ZSL London Zoo ZSL London Zoo News 2015

Brum said:
So we'll be getting more unrelated(?) stock in, hopefully these and the other further planned imports will boost the European population and iron out some of the inbreeding issues that currently abound! :)
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There had been a WAZA / ISIS / CBSG conference this year in India and I would have expected that contacts have been cemented further there.

It was never a question of acquiring any new lions. The Sakkarbaug Zoo is literally stocked to the gills with wild caught non-breeding lions of a good age for breeding. They hold between 35-40 of which only some 8-10 do breed. But normally the unsurpassed bureacracy and red tape would uproot any good deals ....:eek:
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
There had been a WAZA / ISIS / CBSG conference this year in India and I would have expected that contacts have been cemented further there.

It was never a question of acquiring any new lions. The Sakkarbaug Zoo is literally stocked to the gills with wild caught non-breeding lions of a good age for breeding. They hold between 35-40 of which only some 8-10 do breed. But normally the unsurpassed bureacracy and red tape would uproot any good deals ....:eek:
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As far as I understand from talk given by David Field, extensive talks took place between ZSL and the Indian authorities and that agreement has been reached, which will ensure that there will be a new blood line. ZSL will also offer to help the Indian zoo with their expertise to ensure lions at the Indian zoo have plenty of enrichment
 
Regent said:
I was fortunate to attend a presentation about the building work for the Land of the Lions on 9 March. David Field gave a talk about the work and at the moment everything is on schedule. Bearing in mind that it is a building site, one had to use imagination but I believe that this exhibit will be one of the best with the welfare of the lions given first consideration. The new lions will be coming from Sakkarbaug Zoological Gardens, Gujarat. It is hoped that the lions will be at London Zoo at the end of this year, so that they can settle in and the keepers can get use to them. Spring 2016 will see the lions on show to visitors
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Oh is that right
 
Pertinax said:
gentle lemur said:
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I am yet to be impressed by the Snowdon aviary becoming a colobus walk-through: it might be satisfactory on a nice summer day, but colobus are not particularly active animals and if there is a breath of wind, I can only imagine them huddling in a sheltered corner or in their indoor quarters.

As usual I have to agree with GL on this.They will not spend all their time leaping and bounding around to the delight of visitors, or doing anything at all. Much of it will be spent sitting huddled together asleep in a row somewhere high up- or indoors in poorer weather. So IMO it is a poor choice of species for such a venture.
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Or maybe thats the idea-use a relatively inactive (low maintainence?)primate thats not going to be overly confrontational to visitors in an open environment. I think the main concern for the Snowdon will be how it will cope with the scourge of the zoo walkthrough-the dreaded double-buggy!:p Regardless, this whole side of the zoo is in dire need of significant investment.

And, concerning a new lion bloodline, not necessarily the case if you consider that Lucifer and Abi's offspring will return. Unless they're also shipping over more females!
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Pertinax said:
gentle lemur said:
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I am yet to be impressed by the Snowdon aviary becoming a colobus walk-through: it might be satisfactory on a nice summer day, but colobus are not particularly active animals and if there is a breath of wind, I can only imagine them huddling in a sheltered corner or in their indoor quarters.

As usual I have to agree with GL on this.They will not spend all their time leaping and bounding around to the delight of visitors, or doing anything at all. Much of it will be spent sitting huddled together asleep in a row somewhere high up- or indoors in poorer weather. So IMO it is a poor choice of species for such a venture.
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I believe that this problem has been discussed at length on various other threads, but it seems to have been in ZSLs plan for a while (see below link)

Here is the zoo's 2007 masterplan Is the zoo generally sticking to that or have there been significant changes? Is there a more recent plan available?
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Panthera1981 said:
Pertinax said:
Or maybe thats the idea-use a relatively inactive (low maintainence?)primate thats not going to be overly confrontational to visitors in an open environment. I think the main concern for the Snowdon will be how it will cope with the scourge of the zoo walkthrough-the dreaded double-buggy!:p Regardless, this whole side of the zoo is in dire need of significant investment.

And, concerning a new lion bloodline, not necessarily the case if you consider that Lucifer and Abi's offspring will return. Unless they're also shipping over more females!
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From what I understand, ZSL has not yet decided for definite if Lucifer's daughters will be returning to London Zoo
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ZSL....

There is a choice of species for primate walk-throughs. You can either have non-interactive, boring most of the time, and borderline dangerous, or interactive nuisance and borderline dangerous. Or you could have just plain dangerous rip your legs off.
Not being partisan ( and I like primates!) but I rather feel that if you have a great big aviary, you might as well keep birds in it.
 
