The maintenance is as far as I'm aware just general work in preparation for it being opened over Halloween and Christmas, as it's being used for events. During the summer it's been used as storage for the events on the lawn so the inside probably needs a bit of sprucing up too
I hadn’t heard about it being used for Halloween, perhaps that’s where the silent disco will be? All in all I’d love to see it just opened up in general, even without the smaller enclosures in the back it’s a really nice (and nostalgic) place for me
They’ve also mentioned something called a “Golden Pumpkin Hunt” on the website. Apparently you have to at least be a member to be eligible for finding it (it’s hidden somewhere in the zoo), it’s mentioned on the website but not the members update though
Sounds like a lovely visit! Did you manage to see any of the new babies (langur, galago, otter, dik-dik)? It's a shame to hear about the state of the North Bank, it was rather overgrown last time I was over there but certainly it sounds like nature has entirely taken over now
Unfortunately never got to see the otters, which is a shame as I haven’t seen them underwater for years. Did manage to spot a dik-dik but pretty sure it’s an adult, they’re already quite small so.
I wasn’t looking out for the baby animals in particular, I did see plenty of the galagos though. The animals in the Nocturnal House (counting the upstairs ones too) are a lot more active than they are on the busier days, mainly since they’re being bothered a lot less by any excess noise.
I do think they maybe ought to add a mini partition where the Aye-Aye and Mouse Lemur are though, because the sound of the wooden exit door closing really reverberates through there. Even if it’s just those long plastic blinds it would help dampen the noise somewhat, although there’s a good reason why the exit door is so heavy/doesn’t have a dampener.
There’s a fairly reasonable risk of the lemurs getting out through there if the door didn’t close far enough. I know because on my visit prior to that, one of them nearly did. It slipped through the plastic strips and past the automatic sliding door when a family went through. Luckily, I saw and told the supervising keeper before anyone inadvertently let it out into the Clore Pavillion.
It’s also why it’s strictly a no-entry door from the Pavillion side, since it’s impossible to tell if a lemur is on the other side or not.
But Sly Lemurs aside, that area is all really well done overall. Perhaps they should change the settings on the automatic door to close sooner after it’s opened, but visitor safety could be why it doesn’t (in case it tried to close when someone is going through).
