ZSL London Zoo ZSL London Zoo News 2013

Kifaru Bwana said:
I really would investigate opportunities for relocating some primate species to Whipsnade. The black faced spider monkeys are a good example.
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I think the Spider Monkeys, Sulawesi Macaques and even the Francois Langurs are to an extent, superfluous at ZSL. People see the African Monkeys in the Gorilla Kingdom area and I think the ones in the Cat area then go largely unnoticed.

Whipsnade have no larger monkeys at all. I think the Spider Monkeys would look good on the (squirrel monkey?) island with Beech trees which is in the central part of the Zoo.
 
I agree that London is being rapidly gentrified; indeed, I would go a step further and call it social cleansing via deliberate national and local government policies.

However, I do think that London Zoo still attracts a very wide spectrum of visitors, especially during the holidays. I don't want to judge or categorise people but I was at the zoo today and it was by no means mostly middle class, the opposite in fact.
 
TARZAN said:
Yes, it was a shame that the current Mayor of London scrapped the kid's free school trips, it was an excellent idea allowing children who's families could not afford it, the pleasure of visiting the zoo, it also provided extra income for the zoo. I have just finished reading Ken Livingstone's autobiography/memoirs, "You can't say that".This copius volume reveals a life long interest Mr. Livingstone has had with London Zoo. He applied for a job there when leaving school, but there were no vacancies at the time, he was a fan of Guy the gorilla and used to feed him treats when feeding was allowed.As a youngster he kept a large collection of reptiles and amphibians, and interest that has remained with him all his life. It is also mentioned in the book that English Heritage complained about the penguins leaving the Lubitkin pool for better accommodation, they requested that the penguins should be returned to the Lubitkin exhibit. Also in 2009, Ken Livingstone married his partner Emma at London Zoo, at the Mappin Terrace.
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And elected to the ZSL Council this year.
 
A little off-topic, but I think it's best to post here. I'm working my way through stacks of post, and I've just read the most recent WildAbout magazine. I think it's one of the most nicely-done I can remember. Marketing for the new restaurant was well-targeted and neat, interesting facts and good profiles & articles too. I'd have maybe preferred a little less revolving around the TV series, but this was clearly a publication for the marketing team to shine, and given some of the criticism towards them recently, I'm very glad that they seem to have been successful.
 
This evening the zoo held a 'streak for tigers' fundraising event (a play on the collective noun - I'm more familiar with 'an ambush of tigers' but this sounds more fun). I guess that PR will get further details out very soon, but the plan was for up to 300 people to run naked around the zoo after hours (with a few paying spectators). A clever way to make news.
 
devilfish said:
This evening the zoo held a 'streak for tigers' fundraising event (a play on the collective noun - I'm more familiar with 'an ambush of tigers' but this sounds more fun). I guess that PR will get further details out very soon, but the plan was for up to 300 people to run naked around the zoo after hours (with a few paying spectators). A clever way to make news.
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Thought to have raised in the region of £60,000 which will go towards conservation projects for the Sumatran Tiger
Zoo streaking a roaring success - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk
 
devilfish said:
This evening the zoo held a 'streak for tigers' fundraising event (a play on the collective noun - I'm more familiar with 'an ambush of tigers' but this sounds more fun). I guess that PR will get further details out very soon, but the plan was for up to 300 people to run naked around the zoo after hours (with a few paying spectators). A clever way to make news.
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I realise that what follows is rather contentious as it appears that those who’ve responded so far will disagree with me; however, I don’t think that it is a clever way to make the news.

On the contrary; personally I think it is inappropriate for a learned scientific society, such as the Zoological Society of London, to gain publicity by indulging in tasteless gimmicks like this. Instead the society should concentrate on publicising its excellent scientific and conservation work; there is a serious risk that staging events such as this will prevent people taking the organisation seriously.
 
Tim May said:
I realise that what follows is rather contentious as it appears that those who’ve responded so far will disagree with me; however, I don’t think that it is a clever way to make the news.

On the contrary; personally I think it is inappropriate for a learned scientific society, such as the Zoological Society of London, to gain publicity by indulging in tasteless gimmicks like this. Instead the society should concentrate on publicising its excellent scientific and conservation work; there is a serious risk that staging events such as this will prevent people taking the organisation seriously.
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I wholly agree. I thought it tasteless and ill-advised, and while the sum raised is impressive I think it a mistake for ZSL to act in this way. I think they've previously done firewalk things too - not quite as tacky as a streak, but still not what one would hope for from a serious organisation.

In other news, I checked out the new restaurant earlier this week. I think the design is fantastic - a really well-done building that looks enticing and attractive. The food was fair - not brilliant, but not awful. The menu is as one might expect, the prices as high as you'd predict. I had a vegetarian hot dog, salad and a bottle of water, which, with a fellows' discount, was about £10. I wouldn't expect it to be any cheaper to be honest - of course I could head into Camden and find a bargain, but at the zoo one is paying for the convenience and the pleasure of eating in these particular surroundings. If I went with my children, I would take a picnic. But this is as nice a zoo restaurant as I have seen in the UK.
 
Tim May said:
I realise that what follows is rather contentious as it appears that those who’ve responded so far will disagree with me; however, I don’t think that it is a clever way to make the news.

