There are 17 (11.6) listed on the 2018 inventory .
ZSL London Zoo ZSL London Zoo News 2018
- Thread starter Panthera1981
- Start date
Didn't realise they had so many now! But some must have left in the past otherwise the group would be even bigger now. That's a decent number for a Snowdon display but I can see the problem in the interim...
Send them on loan to Paignton? TB issues permitting....., I really miss the Abyssinian Colobus!
While certainly plausible, and not a bad idea at all, a second species of monkey could seemingly take up some of that slack.
Is there no relationship with the AZA? Or is TB the issue? With that amount of births, the chance to broaden the gene pool seems important.
This is a valuable resource! Thanks for pointing it out. I wish my zoos had something along those lines. You'd think that some of these places are protecting state secrets.
And, of course, now my entire visit is endangered thanks to the vagaries of the SNCF and their strike season.
Don't understand AZA, do you mean EAZA? TB is potentially an issue, but I would be surprised if Paignton wanted them anyway: I think their priority would be to build up their group of king colobus again.
No, I mean AZA. Sending a portion of the troop across the pond to the states for genetic diversity and then sending some back once the Snowden Aviary is completed. I'd have to look to see which facilities are compatible, but colobus monkeys seem to have gained in popularity recently. Safari West, for example, seems to have increased their numbers significantly in the past couple of years.
sooty mangabey
Well-Known Member
Following a visit yesterday, a few observations:
On a more positive note:
- Thought the zoo was looking a bit shabby. So much stuff didn't work (lifts, interactive signs....). Gardens a long way from their best. It's been a hard winter, weather-wise, but I think that if I were in charge here I would want a bit more love to be lavished on the place than appears to be the case right now.
- A considerable number of empty exhibits in the Reptile House, which was disappointing. Boelen's Python no longer on display, which was even more disappointing. The Lung Fish display replaced by one for Mountain Chickens. Some of the other amphibian exhibits tinkered with.
- I think it is now impossible to see the Gorillas, if they are indoors, such is the covering of the viewing windows. I don't understand this; Gorillas in other zoos survive without being treated in this way.
- The "Animals in Action" show was so infantile and, well, poor, that I and my (10 year-old) daughter left before the end. They've been hamming up that joke about a dangerous predator that'll tear you apart - and then it's a Burrowing Owl - for a long, long time. New material needed!
- The Bird Show was even worse. A good presenter - who looked like Harry Hill - came out with a Buzzard Eagle, spoke well about him for 5 minutes, then watched in despair as "Luca" disappeared off into Regent's Park. And that was it. My thoughts turned to the bird shows at Amneville, or Beauval, or Valencia (see @migdog's brilliant videos) - where many, many birds fly together. This was, frankly, embarrassing.
- Not busy at all, visitor-wise. A sunny day during what had been a damp Easter holiday, and it was never crowded.
- Is the members and fellows gate permanently closed, or is this just during quiet times? if it's permanent, that's a shame. If it's just during quiet times - if the Easter holidays are quiet, then things are really bad.
- Grumpy volunteer in that strange hut that's been there for a long while, by the west tunnel, would only give me one map. My thoughts turned to the ecstatically cheerful docents at San Diego....
- Awful (and enormous) signs for some animal "super hero" nonsense everywhere. I didn't observe a single visitor paying any attention at all.
- No new guidebook, yet, for the year. No new postcards. I feel like an old dinosaur, caring about such things.
- It is extraordinary how many visitors to the zoo are from overseas. And yet, there are no maps or signs in other languages. Hannover Zoo has its many, many faults - but I like the fact that they publish a map in a dozen or more languages. It's something London could emulate.
On a more positive note:
- Some attractive new interpretive signs in the Blackburn Pavilion.
- Baby Okapi - excellent.
- Also excellent: young mangabey and langur.
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It started when the current Silverback 'Kumbuka ' arrived from Paignton. He 'tested' the enclosure a lot more than his predecessor and also re-acted far more strongly to all the public noise etc. So they erected barriers to create more distance, and then also started and have since increased, the attempts to mask his views of people. Not sure any of it really works but its made indoor viewing there next to impossible, a ridiculous situation for a zoo. A few other places have experimented with camouflaged netting or rattan across windows in some places but London's solution seems the most extreme.
From memory, the Member's gate is usually only open during peak (Summer) season. I can't remember using it during Winter. However, since moving last year I've only been to London Zoo twice (as opposed to every 5 weeks or so before that for the previous 3 years), so things might have changed in the last year. It was handy when coming in from Camden Town during summer, as it is closer for the station, but during winter I always slightly resented the longer not-yet-in-the-zoo walk to the main gate
Thank you for the update on things at London @sooty mangabey London Zoo is truly where my zoo-heart lives, and I really miss my regular visits there since moving, so it's sad to hear it's not looking its best right now
Today's Evening Standard includes an interview with the Director General of the Zoological Society of London
London Zoo chief's 100 year plan to help save dying species
London Zoo chief's 100 year plan to help save dying species
sooty mangabey
Well-Known Member
Oh, good lord: those Zoo Nights are back! Friday nights, adults only, with promotional gallimaufry highlighting the alcohol, music, and - nudge, nudge, wink, wink, phwoarhhh - the sex lives of animals. What could possibly go wrong? I hope they make a fortune out of these events; it would be dispiriting to learn that ZSL were selling their soul for anything other than a very tidy sum.
From the email newsletter for fellows:
Serving up a unique mix of wildlife and city life every Friday this June, explore the Zoo after hours, discover the weird and wonderful world of sex in the animal kingdom* and chill out surrounded by music, lanterns and entertainment.
Grab a drink from one of our watering holes and when you’ve worked up an appetite, an array of street food vendors offer exciting flavours and unusual dishes from around the globe.
From the email newsletter for fellows:
Serving up a unique mix of wildlife and city life every Friday this June, explore the Zoo after hours, discover the weird and wonderful world of sex in the animal kingdom* and chill out surrounded by music, lanterns and entertainment.
Grab a drink from one of our watering holes and when you’ve worked up an appetite, an array of street food vendors offer exciting flavours and unusual dishes from around the globe.
I went to the Zoo Nights that Edinburgh Zoo did a few years ago, and it was actually really good. No drunks, no bad behaviour and best of all no children. I booked to go back again the following year but then they cancelled the date on me last minute.
I’ve never been to London Zoo but I am currently really considering a visit as feel I should at least give it a try. It probably wouldn’t be until August though.
I’ve never been to London Zoo but I am currently really considering a visit as feel I should at least give it a try. It probably wouldn’t be until August though.
At least they're not 'streaking for tigers' this year! Unless I've missed that ?!
@sooty mangabey I liked your post for the pithy put down, not because I endorse the Zoo Nights idea.
Oh god. I went to one a couple years back, after all the news about the drunks, when they made it more family friendly. There were still a few who'd had more drink than they should, still too much shouting (in groups, at each other and at the animals). And this was at the family friendly version of the zoo nights. As much as it was really nice to see the zoo in the evening light, the potential for disruption and a repeat of previous problems makes me think this could all backfire for the zoo again. Will they never learn?
Money talks, especially when you need funding for a certain monkey enclosure!
Makes you wonder how much ZSL will sell its soul once the inevitable renovation of the Mappins needs funding.
Makes you wonder how much ZSL will sell its soul once the inevitable renovation of the Mappins needs funding.