ZSL London Zoo ZSL London Zoo News 2012

zooboy28 said:
I visited London Zoo in December last year, and despite taking well over 1000 photos, and aiming to record every species label, I missed the birds in the very first aviary. This is the one that you have to walk past to get into the zoo proper after you have paid your entry. I have a photo with a red/orange+black passerine on a branch, and would love to know what it is, and am hoping that London Zoo regulars can tell me. I think this was a mixed species exhibit, were there lovebirds in here too? Thanks in advance for any help you can give.
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Is the aviary you are talking about the one opposite the reptile house and just before the gorillas? This aviary was home to the following species on tuesday - Im guessing some had come from the closed african bird safari - a great aviary none the less.
white-faced whistling duck
lilac breasted roller
hammerkop
white-crowned robin chat
superb starling
madagascan teal
bearded barbet
and a pair of hornbill which were unidentified - either red-billed or von der deckens

Also do London still keep Aye-aye? I couldn't find any on tuesday.
Cheers
 
Two aye-ayes are listed in the 2012 animal inventory but they have been off-show for a number of years now – one of those ongoing mysteries of London Zoo!
 
Fergie said:
Is the aviary you are talking about the one opposite the reptile house and just before the gorillas? This aviary was home to the following species on tuesday - Im guessing some had come from the closed african bird safari - a great aviary none the less.
white-faced whistling duck
lilac breasted roller
hammerkop
white-crowned robin chat
superb starling
madagascan teal
bearded barbet
and a pair of hornbill which were unidentified - either red-billed or von der deckens
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No, that isn't the aviary, the one I'm talking about was quite small, certainly not suitable for any of the larger species you mention, and Devilfish said it has recently been demolished. But thanks anyway, I'll have to have a read of these threads and find out what has happened to the African Bird Safari now.
 
The African Bird Safari is temporarily closed while they build the new "Tiger Territory" behind it. The buildings that provide indoor shelter for the birds is being renovated as part of the new enclosure, and also the building noise being so close would disturb the birds. So they are currently scattered throughout the zoo (including, as someone said, the little walk-through aviary on the way to gorillas) till the tiger enclosure is finished, next Easter.
 
volvox said:
Two aye-ayes are listed in the 2012 animal inventory but they have been off-show for a number of years now – one of those ongoing mysteries of London Zoo!
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Can anyone bring more light to this subject? Are they still in the round house, just off show? I must admit, I've never actually seem out whereas I have at Bristol and Jersey.

Hoping to make a visit here sometime in July/August.
 
No, they're not in the Round House any more, that is now home to some wonderful Rodriguez fruit bats which are well worth a visit.
 
JamesB said:
Can anyone bring more light to this subject? Are they still in the round house, just off show? I must admit, I've never actually seem out whereas I have at Bristol and Jersey.

Hoping to make a visit here sometime in July/August.
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They are in the closed off area of the Clore.
 
stulch said:
A planning application has been made to Westminster Council for a new camel enclosure.
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Presumably this is to free up their current enclosure so as to enable it to be incorporated into the new tiger thing. Am I right in thinking that the artist's impression showed Malayan tapirs in this space? And, if so, is that a definite, or was it simply a 'possibility'?

Although camels don't really set my pulses racing, I do think it's good that London are to be continuing with a real 'zoo' animal species, the like of which the average visitor is very pleased to see.
 
sooty mangabey said:
Presumably this is to free up their current enclosure so as to enable it to be incorporated into the new tiger thing. Am I right in thinking that the artist's impression showed Malayan tapirs in this space? And, if so, is that a definite, or was it simply a 'possibility'?
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The section plans also mention the tapir enclosure.
 
sooty mangabey said:
Presumably this is to free up their current enclosure so as to enable it to be incorporated into the new tiger thing. Am I right in thinking that the artist's impression showed Malayan tapirs in this space? And, if so, is that a definite, or was it simply a 'possibility'?

Although camels don't really set my pulses racing, I do think it's good that London are to be continuing with a real 'zoo' animal species, the like of which the average visitor is very pleased to see.
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Sorry, we'll have to disagree here.

ZSL already has a sizeable group of domestic Bactrian camels at Whipsnade (those voodoo descriptions of them being critically endangered push my buttons I'm afraid!). I wish that long-disused piece of land (out of commission for most of my lifetime) could be given over to something a bit more exotic.

Prince Alfred's or brow-antlered deer, or warty pigs, would all fit in with UK zoos' breeding programmes, the surrounding "theming" of the zoo masterplan, and (IMHO!) the duty of the site to inspire visitors with the rare and the unusual.

Once again, as evinced by the damn carousel on Barclay Court, the impression is being given of marketing calling the shots.
 
IanRRobinson said:
Sorry, we'll have to disagree here.

ZSL already has a sizeable group of domestic Bactrian camels at Whipsnade (those voodoo descriptions of them being critically endangered push my buttons I'm afraid!). I wish that long-disused piece of land (out of commission for most of my lifetime) could be given over to something a bit more exotic.

Prince Alfred's or brow-antlered deer, or warty pigs, would all fit in with UK zoos' breeding programmes, the surrounding "theming" of the zoo masterplan, and (IMHO!) the duty of the site to inspire visitors with the rare and the unusual.

