ZSL London Zoo ZSL London Zoo News 2025

[cerperal]

Birth of 1 White-headed Saki.
London Zoo on Instagram: "Meet our new saki monkey baby Watch them grow-up over the next year by becoming a ZSL member and get unlimited entry to both London and Whipsnade Zoo year round. Gift memberships are now 20% off for a limited time only - link in story to buy the perfect present for a nature lover ️"

This is the one posted about in this thread in late August, gives London a total of 1.3.1 (although this baby is clearly a male!)

 

[SealionLDN]

London Zoo announced on Instagram that the capybara will soon be moving to a new habitat by Zoo Town. I presume this might be where the old giant tortoise enclosure was?

Edit: Looking on the London Zoo map it confirms it is in the location of the old giant tortoise habitat. It will be nice to have that area of the zoo opened up again.

 

[Daubentoniidae]

It'll be a nice big enclosure for them, hopefully they can make use of it.

 

[cerperal]

London Zoo announced on Instagram that the capybara will soon be moving to a new habitat by Zoo Town. I presume this might be where the old giant tortoise enclosure was?

Edit: Looking on the London Zoo map it confirms it is in the location of the old giant tortoise habitat. It will be nice to have that area of the zoo opened up again.

They've actually moved over today, the public opening should be the end of the week. I'm guessing they're letting them get acclimated first before publically announcing it. Quite right about it being the old tortoise exhibit! Should suit them perfectly and will be nice to finally have that loop around the dragon opened up again

 

[Mugcake]

London Zoo announced on Instagram that the capybara will soon be moving to a new habitat by Zoo Town. I presume this might be where the old giant tortoise enclosure was?

Edit: Looking on the London Zoo map it confirms it is in the location of the old giant tortoise habitat. It will be nice to have that area of the zoo opened up again.

They've actually moved over today, the public opening should be the end of the week. I'm guessing they're letting them get acclimated first before publically announcing it. Quite right about it being the old tortoise exhibit! Should suit them perfectly and will be nice to finally have that loop around the dragon opened up again

Oh that’s good to know! Had heard that it wasn’t due to open for another few months at least, so this is a surprise!

Actually meant to share this before and forgot, but I have a photo of the works taken from a windows at the exit doors of the Dragon House. Doesn’t really show anything except building materials, but I’ll be interested to see what the finished enclosure looks like:

 

[speedycheese]

Had a successful but chilli day at the zoo and noticed a couple of things. Apologies if any of this has been mentioned already:

- The first enclosure in Nightlife now also has 2 unsigned Mouse Lemurs with the Giant Rat occupying just the second enclosure. Appear to be Grey ones rather than a new species but could be wrong. One came right up to the glass as well which was great to see.

- Tree Shrew enclosure has been emptied and is under redevelopment. Unsure if this will still be for Tree Shrew or a new species.

- Now the Capybara have moved to their new enclosure that area of the zoo is fully open again with no more dead ends. Both seemed very comfortable, already coming right up to the glass.

- Just need to add as well it was fantastic to see the new Sengi. An amazing addition to the zoo. Though they don't yet have a sign which leads to a lot of confused visitors naming them "trunked rat things"

 

[Jambi]

- Now the Capybara have moved to their new enclosure that area of the zoo is fully open again with no more dead ends. Both seemed very comfortable, already coming right up to the glass.

While I do have some concerns about people potentially stressing out the capybaras by banging on that big window, overall the enclosure looks very good based on the images and videos I've seen, and I can't wait to see them when I next visit in the Summer.

 

[Mugcake]

Now the Capybara have moved to their new enclosure that area of the zoo is fully open again with no more dead ends. Both seemed very comfortable, already coming right up to the glass.

I actually happened to go just a few days ago! Was meant to be going later in the week but changed plans, I got to see the new Capybara enclosure from the end of the Dragon House though:



Definitely looks a lot different from beforehand, and I can’t wait to go check it out the next time I visit

Conversely, their old temporary enclosure on the Cotton Terraces is now entirely vacant, with the signs made blank:



When I visited, the Pygmy Hippo was swimming outside, which was unusual given she never did during my visits in warmer weather (it was extremely cold that day):

The first enclosure in Nightlife now also has 2 unsigned Mouse Lemurs with the Giant Rat occupying just the second enclosure. Appear to be Grey ones rather than a new species but could be wrong. One came right up to the glass as well which was great to see.

I saw them too, but as I wasn’t expecting it I just thought it was an actual mouse (they do sometimes get into indoor enclosures, as they do in every zoo/farm). The fact it was climbing should have probably clued me in to that, although I’m not entirely sure why they’re there. I don’t imagine the zoo is moving all of them over, as their presence in the Lemur House ties the space together quite nicely.

