I mean African brush-tailed porcupine which were housed in the glass-fronted enclosure next to the colobus inside accommodation. I can understand the change as they made a poor display, asleep all the time at the back.

I saw Mjukuu but couldn't see the baby this time, she was at the top of the enclosure by the entrance to the off-show area and it was difficult to see with the reflections on the glass.

It's interesting that I have never noticed the smell of the rainforest before but there was a real pong today!

I always think that London should make a bigger deal of its history and heritage so I liked the giraffe projections although I think the brick made them a bit difficult to see clearly.
 
Oh gosh, sorry, now I remember! They were, as you say, hopeless in there, always invisible. No wonder I'd forgotten them! I was fortunate enough to have a very good view of Mjukuu and "Tiny" this week after many fruitless visits. She kept holding him up with just his one little arm, it looked a bit brutal but I suppose it's good for him – help him learn to swing from ropes and branches later.

Funnily enough we were asked to go and look at the giraffe projections to see if the brick made them difficult to see, so thanks for that info. It's possible they will install some sort of screen, though nothing too high-tech in that environment.
 
volvox said:
No idea – but they will, all in good time. I'm sure the keepers won't announce it – they don't want anyone turning up to watch –
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Yes, I can understand that, they will do it sometime when the zoo is quiet etc.;) What I'd really like to know is whether they are likely to try it in the coming weeks, or not for a lot longer than that, like for months yet, but I imagine the first we will hear is after it has happened.

I do think Kesho will be okay with them. Problems come mainly when a new male meets a group of females who are hostile to him and he then reacts to this 'united front' by asserting himself aggressively, that's when there is fighting and babies can get harmed/killed. From what I know of Kesho's behaviour so far I do not think that would be the case at all here- though obviously the keepers know their animals best and will be working to a set plan of introductions, with Mjuku and the baby meeting him last. Also 'Kesho' must already be well used to the females and they to him now, which means aggression should be pretty much absent(we hope).

Any idea why they are taking so long to give the baby a real name?
 
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There has been a population there since 1985. In the hot summer months keepers are always being approached by members of the public claiming a snake has escaped as they have been known to come out of the woodland walk and cross the path in the direction of the rainforest life building. They are also often seen on the north bank!
 
Now that the old Parrot House has been demolished, are the Ground Hornbills and Red-Tailed Amazons anywhere to be seen on-show? From what I remember, it was them and the Trumpeters in that block last time I visited, who are now back in the Clore of course.
 
volvox said:
Funnily enough we were asked to go and look at the giraffe projections to see if the brick made them difficult to see, so thanks for that info. It's possible they will install some sort of screen, though nothing too high-tech in that environment.
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Oh yeah I saw those when I went last Thursday, though as I'm not a regular I didn't know they were new. I thought they were worked brilliantly on the brick work, very authentic and very interesting: Hope they do more of this with other 'classic' animals in the zoo. :cool:
 
volvox said:
Yes, the Rainforest is usually very... aromatic. I don't mind it myself but the more sensitive schoolchildren hold their noses all the way around and complain loudly! Good education for them – these are real animals! The agouti went ages ago (they chewed the tree trunks and killed them and I don't think they're on site at all now).
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The 2 male agouti started off in the main 'biome' display in 2006, before being removed after causing damage to plants. They were held for a long time in one of the smaller, glass-fronted exhibits along with goeldi's monkeys (which had also proved unsuitable for the main enclosure), however I haven't visited since last year so I'm unsure whether they remained here once 'Rainforest Life' opened. The glass cases in the Clore aren't really enough room for a rodent of that size IMO, I remember the days when (oddly) a large group of orange-rumped agouti appeared to do very well living in the grass of the elephant moat throughout the 1980s.
 
ZooMania said:
Now that the old Parrot House has been demolished, are the Ground Hornbills and Red-Tailed Amazons anywhere to be seen on-show? From what I remember, it was them and the Trumpeters in that block last time I visited, who are now back in the Clore of course.
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I am told the two ground hornbills are on site but off-show at the moment. I hope we'll be able to see them again at some point, if somewhere suitable is found. And yes, the remaining trumpeter is in the rainforest, running about and getting over-excited.
 
Can I just ask is the other trumpeter ill, or has it died?

Also, what happened to the huge ornate monitor that occupied the indoor exhibit where the brush-tailed porcupines were housed in gorilla kingdom?

Going back to the penguins, I do find it strange that the information put out there, both via the press and on the ZSL video embedded in the website, that the black-footed penguins are 'temporarily' moving to Whipsnade, when there is clearly no plan to add these to the new exhibit. Also, the single rockhopper is advertised for adoption beneath the information about penguin beach, when I would expect this animal to be moved to Whipsnade permanently to join the three birds there.
 