Once again, as evinced by the damn carousel on Barclay Court, the impression is being given of marketing calling the shots.
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I have to agree on this, London already has enough space given up to domestic or very common zoo species such as the farm area,the new reindeer area, not to mention the wallaby on the mappins!
More interesting & rarely seen species(& lots of them) are whats required.
I've already said my views on the carousel earlier , my fear is they'll have Bristol's dinosaurs when they've finished with them, or maybe a rope trail is planned over the new tiger enclosure!
 
I'm going to have to throw in my lot with Sooty on this one. Domestic or not, London can't afford to lose another big ABC, particularly one that is not especially demanding in enclosure terms. I'd love to see the reindeer swapped for a more exotic deer species, and much more interesting things on the Mappins (though Brolgas are a good step in the right direction), and maybe Three Island Pond converted for pinnipeds (I can dream!) but I really want the camels to stay.
 
Maguari said:
I'm going to have to throw in my lot with Sooty on this one. Domestic or not, London can't afford to lose another big ABC, particularly one that is not especially demanding in enclosure terms. I'd love to see the reindeer swapped for a more exotic deer species, and much more interesting things on the Mappins (though Brolgas are a good step in the right direction), and maybe Three Island Pond converted for pinnipeds (I can dream!) but I really want the camels to stay.
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I can see your point, but i don't think a camel has quite the same draw for the majority as an elephant,rhino,polar bear,giant panda, orang utan ,sealion,big cat or any of the other major 'zoo' species they've lost over the last 30 years. I don't think building a new camel paddock would be such a big deal if so many other areas of the zoo were wasted. I'd add the Clore & canal banks to those already mentioned.

Just to qualify the camel comment,more than one person has said to me on visiting London after several years 'where have the elephants,bears or sealions gone?' They all think Colchester is much better, & they dont come away from there saying they didnt have any camels!
 
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I agree. As a boy, I wanted to see the Lion House, the bears on the Mappins, the elephants and rhinos, gorillas and orang-utans. The Moonlight World, truly a huge area to explore when first installed was always a thrill, especially when the vampire bats were there.

My Mum always wanted to see the Giraffes, and they nearly always had a calf, which was cute. I wanted to see the birds of prey aviaries, which younger contributors won't have seen but in terms of height have never been replaced at London.

As the 1970s wore on, my awareness of London's fine reptile collection grew, as did my interest in the Clore, paradoxically at a time when many of the truly unusual inhabitants were starting to disappear (think of Angwantibo and Casiragua, for instance).

By that time, too, beasts such as Gaur, Okapi, Vicuna and Roan Antelope were starting to make a tour of the Cotton Terraces exciting. At no stage would camels have floated my boat, although TBF I do remember noticing that the Arabian Camels had gone, some time in the late 70s.
 
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pipaluk said:
I can see your point, but i don't think a camel has quite the same draw for the majority as an elephant,rhino,polar bear,giant panda, orang utan ,sealion,big cat or any of the other major 'zoo' species they've lost over the last 30 years. I don't think building a new camel paddock would be such a big deal if so many other areas of the zoo were wasted. I'd add the Clore & canal banks to those already mentioned.

Just to qualify the camel comment,more than one person has said to me on visiting London after several years 'where have the elephants,bears or sealions gone?' They all think Colchester is much better, & they dont come away from there saying they didnt have any camels!
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A fair point, but bear in mind how few 'big' ABCs London has now - tiger, lion, gorilla, giraffe, camel, zebra, hippo (and not even proper ones! ;) ). Colchester has two great apes, lions, tigers, giraffes, elephants, rhinos, hippos, bears, sea lions, wolves, zebras, leopards, hyaenas...

'Big ABC' is not a very scientific term but Colchester have at least twice as many of the 'big hitters' as London, so the absence of any single one is felt less.

As I say, I'm not denying London could do with beefing up the mammal line-up at all. Just that I'm glad they're sticking with camels - particularly as a nice, well-visible animal to present on the park boundary on that side of the zoo.


EDIT: And, if anecdotal evidence is admissable, I have a 'non-Zoochatter' I sometimes go to zoos with whose two favourite animals are camels and Kune Kune pigs. Takes all sorts!
 
Just an add-on: please don't think that I'm nostalgic for cramped conditions, solitary specimens or stereo-typing animals. And please also don't go on about how the business model was flawed.

More to the point is invoking comparisons with Antwerp, Artis, Frankfurt and Basle, all of them old zoos on comparatively small sites that manage to keep diverse collections in place. And others might like to wonder why a zoo sited in Europe's financial capital, and whose immediate neighbours include some of the very wealthiest people in Europe, the Saudi backed London Mosque,and the US Ambassador, never seems to have many wealthy benefactors.
 
IanRRobinson said:
As the 1970s wore on, my awareness of London's fine reptile collection grew, as did my interest in the Clore, paradoxically at a time when many of the truly unusual inhabitants were starting to disappear (think of Angwantibo and Casiragua, for instance).
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To be honest, it is the range of species the Clore once held which I regret most having been born too late to have seen - although even when I was a child it still had a fair array of species not to be sniffed at; just my bad luck to have been based at the other end of the country with no chance of reaching it!
 
TeaLovingDave said:
To be honest, it is the range of species the Clore once held which I regret most having been born too late to have seen - although even when I was a child it still had a fair array of species not to be sniffed at; just my bad luck to have been based at the other end of the country with no chance of reaching it!
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And that potential has been destroyed in the past decade. Every now and then someone hints at developing a captive programme for solenodons. London no longer has the space in the Moonlight World to display them.

More realistically, having back Pigmy Slow Loris would be nice...
 
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