ZSL London Zoo ZSL London Zoo News 2012

volvox

volvox

Well-Known Member
The new tiger enclosure is now to be called "Tiger Territory" and building work is imminent, due to be opened in Easter 2013. At the moment there are five sealions in what I think of as the pygmy hippo pond, on holiday for a few weeks from Whipsnade while their quarters there are being renovated. They look so cheerful and sleek and are a delight to watch, I shall be sorry to see them go! I imagine that once they've gone work will begin in earnest.
 
volvox said:
At the moment there are five sealions in what I think of as the pygmy hippo pond, on holiday for a few weeks from Whipsnade while their quarters there are being renovated. They look so cheerful and sleek and are a delight to watch, I shall be sorry to see them go! I imagine that once they've gone work will begin in earnest.
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Wow! Sealions return to their old home at ZSL! How interesting- I wish they would stay too as IMO and others on here too, the Zoo as never been the same without them. But its a no hoper I guess.:(
 
volvox said:
The new tiger enclosure is now to be called "Tiger Territory" and building work is imminent, due to be opened in Easter 2013. At the moment there are five sealions in what I think of as the pygmy hippo pond, on holiday for a few weeks from Whipsnade while their quarters there are being renovated. They look so cheerful and sleek and are a delight to watch, I shall be sorry to see them go! I imagine that once they've gone work will begin in earnest.
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Interesting. I knew they were going there sometime ago but thought they would be off show; they are there while a new filter system is being installed at Whipsnade. They are of course housed in the original sea lion pool. It's a great shame London decided to not continue to keep sea lions on the site.
 
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London Zoo Developments

I have said this before, and will keep saying it -- London Zoo is not the same without the sound of three species, Sealion, Fish Eagle & Sonneratt's Junglefowl
 
FBBird said:
I have said this before, and will keep saying it -- London Zoo is not the same without the sound of three species, Sealion, Fish Eagle & Sonneratt's Junglefowl
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The sound of sea lions is one of the most evocative of all zoo noises.

I was in London Zoo this afternoon; it was lovely to see sea lions back in the old Sea Lion Pool even if it is – sadly – only temporary.
 
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The classic trio, IMO, are Lion, sealion and gibbon (any species, but Siamang are by far the noisiest).

I'm not sure that I'd put a pinniped close to the top of my list of "want-them-backs" species at London, but that corner of London Zoo has been a very sad area for 20 years now.
 
Everything's comin back to London, Henry at arsenal and now the Sealions at the zoo ;), it is a shame that they will be leaving soon though...

Another tiger territory? Could ZSL seriously not think of a better name for the development? However, I am excited that the plan is going ahead, a great step forward for ZSL IMO!
 
Cat-Man said:
Everything's comin back to London, Henry at arsenal and now the Sealions at the zoo ;), it is a shame that they will be leaving soon though...

Another tiger territory? Could ZSL seriously not think of a better name for the development? However, I am excited that the plan is going ahead, a great step forward for ZSL IMO!
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So, it is.

And we gain Malayan tapirs and visibility too.
:D
 
Does anyone know what will happen to the pygmy hippo's once the tigers get their home?

They are another species that are on the brink, but seem to breed quite well in zoo's.
 
Nice to have the sealions back on a short term basis. But when it come to it a new Sumatran tiger enclosure is need more than bringing sealions back to ZSL and hopefully be the beginning of the End for the Cat terraces at London zoo.
 
No, nobody knows (or nobody's saying, at any rate) what will happen to the pygmy hippos, let alone the Malayan tapirs.
 
Cat-Man said:
Everything's comin back to London, Henry at arsenal and now the Sealions at the zoo ;), it is a shame that they will be leaving soon though...

Another tiger territory? Could ZSL seriously not think of a better name for the development? However, I am excited that the plan is going ahead, a great step forward for ZSL IMO!
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I not infrequently wince at the terrible and/or unimaginative names that zoos choose to give their exhibits. IMO the most original, imaginative name for a tiger exhibit (in this case for Amur tigers) is "Tiger Taiga" at Colchester Zoo. It is a clever name, perhaps a little too clever because I doubt that the visitors always realise that the two words are pronounced the same. Of course, such a name wouldn't work at London because I believe (someone correct me if I'm wrong) that its tigers are Sumatran, but let's hope the zoo comes up with a more imaginative name than the rather pedestrian "Tiger Territory".
 
They've already changed the name once. It was going to be "Tiger Conservation HQ" which doesn't exactly trip off the tongue!
 
If the tapirs join Tiger Territory then a straight forward swap with the hippos would be an obvious solution. It would mean that Into Africa (or the Cotton Terraces) would have only African species. But the only indication that has been given of tapirs was in an artist's impression illustration of the possible site.

Nothing official has been mentioned about tapirs.
 
Little Lion Man said:
Nice to have the sealions back on a short term basis. But when it come to it a new Sumatran tiger enclosure is need more than bringing sealions back to ZSL and hopefully be the beginning of the End for the Cat terraces at London zoo.
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The sea lions have and always will be a good attraction. Perhaps if the zoo concentrated on some popular crowd pleasers instead of spending a fortune (and taking up limited space) with children play areas and carousels this would be more within keeping with a zoological collection. But unfortunately this has now become common practise in many collections and not just ZSL.
 
John Dineley said:
The sea lions have and always will be a good attraction. Perhaps if the zoo concentrated on some popular crowd pleasers instead of spending a fortune (and taking up limited space) with children play areas and carousels this would be more within keeping with a zoological collection. But unfortunately this has now become common practise in many collections and not just ZSL.
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Indeed it has John, indeed it has.
 
I don't think that's very fair. At first I thought Animal Adventure was too big but on reflection it doesn't take up that much space and London still has areas which could be used for exhibits. And the carousel is on an open square by the shop and cafe which I can't see being used for enclosures.

And in my view penguin beach is a great crowd-pleaser. I would have loved it, though, if they had built a sealion enclosure in a similar style at the same time.
 
It was a nice change to see sea lions at London Zoo, a week ago. I remember when London Zoo had grey and Baikal seals. Little Lion Man says "a new Sumatran tiger enclosure is need more than bringing sealions back to ZSL and hopefully be the beginning of the End for the Cat terraces at London zoo". I don't agree. I remember the old Lion House, which had a few species of cats, but in rather sparse enclosures. It was destroyed, as were the enclosures for several species of wild dogs, to allow space for the Cat Terraces. This area used to have leopards, jaguars and cheetahs and has also had clouded leopards, sand cats and northern lynxes. At the moment, it contains monkeys from the former Sobell Pavilions, as well as servals, lions and tigers.

I can't relly see the point in spending £4 million or so on a tiger enclosure, when tigers are already over-represented in zoos and have been saved from extinction. ZSL could always send Whipsnade's Amur tigers to another zoo and move the Sumatran tigers into the enclosure made vacant. There is scope to keep pinnipeds at London and there are several species of small cats and other carnivores that are more in need of conservation than the ubiquitous tiger.
 
London already lacks a number of large, iconic zoo animals such as elephants, bears, rhinos and chimpanzees.

I think in order to meet visitor expectations it needs to retain species like lions and tigers.
 
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