ZSL London Zoo ZSL London Zoo News 2024

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Apologies to interrupt the discussion on the most barbaric of creatures, the sloth, but does anyone have a clue what's in here? I'll nab a keeper later if nobody knows but there's food and a hay hangar so there's certainly something in there, and I don't recall anyone mentioning a new addition.
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The presence of sloths and abundance of volunteers is what made me this was so odd; I am of course aware of how deadly the claws could prove if provoked. Nice to know that their new enclosure is still onshow, as the tamandua have always been one of my favourites, and with the departure of the Giant Anteaters a few years ago, it would be a real shame for another anteater to no longer be seen at London Zoo.
cerperal said:
Apologies to interrupt the discussion on the most barbaric of creatures, the sloth, but does anyone have a clue what's in here? I'll nab a keeper later if nobody knows but there's food and a hay hangar so there's certainly something in there, and I don't recall anyone mentioning a new addition.
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Hard to tell from the photo what enclosure this is, but I am assuming it is the former Australian Water Rat enclosure at the far end of the first room in Night Life. If this is the case, then it was reported by @amur leopard a few pages ago that this is now home to a female Belanger's Treeshrew, after having been under renovation for a fair few years since the rats departed (renovation that visibly sped up earlier this year). Not sure where the treeshrew came from, but my best guess would be Shaldon, who were keen to find a new home for their last remaining individual towards the end of last year, and to my knowledge it has not yet been announced if a new home was found and if so whereabouts it was. London is by no means an unlikely answer.
 
Mainly minor updates from visiting today, but I suppose I should start with probably the biggest one given recent discussion
  • The tamandua is still in the main exhibit. The smaller one is the off-exhibit enclosure for both the sloths and the tamandua, and when I arrived this morning the adult sloths were curled up in there. The tamandua herself was sleeping behind a nest box immediately to the right of the entrance, and it took me, 3 volunteers and a lemur keeper about 20 minutes to find her. Well, her tail
  • The former spider monkey exhibit is now an on-show exhibit for the gentle lemurs, and they were very easy to spot in there. I think we'd all prefer a new species, but it's nice to have reliable viewing of the lemurs and I wouldn't be surprised if the zoo intended for this to happen since gaining them and simply struggled to offload the spider monkeys.
  • The cables splitting the giraffe paddock was removed just as I left. Any idea why? The ostriches were in their small paddock at the back all day as well.
  • Oni (okapi, for the uninitiated) was on form as per usual, spending all day outside trying to be with the visitors. Mzimu doesn't seem to fussed about visitors, but he is a very pretty animal indeed. Hopefully there will be another calf soon, provided Oni decides males are more interesting than the public
  • Not really an update so much as bragging rights but I did see the congo caecilians
  • The crocodile exhibit is entirely boarded off, as if it's not even there. I am slightly concerned, but I'm sure there's nothing to worry about.
  • The sengi exhibit is similarly boarded off, which doesn't seem to bode well for the species
  • And @Kalaw is right, that is the tree shrew exhibit. Not that I saw her.
And don't worry, you're all spared an essay this time round
 
cerperal said:
The crocodile exhibit is entirely boarded off, as if it's not even there. I am slightly concerned, but I'm sure there's nothing to worry about.
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Did you manage to take a picture of this? It’s strange that this enclosure has been boarded up, I hope the crocodiles are alright?
 
Dr. Loxodonta said:
Did you manage to take a picture of this? It’s strange that this enclosure has been boarded up, I hope the crocodiles are alright?
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Unfortunately due to the span of the exhibit and the amount of people I couldn't, but when I say boarded up perhaps a more accurate description is that a temporary wall has been erected so the average visitor won't even notice it's missing. It doesn't quite go to the ceiling so it's possible to see there's still glass panes on some of the exhibit front. They've added images from ZSL's herp conservation work to the wall as well so it seems like it's going to be there a while
 
Kalaw said:
Venturing into the public area seems like a strange reason to move it offshow, unless either the tamandua or the visitors were being particularly aggressive towards one another?
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I can't remember whether this was "Ria" or her predecessor, "Tammy", but one of the female tamanduas in Rainforest Life had a habit of climbing onto the walkway, where she would happily engage in behaviours such as: climbing into the basket storage underneath pushchairs, ripping open unattended backpacks, and pulling people's shoes off their feet :D

Given that volunteers aren't allowed to touch or redirect the animals themselves, the keepers often ended up having to attend in order to supervise the tamanduas in particular - as they do like to stick their nose (quite literally) into everything, and can be fairly destructive to any visitor belongings they manage to get hold of. The fence around the main enclosure in Rainforest Life was at one point altered to try and block the tamandua's access to the visitor walkway, simply because the keepers were being called away from their main duties too often - although she became much less interested in climbing out with the introduction of the male.

