ZSL London Zoo ZSL London Zoo News 2021

The Hedgehog said:
Does anyone know why Guy The Gorilla is so famous? It certainly isn’t because he was the first Gorilla kept in an European Zoo,as this title goes to Alfred at Bristol Zoo.
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Bristol Zoo's "Alfred" definitely was not the first gorilla to be kept in a European Zoo.

The first gorilla in Europe was the one exhibited in Wombwell's Menagerie circa 1855.
 
Tim May said:
The first gorilla in Europe was the one exhibited in Wombwell's Menagerie circa 1855.
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Interesting - has it been definitively proven that this was a gorilla rather than a chimpanzee now? The debate and uncertainty around said animal was the reason for my above equivocation regarding M'Pungu in Berlin.
 
The Hedgehog said:
I’m sure that when I watched the following documentary,back in 2012 it said that Alfred was the first European Gorilla. I was only 12 at the time.my memory could’ve become jumbled.https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwixp5jLhpn0AhUIrRQKHdRiCpAQFnoECAMQAQ&url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012j5j0&usg=AOvVaw1kXrPxjaTJWYoTlDADm2ag
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That link doesn't work for me but I too have seen a video (possibly the same one that you're referring to) that stated Bristol Zoo's "Alfred" was the first gorilla to be seen in Europe; however that is erroneous.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Interesting - has it been definitively proven that this was a gorilla rather than a chimpanzee now? The debate and uncertainty around said animal was the reason for my above equivocation regarding M'Pungu in Berlin.
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I think it's now generally accepted that the animal exhibited in Wombell's Menagerie was a gorilla and that, after the animal's death, its body was acquired by Charles Waterton.

According to the book Master Pongo: A Gorilla Conquers Europe: (Mustafa Haikal (Author) & Thomas Dunlap (Translator); 2020) the Wombell's Menagerie animal was definitely a gorilla.

Of course, even if the Wombwell's Menagerie animal was a chimpanzee after all, Bristol's "Alfred" was definitely not the first gorilla in Europe.
 
The Hedgehog said:
Does anyone know why Guy The Gorilla is so famous?
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Mainly because he lived for many years in the nation's capital Zoo. Animals at London Zoo have always recieved more publicity than in the regional zoos and that creates the occassional high profile 'star' animal- Guy, Brumas the Polar bear, Chi Chi the Giant Panda etc. Guy also lived at a time(at least the earlier decades) when there where few other adult gorillas in Europe though his fame is largely confined to the UK. His long tenure at the zoo-around thirty years- so that many people saw him or heard of him, and his easily remembered name and the story of its origin are no doubt also contributing factors.
 
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Pertinax said:
Mainly because he lived for many years in the nation's capital Zoo. Animals at London Zoo have always recieved more publicity than in the regional zoos and that creates the occassional high profile 'star' animal- Guy, Brumas the Polar bear, Chi Chi the Giant Panda etc. Guy also lived at a time(at least the earlier decades) when there where few other adult gorillas in Europe though his fame is largely confined to the UK. His long tenure at the zoo-around thirty years- so that many people saw him or heard of him, and his easily remembered name and the story of its origin are no doubt also contributing factors.
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I agree with all of these remarks. When I was a boy (and I am roughly contemporary with @Pertinax), the mass media were just newspapers, radio and television (2 black & white channels). The media were very much based in London, so if a newspaper had a space to fill, a photographer could be sent to Regent's Park or a stock photo taken from the files or from a Fleet Street photo agency. The great photographer and cinematographer, Wolfgang Suschitzky, had a particular relationship with Guy and his photos were also used in many books and magazines. The only TV series about zoos was 'Zoo Time', based at London Zoo and presented by Desmond Morris, the Curator of Mammals, and so it occasionally featured Guy. Naturally London Zoo's publicity material often used photos of Guy, so his face was frequently seen on Tube stations, buses and posters. I grew up 200 miles from London, but Guy was the only gorilla I knew about until Noelle and Mukisi arrived at Chester, my local zoo, in 1960. I didn't actually see him until I visited London Zoo when I was a student.
 
