ZSL London Zoo ZSL London Zoo News 2016
- Thread starter Tim Brown
- Start date
Visited the zoo on Friday evening, was pleasantly surprised how much quieter it was since the heady times of Zoo Lates, it felt more like the old member's evenings they used to do during the summer.
It's been over 18 months since I'd visited, having moved out of London! First impressions, loved the lemur walkthrough, although the aye-ayes were offshow, Birdhouse as great as ever, although Land of the Lions has blocked off some of the outdoor aviaries, Reptilehouse brilliant, although a lot of repeat species on show such as Gila monsters, Rio Fuerte Bearded Lizards, didn't see the young crocs which was a shame, great to see the large number of hunting dogs being very active, great view of male tiger and tamanduas, the tree kangaroo is going on show next week according to one of the keepers, no flamingo chicks this year, was a bit disappointed with the contents of the new lion exhibit, huge enclosure which was great, but a lot of wasted space and paraphernalia, the female lions stayed in the section of the old enclosure and no sign of the male, no sign of a komodo dragon, tapirs, had forgotten how huge the Mappins actually is, surely crying out for Sun or Spectacled bears plus other species, the north bank was closed off, loved the blue-throated Macaws, spider exhibit was brilliant as was the whole of BUGS, giant anteater enclosure boarded up, not sure why a Muntjac was on 3 Island pond, over-all it was good, but they do need to start bringing in some more species, particularly mammals and reptiles.
It's been over 18 months since I'd visited, having moved out of London! First impressions, loved the lemur walkthrough, although the aye-ayes were offshow, Birdhouse as great as ever, although Land of the Lions has blocked off some of the outdoor aviaries, Reptilehouse brilliant, although a lot of repeat species on show such as Gila monsters, Rio Fuerte Bearded Lizards, didn't see the young crocs which was a shame, great to see the large number of hunting dogs being very active, great view of male tiger and tamanduas, the tree kangaroo is going on show next week according to one of the keepers, no flamingo chicks this year, was a bit disappointed with the contents of the new lion exhibit, huge enclosure which was great, but a lot of wasted space and paraphernalia, the female lions stayed in the section of the old enclosure and no sign of the male, no sign of a komodo dragon, tapirs, had forgotten how huge the Mappins actually is, surely crying out for Sun or Spectacled bears plus other species, the north bank was closed off, loved the blue-throated Macaws, spider exhibit was brilliant as was the whole of BUGS, giant anteater enclosure boarded up, not sure why a Muntjac was on 3 Island pond, over-all it was good, but they do need to start bringing in some more species, particularly mammals and reptiles.
I got my first sighting of Land of the Lions on agm day 2 weeks ago, but haven't posted my thoughts previously as I know I am known for being negative where London is concerned! All I will say is that I agree with your conclusions! The main enclosure is good, but the 3 females were huddled together in the far corner of the old area! No sign of the male, too much tat, supporting species not from India ( or even Asia in most cases!), loss of 2 outside aviaries of bird house. Not £6m well spent in my opinion!
Positives, saw the tree Kangaroo, Duiker & narrow striped mongoose, young Tamandua & everything in nocturnal house, far more interesting than 3 sleeping lions!
Positives, saw the tree Kangaroo, Duiker & narrow striped mongoose, young Tamandua & everything in nocturnal house, far more interesting than 3 sleeping lions!
Looks like the Snowdon Aviary will be a colobus walk-through (apologies if this is old news!)
World's Largest Colobus Monkey Walk-Through Comes To London | Londonist
World's Largest Colobus Monkey Walk-Through Comes To London | Londonist
is this a typo? Two weeks ago the tree kangaroo was still offshow (and I believe still is).
littleRedPanda
Well-Known Member
aquilla1 said in post 302 (two days ago) that it was going on show "next week" so maybe it is already ... that was from a Friday visit, so I guess it is 
Might just renew my membership now after a 2 year break
Might just renew my membership now after a 2 year break
aquilla1 said in post 302 (two days ago) that it was going on show "next week" so maybe it is already ... that was from a Friday visit, so I guess it is
Might just renew my membership now after a 2 year break
Yes I was meaning to say, when I visited Sunday and then Monday again (family visit for the former, lone visit for the latter) the barren area in the biome (where the armadillos have built their main run of burrows) had a big, impressive looking structure with slat platforms and much thicker branches connecting it to the tamandua feeding/den area and one of the trees, so I would assume she'll be going there.