(If you haven't guessed from my profile picture, yes, the tamandua were always my favourite animals! :p)
 
Dr. Loxodonta said:
Did you manage to take a picture of this? It’s strange that this enclosure has been boarded up, I hope the crocodiles are alright?
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As speculated upthread, this is most likely a mere result of issues with the filtration or drainage system used in the pool, which has been much shallower than usual over the past few weeks, and appeared to have been having its sediment drained out, which naturally meant it was unsafe to keep the crocodile (there is only one) in there. As a result, the crocodile was moved back to its enclosure in the old Reptile House temporarily (while the theory about drainage is just speculation, volunteers have confirmed the fact that the crocodile has been moved back to its former home).

As such, we need not worry for the time being about the health of the crocodile himself, merely the structure of the enclosure. Health-wise, my sole concern is that, from what I know (and I admittedly don't know much!) moving crocodiles especially, but all reptiles and even all animals, regularly can cause a lot of stress. One of the approaches used by the zoo to counter this with the initial move from the old Reptile House to SLoRa was to place the metal crate in which it would be transported within the old enclosure during the final few months (yes, months; they really were being that precautionary) of its time in the former House, feeding it only within the crate so as to get it used to the idea of moving into it, and thus making the move itself less stressful. I do worry that moving the crocodile back and forth between the two enclosures often could be a slight risk, but I doubt it is enough to cause anything major. Perhaps members more familiar with reptile or crocodilian husbandry may be able to confirm or deny if my fears are misplaced?

Of course, we cannot say for certain if drainage is the issue (although it seems most likely), so it is quite possible that almost everything I just wrote is entirely irrelevant to the issue at hand! :p
 
Rohin said:
According to Zoo Tier Liste there was 3.1 in 2018. Was their previous tank unsuitable or was the reduction in individuals likely to have been for other reasons(if ZTL is accurate)?
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2 would have been juveniles that have moved to other zoos. They were not in the main enclosure in the Reptile House.
 
ZooNews2024 said:
They are so powerful that they require two strong adults to handle them, and their mouths contain bacteria which permanently infect a bite wound which will then heal over and break out in infection again, sometimes for many years without ever healing properly. Why not put it to the test, next time you are within cuddling distance...?
edit - so far as I know Tamandua were never a Category 1 dangerous species and are still not, and can hardly inflict serious wounds with their razor sharp triangular canines like a Sloth can....!
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He'd have to catch me first ;)
 
Does anyone know if Gernot has been moved elsewhere? His picture was missing from the family signage by the most and I couldn’t see him today, though all the others were visible
 
Red Footed Tortoise said:
Does anyone know if Gernot has been moved elsewhere? His picture was missing from the family signage by the most and I couldn’t see him today, though all the others were visible
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I'd noticed most of the signage for him was missing on Saturday, I think it's only the one near the entrance that still has his name on it. I didn't see him then either despite the whole group being out. Not sure where he'd be moved though
 
Red Footed Tortoise said:
Does anyone know if Gernot has been moved elsewhere? His picture was missing from the family signage by the most and I couldn’t see him today, though all the others were visible
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cerperal said:
I'd noticed most of the signage for him was missing on Saturday, I think it's only the one near the entrance that still has his name on it. I didn't see him then either despite the whole group being out. Not sure where he'd be moved though
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tennisfan said:
I think one of the two main signage boards has been missing Gernot image and details for a couple of weeks (the other one still had his details). He was certainly there on Monday this week.
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What species is Gernot?
 
tennisfan said:
I think one of the two main signage boards has been missing Gernot image and details for a couple of weeks (the other one still had his details). He was certainly there on Monday this week.
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Pleased to hear it. I've got high hopes for him in the future. He is a real looker like his father Kumbuka but more importantly is also from a relatively unrepresented line on his father's side- as his wildcaught grandfather Keke only had two offspring.
 
tennisfan said:
I took a picture on 15 July
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For those who have not visited ZSL London Zoo since the Construction of SLoRA, here is a picture of the Crocodile Tank before being boarded up:
full
 
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