FBBird said:
There is a choice of species for primate walk-throughs. You can either have non-interactive, boring most of the time, and borderline dangerous, or interactive nuisance and borderline dangerous. Or you could have just plain dangerous rip your legs off.
Not being partisan ( and I like primates!) but I rather feel that if you have a great big aviary, you might as well keep birds in it.
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I suspect that the majority of people posting that a colobus walkthrough is a 'good' idea, have never actually worked with colobus monkeys. The canines on big males are very impressive, and animals of all ages enjoy bouncing on each other. I personally wouldn't recommend it with this species in the Snowden, although I'm aware a zoo in France (?) does have a walk-through colobus exhibit which I'm guessing is pretty large with nice mature trees.
 
I think there is also a good chance they would choose one high up spot and stay there for most of the day, maybe using just one 'point' of the Snowden, far away from visitors and to be fair, picking up on the last point, beautiful and interesting though they are, I don't think I'd really like them jumping up that close to me.
 
tetrapod said:
I suspect that the majority of people posting that a colobus walkthrough is a 'good' idea, have never actually worked with colobus monkeys. The canines on big males are very impressive, and animals of all ages enjoy bouncing on each other. I personally wouldn't recommend it with this species in the Snowden, although I'm aware a zoo in France (?) does have a walk-through colobus exhibit which I'm guessing is pretty large with nice mature trees.
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I have spent time in Kenya with wild colobus …, does that equal as a walk through exhibit? :D They are pretty docile most of the times. It is only if and when folks do not respect them there might be issues with the males.

Also, I seem to remember the colobus exhibit at Muenster Zoo gives pretty close up views of a large group of colobus monkeys including several mature males. I have certainly never heard any news of these creating any problems with the general public.

As for Snowden now with the birds. Well I am birds aficionado myself but I cannot think of a duller presentation than the Snowden right now - in fact most duller as in dead and pushing up daisies! Sure, a colobus walk through may not be everybody's cup of tea …, but still that whole quarter needs "doing" … since a long time.
 
Has the Snowdon EVER worked as a functional aviary? Ever since I was a child, that area's had a reputation as a dull no-go. They'll certainly have to do some significant renovations if they get the go-ahead.

Let's hope so. The sooner that's done they can focus on the Mappins-they'll have no choice!
 
ZSL ....

The North Bank used to be a delight, when there was a good owl collection, well-stocked Pheasantry, geese and crane paddocks, now all sadly diminished or gone completely. The Snowdon Aviary was exciting in the early days, might need a revamp, has some design faults, but would repay being taken seriously as an aviary again.
 
Panthera1981 said:
Has the Snowdon EVER worked as a functional aviary?
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I think so. I remember being impressed on my first visits, over 40 years ago now. That zig-zag walkway gave excellent views of the nests of little egrets and sacred ibis which were at eye level or a little below in the trees beside the railings. I always thought it suited these medium-sized species and also strong fliers such as Inca terns and, if my memory serves me well, Alpine choughs.
I do agree with FBBird that the North Bank was lovely on a nice day. It's always been a quiet part of the zoo, but it's crying out for modernisation as all sorts of species could do well in that south-facing situation, although they would need shelter from wintry winds.

Alan
 
ZSL...

I seem to remember both Grey-headed and Silver Gulls doing extremely well in the Snowdon.
 
I think there are elements of the Snowdon Aviary that are still pretty impressive: seeing that number of sacred ibis, for example, is always rather uplifting - a reminder that even a commonplace species can be rather wonderful, in large numbers. When it is sunny, and the waldrapp ibis catch the light, they look great. The kites are impressive, if they are in flight. The brolgas are a highlight.

But as has been commented above, the whole thing seems a little forgotten. The doors are archaic. The far exit is often closed, meaning people have to double back. It never seems very clean. There is a quite a rodent problem (I once saw a sacred ibis dissecting a dead rat, which was great to witness). Ibis aside, the numbers within are not high.

I would concur with those who would like it to remain as an aviary, rather than be turned into another primate walk-through. If the replacement aviaries are built, adjacent to it, and if something is done with the rest of that bank, it could be a rather lovely, quieter area of the zoo, focussing on birds.

And I know that this view might not be popular with some - but it is a great piece of architecture, too - an iconic structure, which should be cherished rather than embarrassedly left to sink into obscurity.
 
ZSL...

Sooty, you make me want to see it again before they fill it with monkeys.
 
Sorry to go slightly off subject here, but I've a question thats been niggling me for a while:

What happened to the Lifewatch programme? I remember getting the magazines as a youngster and used to find it quite informative.
 
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