On the contrary; personally I think it is inappropriate for a learned scientific society, such as the Zoological Society of London, to gain publicity by indulging in tasteless gimmicks like this. Instead the society should concentrate on publicising its excellent scientific and conservation work; there is a serious risk that staging events such as this will prevent people taking the organisation seriously.
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I wholly agree. I thought it tasteless and ill-advised, and while the sum raised is impressive I think it a mistake for ZSL to act in this way. I think they've previously done firewalk things too - not quite as tacky as a streak, but still not what one would hope for from a serious organisation.
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Maybe a generational thing or a different background/upbringing, but I have to disagree and say that I think this was a brilliant idea. From a PR standpoint it is far more promotable to the general public than stuffy scientific stories, and as has been mentioned it has earned a lot of money for the cause. The event tied in perfectly with the tigers and in a roundabout way will have promoted the new exhibit at the same time.

In my opinion, while some events such as streaking and fire walking may appear like tacky thrills, if you're doing it for charity then the tack is irrelevant. People won't now suddenly see ZSL as some society of nudists, they will see them as an organisation with conservation at its heart, and they've proved that by holding such events to raise money to try and make a difference.

Sure, the zoo should promote the scientific and conservation work that they do, but there is room to be a bit silly every now and again, especially to raise money for charity. If the society took itself too seriously it would die on its backside, because 9/10 people aren't interested in the side of it.

In today's modern world, I don't see anything at all wrong with it. It's raised a hell of a lot of money, I'm sure it's raised a great deal of awareness and I'm sure it was a great deal of fun for all runners and spectators on the evening. It is daft but it is meant to be. It makes me admire ZSL more for doing something different and being able to make conservation fun and exciting to a wider audience.

Hell, if I had been down there I would have been down to my bare and running like one of the tigers had escaped to raise a few more quid for them :cool:
 
I agree with many of JR's points, but I think I might land somewhere in the middle.

I can see your points of view (Tim & sooty), and I was a little bit surprised that this was at London. I first checked that it was a real event, and then did a quick search to check that this was the first time it had been done at a zoo (I had expected the first time to have been somewhere in the States, or maybe at a more clearly commercial zoo).

I have almost come to think of ZSL and their scientific work as being completely separate to the marketing department at the zoo. Otherwise I'd be very annoyed/disappointed with petty stories like the pianist trying to woo the tortoises, or worse, the photographs on advertising materials which show the wrong species. These things are still a minor disappointment, but it doesn't affect my view of ZSL anymore. Although I'd have much rather heard of a new EDGE project, or great successes with some IoZ programmes, the marketing department's job is to popularise the zoo, and make it appear more likable.

Having said all this, I absolutely hated the promotional video for the event.
 
Personally, I'd just opine that if the Zoo will insist on behaving like a tacky night club then it needn't be surprised to be portrayed as an outmoded form of entertainment. And not particularly well-timed a week after Damian Aspinall's piece in the Mail on Sunday.

I'd go further. For an intelligent, well-travelled individual like devilfish to state that
I have almost come to think of ZSL and their scientific work as being completely separate to the marketing department at the zoo
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says that there is getting to be a serious problem.

If ZSL ceases to be widely perceived as a serious scientific organisation then it is losing its justification for existence - and if you think I'm being humourless, look at the terms of its Charter, the foundation of its claim to be treated as a charity.
 
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IanRRobinson said:
Personally, I'd just opine that if the Zoo will insist on behaving like a tacky night club then it needn't be surprised to be portrayed as an outmoded form of entertainment. And not particularly well-timed a week after Damian Aspinall's piece in the Mail on Sunday.

I'd go further. For an intelligent, well-travelled individual like devilfish to state that " says that there is getting to be a serious problem.

If ZSL ceases to be widely perceived as a serious scientific organisation then it is losing its justification for existence - and if you think I'm being humourless, look at the terms of its Charter, the foundation of its claim to be treated as a charity.
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Again I find myself having to disagree. The job of any good zoo is to try and conserve endangered species - if this run was just being done for the hell of it, then yes it would be 'entertainment' however it was done to raise funds and awareness for conservation. I really do not see a problem.
 
Javan Rhino said:
Again I find myself having to disagree. The job of any good zoo is to try and conserve endangered species - if this run was just being done for the hell of it, then yes it would be 'entertainment' however it was done to raise funds and awareness for conservation. I really do not see a problem.
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I completely agree with you. It's the 21st century, it's fun, it's different, and most importantly raising money for a good cause.
 
Javan Rhino said:
Again I find myself having to disagree. The job of any good zoo is to try and conserve endangered species - if this run was just being done for the hell of it, then yes it would be 'entertainment' however it was done to raise funds and awareness for conservation. I really do not see a problem.
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I completely agree with you. It's the 21st century, it's fun, it's different, and most importantly raising money for a good cause.
 
But why did they have to be naked?

Bronx holds a yearly run to raise money for endangered species (this past year was elephants) and they've always had absolutely huge turn-outs (so much so that they've almost run out of parking space on occasion!) without having to have people running naked....

I mean, if it works, it works, and good money was raised to help save a species which I think is great! I just don't know why the zoo had to hold a naked run instead of just a regular run.

~Thylo:cool:
 
JR, I'm afraid that I think you're wrong. This simply is NOT what serious bodies (to use a perhaps ill-advised phrase) do. You would not see sponsored streaks at Kew Gardens, the British Museum or the National Gallery, and I'd be rather surprised to see something like this at a major National Trust property.

I accept that £60,000 for tiger conservation is a great achievement. The jeopardisation of the Society's aura of being a serious organisation is worth a lot more. We all know how the media in this country works, and frankly for London Zoo to be known as a place where people can be photographed naked is putting it on the high road to being seen as an outdoor lapdancing club. One does note that two young and attractive women were the individuals used as the faces of the event in this morning's press coverage.

One final thought: the Zoo's future depends on getting families in and them acquiring the taste for repeat visits. I wonder just how many parents are going to be subconsciously put off a visit?
 
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