One thing I'm worried about with this is her diet; tree kangaroos are browsers by nature and spend a lot of their time eating, so I wonder what effect that will have with the Rainforest?
Also on Monday saw the red duiker very clearly, could only count 9 ring-tailed lemurs, the aye-aye area is locked off for 'refurbishment' (maybe mating behaviour?), the golden lion tamarin exhibit is undergoing a refurb, the Alaotra reed lemurs in the Roundhouse were out for the first time in ages, brief glimpse of Bhanu as he came out for some food, the BUGS house has undergone changes in regards to which species are onshow (rainbow crab, hercules beetle, stick insects etc have replaced the arachnids not in Spiders, jewel wasps have been replaced with stick insects too), lots of birds on eggs/nestbuilding in Blackburn, tigers were of course not onshow, got lovely views of Kumbuka, Jukie and the littluns and Effie out on the island, Professor Wu was actually moving for once which was something, the anaconda was being fed in the Reptile House, and a new species of seahorse is being kept in the Aquarium (also the Amazon hall is undergoing a LOT of refurb work).
It's offshow really, but has still been seen by several members if you look back over the posts from the last 2 weeks or so! It can be seen if you know where to look!!
Does Anyone where i can Find The Snowdon Aviary Image Plans for the New Colobus Walkthrough?
I don't think they're public as of right now, let me check
EDIT: They haven't been made public, but were shown at a fellows' evening if I'm not mistaken.
BongoHardwood
Well-Known Member
Visited today. Tree kangaroo on show in main rainforest area, moved in today. She seemed fairly settled and is a really gorgeous animal!
BlackRhino78
Well-Known Member
Fantastic news your update is much appreciated! Really good news that London have managed to get her on show fairly quickly.
Was she being harassed by the monkeys or tamanduas at all?
Also, is there no issue with her and the tons of leaves and branches in the biome (like was she attempting to eat them)?
Also, is there no issue with her and the tons of leaves and branches in the biome (like was she attempting to eat them)?
More News on the New Colobus Monkey Walkthrough
It Says that The Work will start in 2017 and Will take 18 Months to complete, Also many of the Birds (Ibis, Peacocks) in the Snowdon Now will Go to Whipsnade and Paignton
Famous London Zoo aviary to be turned into new Regent's Park des res for monkeys | Camden New Journal
It Says that The Work will start in 2017 and Will take 18 Months to complete, Also many of the Birds (Ibis, Peacocks) in the Snowdon Now will Go to Whipsnade and Paignton
Famous London Zoo aviary to be turned into new Regent's Park des res for monkeys | Camden New Journal
BongoHardwood
Well-Known Member
We only watched her for about 10 mins in the morning and 5 mins in the afternoon and didn't notice any of that. She was on the ground both times and didn't notice any of the other animals taking much notice, though the tamarins were very vocal!
Does ZSL truly have 30 colobus at this time? Impressive group to maintain.
No it doesn't but B/W Colobus are very free breeders in Zoos and given the scope the current group could easily reach that size in a few years which is what the plan alludes to-space being the main constraint to group size normally.
When I visited the rainforest late afternoon on Thursday I understand the tree kangaroo had been in the main area but had been taken out again.
A few platform structures have been constructed at the far end of the rainforest floor (the end furthest from the entry/exit doors) of the rain Forrest floor.
ALso the inside enclosure that had the golden lion tamaris and the young sloth is currently empty and being worked upon...might just be a temporary move while maintenance is done as all the other indoor areas on that side have been refurbished in the past few months.
A few platform structures have been constructed at the far end of the rainforest floor (the end furthest from the entry/exit doors) of the rain Forrest floor.
ALso the inside enclosure that had the golden lion tamaris and the young sloth is currently empty and being worked upon...might just be a temporary move while maintenance is done as all the other indoor areas on that side have been refurbished in the past few months.