FunkyGibbon
Well-Known Member
I will defend LoL, up to a point.
I've never been to India, but I have now spent a substantial amount of time in other parts of Asia. In terms of theming I think LoL is far and away the most successful Asian area I have visited in a zoo. It is successful because rather than failing to recreate rainforest or trotting out another tired temple it actually simulates the human environment with all the clutter and business that entails. Whether or not it actually resembles Gir I have no idea but I can believe that it does. The attention to detail seems exceptional and I think it is genuinely immersive. On a side note when I visited I didn't get a chance to look at some of the interpretive material because there were always families using it.
Is it problematic that some of the species aren't from India? Absolutely. Can we hope that over time more appropriate alternatives will be substituted in? Probably.
The enclosures themselves are some of the best in the zoo. The langurs' feels a little empty, if they can either add more individuals or just get some breeding going it will become much more lively I think. There is obviously a problem with the lions' in terms of the individuals not choosing to use the space but it's not at all obvious this is due to design issues. Unfortunately London probably can't or shouldn't acquire more showy animals. Even so it is still possible to get fine views of the females across the moat.
There are some obvious improvements to make; it's not easy to navigate, so more signs showing the way to the actual exhibits would be good. And the holes to view down into the lion enclosures are too small. If the lions persist with not utilising half their space then why not add a partition and hold something else in the sandy part? Having three enclosures to rotate through would be no bad thing.
Six million does seem like a lot of money but if you look at what has been achieved here and compare it to some of the other new developments in zoos around the world I think it becomes a lot more reasonable. I really wish they hadn't included lodge accommodation, that is an egregious use of limited space I think.
My biggest criticism is just that personally I find lions a little underwhelming. When London does its next big exhibit complex I hope it has the courage to feature an animal or animals that people are excited to see because they are alien, not because they are familiar. The wild popularity of the False Gharial at Chester suggests this approach can work. If LoL had featured 15-20 smaller exhibits father than 5 large to medium it would have added a lot more to the zoo. But obviously people want to see lions.
If London can maintain this standard of exhibit moving forward I think in 15 years the zoo will look absolutely fantastic. In any case LoL far exceeded my expectations.
I've never been to India, but I have now spent a substantial amount of time in other parts of Asia. In terms of theming I think LoL is far and away the most successful Asian area I have visited in a zoo. It is successful because rather than failing to recreate rainforest or trotting out another tired temple it actually simulates the human environment with all the clutter and business that entails. Whether or not it actually resembles Gir I have no idea but I can believe that it does. The attention to detail seems exceptional and I think it is genuinely immersive. On a side note when I visited I didn't get a chance to look at some of the interpretive material because there were always families using it.
Is it problematic that some of the species aren't from India? Absolutely. Can we hope that over time more appropriate alternatives will be substituted in? Probably.
The enclosures themselves are some of the best in the zoo. The langurs' feels a little empty, if they can either add more individuals or just get some breeding going it will become much more lively I think. There is obviously a problem with the lions' in terms of the individuals not choosing to use the space but it's not at all obvious this is due to design issues. Unfortunately London probably can't or shouldn't acquire more showy animals. Even so it is still possible to get fine views of the females across the moat.
There are some obvious improvements to make; it's not easy to navigate, so more signs showing the way to the actual exhibits would be good. And the holes to view down into the lion enclosures are too small. If the lions persist with not utilising half their space then why not add a partition and hold something else in the sandy part? Having three enclosures to rotate through would be no bad thing.
Six million does seem like a lot of money but if you look at what has been achieved here and compare it to some of the other new developments in zoos around the world I think it becomes a lot more reasonable. I really wish they hadn't included lodge accommodation, that is an egregious use of limited space I think.
My biggest criticism is just that personally I find lions a little underwhelming. When London does its next big exhibit complex I hope it has the courage to feature an animal or animals that people are excited to see because they are alien, not because they are familiar. The wild popularity of the False Gharial at Chester suggests this approach can work. If LoL had featured 15-20 smaller exhibits father than 5 large to medium it would have added a lot more to the zoo. But obviously people want to see lions.
If London can maintain this standard of exhibit moving forward I think in 15 years the zoo will look absolutely fantastic. In any case LoL far exceeded my expectations.
I wonder if he's still stressed from being shipped from Canada and losing his longtime companion(who is now only a few miles out of London at Chessington) both at the same time?
) seasoned visitor (having visited at least three times a month for the past nine years) and I've only ever seen them twice since they went onshow in 2010
