ZSL London Zoo ZSL London Zoo News 2016

Narrow striped-mongoose in Malagasy are boky-boky I think! :)

Went today for a preview of Land of Lions. Very awesome!!! It's colourful and there are role-playing presenters who are park guides and park vets. The lion used for the stunt in Trafalgar Square was brought in and they demonstrated the presentation where they 'health check it'.

As for animals other than the lions, a trio of Hanuman langurs (male Rex, females Saffron and Lisa, not sure if it was that but definitely something with L), a trio of dwarf mongoose, a pair of Reeves' muntjacs, plus the greater flamingos have been counted as part of the exhibit just like the bearded pigs were counted as part of Tiger Territory. The Rüppell's vultures have also been moved into the aviary that formerly housed the black-faced ibis, along with a new juvenile vulture and several peahens.

Out of the four lions themselves, only Ruby and Indi were about, Heidi and Bhanu were inside.

It's very good, will be interested to hear what other members here think!

Also saw the tamandua baby and one of the narrow-striped mongooses when in Rainforest Life. Baby was left to explore on its own whilst mum went to get food and when it realised she'd gone kicked up a huge fuss! Mum sped round the whole of the forest floor looking for it and eventually discovered it in the middle.
 
ShonenJake13 said:
Narrow striped-mongoose in Malagasy are boky-boky I think! :)

...

As for animals other than the lions, a trio of Hanuman langurs (male Rex, females Saffron and Lisa, not sure if it was that but definitely something with L), a trio of dwarf mongoose, a pair of Reeves' muntjacs, plus the greater flamingos have been counted as part of the exhibit just like the bearded pigs were counted as part of Tiger Territory. The Rüppell's vultures have also been moved into the aviary that formerly housed the black-faced ibis, along with a new juvenile vulture and several peahens.
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This is exciting! Boky-boky on-show and Land of the Lion's ready to go?! Can't wait till my visit tomorrow! :D
 
ShonenJake13 said:
It's very good, will be interested to hear what other members here think!
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Lions -any photos of the enclosures? And is the big Watermoat from the old enclosure still part of the display?

I believe the additional pair of Lions from India are due sometime, giving them 2.4. if both the new ones stay permanently at ZSL.
 
Girlfriend's camera-phone primed for this afternoon! My fellow zoochatters might have to tolerate an Instagram filter or so...
 
I took a few photos yesterday but I have to say none of them give the least impression of the size and complexity of the place. But here's one of the veterinary presentation, which I really enjoyed – the lion can be seen breathing! – I can imagine it might be quite frightening for little children as it's so realistic. They get a couple of visitors to glove up and join in and it's a really informative talk.

As for the rest of the exhibit... I think I'd better keep my opinions to myself for the time being, sorry!... but I shall be very fascinated to hear what ZooChatters make of it.
 

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ShonenJake13 said:
Narrow striped-mongoose in Malagasy are boky-boky I think! :)

Went today for a preview of Land of Lions. Very awesome!!! It's colourful and there are role-playing presenters who are park guides and park vets. The lion used for the stunt in Trafalgar Square was brought in and they demonstrated the presentation where they 'health check it'.

As for animals other than the lions, a trio of Hanuman langurs (male Rex, females Saffron and Lisa, not sure if it was that but definitely something with L), a trio of dwarf mongoose, a pair of Reeves' muntjacs, plus the greater flamingos have been counted as part of the exhibit...


H'mm. Dwarf Mongoose are East African and Reeves' Muntjac Chinese. Given that this is supposed to be an immersive exhibit, presumably Gujerati in emphasis, a rather odd pair of species.

Somebody seems to have built enclosures before sourcing animals, rather than the other way round.
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IanRRobinson said:
ShonenJake13 said:
H'mm. Dwarf Mongoose are East African and Reeves' Muntjac Chinese. Given that this is supposed to be an immersive exhibit, presumably Gujerati in emphasis, a rather odd pair of species.