And, of course, Guy’s now on exhibit at the Natural History Museum (along with Chi-Chi) should there be any curious younger zoochatters out there!
 
gentle lemur said:
I agree with all of these remarks. When I was a boy (and I am roughly contemporary with @Pertinax), the mass media were just newspapers, radio and television (2 black & white channels). The media were very much based in London, so if a newspaper had a space to fill, a photographer could be sent to Regent's Park or a stock photo taken from the files or from a Fleet Street photo agency. The great photographer and cinematographer, Wolfgang Suschitzky, had a particular relationship with Guy and his photos were also used in many books and magazines. The only TV series about zoos was 'Zoo Time', based at London Zoo and presented by Desmond Morris, the Curator of Mammals, and so it occasionally featured Guy. Naturally London Zoo's publicity material often used photos of Guy, so his face was frequently seen on Tube stations, buses and posters. I grew up 200 miles from London, but Guy was the only gorilla I knew about until Noelle and Mukisi arrived at Chester, my local zoo, in 1960. I didn't actually see him until I visited London Zoo when I was a student.
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@gentle lemur it sounds like technology has evolved massively in your lifetime. I bet you have also witnessed a massive change in Zoos.
 
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I remember standing outside Guys cage in about 1975 when the little old lady standing next to me got out a crunchy bar, unwrapped it, and threw it onto the roof of his cage and in to the cage. He picked it up and slowly ate it. She told me she brought him a bar every week.
 
cliffxdavis said:
I remember standing outside Guys cage in about 1975 when the little old lady standing next to me got out a crunchy bar, unwrapped it, and threw it onto the roof of his cage and in to the cage. He picked it up and slowly ate it. She told me she brought him a bar every week.
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She was possibly his killer then! Didn't he die during an operation for rotten teeth?
 
Just to be clear I am not in favour of feeding confectionary to zoo animals.

Yes he had a heart attack during his dental operation.

If my memory is correct his keeper used to feed him all kinds of "treats"
 
cliffxdavis said:
If my memory is correct his keeper used to feed him all kinds of "treats"
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In the earlier days no doubt, but by the 1970's London already had a 'no feeding' policy and even the staff would no longer feed unsuitable treats to their charges. I remember there was one couple who would travel down regularly from the Midlands somewhere with huge baskets of 'treats' just for Guy and the other London Zoo apes- but these were all high quality fruits like strawberries and pineapples- things that really were treats for them and not part of the daily diet. From memory they weren't allowed to actually feed them themselves, but helped portion it out etc.

Guy actually had six keepers, as that was the usual total of the Monkey House staff, but the one always associated with him was the head-keeper, Laurie 'Smudger' Smith. He's the one who nearly always featured in any publicity with Guy. As to Guy's teeth, the damage was no doubt done by the earlier years and the high percentage of sweet fruits still fed even later on.
 
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I agree it was when he first arrived.

I don't think zoos want you feeding anything now, even high quality fruits from the Midands.

How the world has changed.
 
Pertinax said:
In the earlier days no doubt, but by the 1970's London already had a 'no feeding' policy and even the staff would no longer feed unsuitable treats to their charges. I remember there was one couple who would travel down regularly from the Midlands somewhere with huge baskets of 'treats' just for Guy and the other London Zoo apes- but these were all high quality fruits like strawberries and pineapples- things that really were treats for them and not part of the daily diet. From memory they weren't allowed to actually feed them themselves, but helped portion it out etc.

Guy actually had six keepers, as that was the usual total of the Monkey House staff, but the one always associated with him was the head-keeper, Laurie 'Smudger' Smith. He's the one who nearly always featured in any publicity with Guy. As to Guy's teeth, the damage was no doubt done by the earlier years and the high percentage of sweet fruits still fed even later on.
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I thought you were going to say they weren't actually allowed to feed them .... and the keepers shared the fruit out among themselves later ;)
 
Gigit said:
I thought you were going to say they weren't actually allowed to feed them .... and the keepers shared the fruit out among themselves later ;)
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Oh no, they watched carefully as it was all dished out and presented to the Apes(mainly Guy)..;)
 
First visit for a few months today, notable changes since last time were that Bhanu and Arya the lions are sharing the same area, with her sitting calmly and Bhanu bursting into frequent bursts of roaring. The upper walkway is now open again, so I guess it was closed previously to allow Arya to settle in privately?

We happened to arrive at the gorilla kingdom around the time they were being fed outside, so all four were out in the paddock and Gernot was chest-beating which I hadn’t seen him do previously.

Sun sets before 4pm in London at this time of year, so be prepared for 4pm close if you are planning a trip.
 
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