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johnstoni said:
Can I just ask is the other trumpeter ill, or has it died?

Also, what happened to the huge ornate monitor that occupied the indoor exhibit where the brush-tailed porcupines were housed in gorilla kingdom?

Going back to the penguins, I do find it strange that the information put out there, both via the press and on the ZSL video embedded in the website, that the black-footed penguins are 'temporarily' moving to Whipsnade, when there is clearly no plan to add these to the new exhibit. Also, the single rockhopper is advertised for adoption beneath the information about penguin beach, when I would expect this animal to be moved to Whipsnade permanently to join the three birds there.
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The male trumpeter died, unfortunately. It would be nice if another mate can be found for the female as she's a sociable bird!

Yes, that's very odd about the video saying the black-footed penguins are "temporarily" going to Whipsnade, unless it just implies they're going on somewhere else later. Ricky the rockhopper is definitely (according to a keeper) going to Whipsnade as soon as the new London exhibit is up and running. Perhaps they haven't changed the adoption panel as he's still very much visible in the African aviary, and of course you can adopt animals from Whipsnade so perhaps he'll still be available.
 
Shirokuma said:
An interesting development in the giraffe house is the introduction of projections on the wall of the visitor area inside. One at either end. They are in the style of silent film/newsreel captions with text and black and white footage. One focussed on enrichment and the daily husbandry routine, the other on the history of giraffes at Regent's Park. I liked this very much.
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volvox said:
I was interested to hear your opinion about the new video projections in the giraffe house – I haven't had a chance to go and look yet though we have been told about them.
It's very nice to have feedback on these things!
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Shirokuma said:
I always think that London should make a bigger deal of its history and heritage so I liked the giraffe projections although I think the brick made them a bit difficult to see clearly.
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volvox said:
Funnily enough we were asked to go and look at the giraffe projections to see if the brick made them difficult to see, so thanks for that info. It's possible they will install some sort of screen, though nothing too high-tech in that environment.
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Zambar said:
I thought they were worked brilliantly on the brick work, very authentic and very interesting: Hope they do more of this with other 'classic' animals in the zoo. :cool:
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I also liked this very much and I also thought this worked brilliantly on the brick work. I don't know if it was due to the time of day / conditions when I saw them (I saw them late morning on Saturday) but I thought they were clear.

I hope they do more of this on their other old, exposed brick interior buildings. I would also like them to do one for the Aquarium (especially a history one).
 
Aardvark said:
Oh! There is going to be a new exhibit behind the gift shop? Exciting! Any ideas of whats going there?
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I assume you mean directly behind the main gift shop and it's not anything to do with the work related to the Penguins / new exit?
 
Development Progress

I went Saturday 16th April and the new (extended) shop is now open as is the milkshake bar (previously the picnic shop), although I wouldn't be surprised if they both opened the day after my last visit on the Thursday 7th April, as they both looked like they were about to open the next day then.

Between my two visits, the main development, Penguin beach, really does seem to have moved on at pace.

The actual pool seems to be about there, they've started on quite a few of the enclosure walls and most of the decking has been done.

They are working on the seating area (really wooden terraces which you sit on), which is also about there.

Both buildings, the new one and the amended one (the back of the picnic shop) had been completed on my previous visit.

Really looking forward to it opening on Friday 27th May, apparently it's going to be the biggest Penguin enclosure in England.
 
Any idea how far fundraising for the new Tiger/Tapir redevelopment (planning: 2012) is coming along? Are they closing in on the target? :confused:
 
Tiger HQ

Kifaru Bwana said:
Any idea how far fundraising for the new Tiger/Tapir redevelopment (planning: 2012) is coming along? Are they closing in on the target? :confused:
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Volvox might have a better idea than me, but all I know is I enquired about sponsored paving / bricks which I heard about somewhere, and they said it was something that they were hoping to be able to offer to supporters in the future, however it would not be launched until Autumn time 2011 and members would automatically receive information on sponsoring a paving as soon as it became available.

This seems to be in line with what they did with Gorilla Kingdom (except it wasn't sponsored paving / bricks I don't think?) they wrote to members around the Autumn before it was due to open the next Easter for what seemed to be the final funding push.

Hopefully, fundraising is going well.

If anyone wants to donate they can do it via here:-

Get involved
 
No, sorry, I don't know any more than you do, although as the fundraising campaign only started properly this year there's a way to go yet! If I hear anything I'll let you know.
 
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