Somebody seems to have built enclosures before sourcing animals, rather than the other way round.
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Space fillers perhaps until Indian mongoose and Indian muntjac are sourced?
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Pertinax said:
Lions -any photos of the enclosures? And is the big Watermoat from the old enclosure still part of the display?
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None that get the idea of the exhibit across I'm afraid :( but I assure you it's fantastic and well worth a visit!
Yes the old lion area is still part of the display, as well as an extended area into where the large steps placed between the lions and tigers were. The old serval/sand cat/clouded leopard enclosure has been combined with the François' langur enclosure to become the Hanuman langurs new home, whilst the Amur leopard/spider monkey/gibbon enclosure has been knocked down along with the macaque enclosure and area where Lucifer would often be separated to create the separate paddock where Bhanu currently lives.

It looks very different, but I think old regulars to the zoo will be able to recognise the old layout underneath. :)
 
kiang said:
IanRRobinson said:
Space fillers perhaps until Indian mongoose and Indian muntjac are sourced?
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Hmmm I'm not sure. The signs looked pretty permanent to me. Also the Rüppell's griffon vultures are African too; shame they couldn't get an Indian species of vulture, like red-headed or long-billed vultures :/ heck even something as simple as lammergeier or cinereous would have been fine.
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ShonenJake13 said:
It looks very different, but I think old regulars to the zoo will be able to recognise the old layout underneath. :)
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This does seem to be the method with their latest major new enclosures, converting old existing ones rather than starting from scratch.
 
I'll admit, I was pretty impressed. The new areas for the lions are very good, really liked the viewing in the 'circular' area into the new sandy area of the enclosure, just wires separating the visitors from the lions.

The females were being encouraged around the whole enclosure by keepers throwing bits of meat around the enclosure. No sign of the male. The langurs were nice and active too. The street scene area wasn't as bad as I was expecting.

And the Boky-boky is on-show in the first rainforest enclosure, although I did hear an explainer telling two volunteers it was "definitely called a Doky-doky". Hope they give it a proper label soon, lots of people were interested in it.

Also saw Jae-Jae and Melati mating a couple of times.
 
Some further observations on the new lion exhibit:

Limited disability/pushchair access-if you're trying to access the upper part of the Langur temple forget it!
Serval dens knocked out to be replaced by a shop. Tiger enclosure levelled to make way for the lodges.
Any historical element of the old terraces removed or off show.
I felt a bit short changed on the species present-there's room to get a small Asian felid in there and I despaired when I saw Dwarf mongoose.

Having said that, I was impressed! It's bright; you can now get 'on top' of the old lion enclosure, and there's a big emphasis on the conservation message. It makes the Mappins and Snowdon now look even more of an eyesore.
 
Have added a few photos to the gallery. Didn't get any good ones of the 'station' side of the enclosure, where the male lion is currently, hopefully someone else got some good ones of that area.
 
Panthera1981 said:
Some further observations on the new lion exhibit:

Limited disability/pushchair access-if you're trying to access the upper part of the Langur temple forget it!
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We noticed this too (Mr W had his bike) however there is a lift at the Blackburne Pavilion end of the walk way.
 
sooty mangabey said:
I don't want to pre-judge, but this sounds like my worst nightmare. "Role-playing presented"? Oh, Lordy.....
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Not my taste either but maybe after the initial opening phases they will quietly fade away or only be brought out at peak times. I can't see them being around on a wet January morning....
 
Pertinax said:
Not my taste either but maybe after the initial opening phases they will quietly fade away or only be brought out at peak times. I can't see them being around on a wet January morning....
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They were easy enough to avoid. Was quite funny though, they were all staying in character as researchers in India, fanning their faces with papers, using cooling sprays on their wrists, trying to look hot and bothered, whist the rest of us were wrapped up in coats and gloves!

Very good ones too.
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thank you :)
 
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