Tree Shrew enclosure has been emptied and is under redevelopment. Unsure if this will still be for Tree Shrew or a new species.

Saw this too! Shame the shrew was always a no-show, but at least now there’s an opportunity for something new to take its place. I also took the liberty of taking some photos:



The right enclosure is still intact, but they’ve begun stripping the left. Maybe they’ll be keeping two different species in either one, and need to redo the first for something non-arboreal?

In other news, the Snake-Necked Turtle tank in the New Reptile House has almost finished refurbishment. I actually found out a couple weeks ago that the turtle is coming back (apparently the glass needed redoing/rebuffing), I just forgot to share that here:



I also saw this lizard through the window into the backstage area, anybody got an ID for it?



Lastly, managed to spot a fox climbing up the Mappins! Surreal to see an animal doing it in the modern day (except of course for birds), but unfortunately it’s barely visible in the only photo I managed to get :/

But all in all, some interesting things going on at the zoo right now! I also do take videos, but unfortunately video uploads aren’t working on ZooChat right now (there’s some issue with the system apparently), so they’ll have to wait for another day.

 

[Typhlonectes]

I actually happened to go just a few days ago! Was meant to be going later in the week but changed plans, I got to see the new Capybara enclosure from the end of the Dragon House though:

View attachment 843316 View attachment 843317 View attachment 843318

Definitely looks a lot different from beforehand, and I can’t wait to go check it out the next time I visit

Conversely, their old temporary enclosure on the Cotton Terraces is now entirely vacant, with the signs made blank:

View attachment 843319

When I visited, the Pygmy Hippo was swimming outside, which was unusual given she never did during my visits in warmer weather (it was extremely cold that day):

View attachment 843320


I saw them too, but as I wasn’t expecting it I just thought it was an actual mouse (they do sometimes get into indoor enclosures, as they do in every zoo/farm). The fact it was climbing should have probably clued me in to that, although I’m not entirely sure why they’re there. I don’t imagine the zoo is moving all of them over, as their presence in the Lemur House ties the space together quite nicely.

Saw this too! Shame the shrew was always a no-show, but at least now there’s an opportunity for something new to take its place. I also took the liberty of taking some photos:

View attachment 843322 View attachment 843323

The right enclosure is still intact, but they’ve begun stripping the left. Maybe they’ll be keeping two different species in either one, and need to redo the first for something non-arboreal?

In other news, the Snake-Necked Turtle tank in the New Reptile House has almost finished refurbishment. I actually found out a couple weeks ago that the turtle is coming back (apparently the glass needed redoing/rebuffing), I just forgot to share that here:

View attachment 843325

I also saw this lizard through the window into the backstage area, anybody got an ID for it?

View attachment 843327 View attachment 843328

Lastly, managed to spot a fox climbing up the Mappins! Surreal to see an animal doing it in the modern day (except of course for birds), but unfortunately it’s barely visible in the photo I managed to get of it :/

But all in all, some interesting things going on at the zoo right now! I also do take videos, but unfortunately video uploads aren’t working on ZooChat right now (there’s some issue with the system apparently), so they’ll have to wait for another day.

Based off of the habitat type and morphology I would say this is a Round Island Skink

 

[Mugcake]

Based off of the habitat type and morphology I would say this is a Round Island Skink

Oh cool! Seems like it’s a Vulnerable species, so makes sense that ZSL would be keeping them

In looking them up, found out the island also had a species of snake known as a “burrowing boa” that has sadly been extinct since the 70s

 

[Rajang21]

Oh cool! Seems like it’s a Vulnerable species, so makes sense that ZSL would be keeping them

In looking them up, found out the island also had a species of snake known as a “burrowing boa” that has sadly been extinct since the 70s

They’ve had the species for several years. I photographed them in the old reptile house in 2019.

 

[Kalaw]

Oh cool! Seems like it’s a Vulnerable species, so makes sense that ZSL would be keeping them

In looking them up, found out the island also had a species of snake known as a “burrowing boa” that has sadly been extinct since the 70s

They’ve had the species for several years. I photographed them in the old reptile house in 2019.

They are (or at least were) onshow in the new reptile house too; is this still the case? It would be a shame for such an interesting species to be moved offshow even if it’s still partly visible.

And wow, they’ve done a lot of landscaping with that new capybara enclosure and it looks almost unrecognisable compared to when the tortoises were in there. Looks like an impressive job and will be even better once the grass grows back. I hope the pool is still there though? Capybaras probably need it even more than the tortoises did!

 

[Mugcake]

Looks like an impressive job and will be even better once the grass grows back. I hope the pool is still there though? Capybaras probably need it even more than the tortoises did!

I forgot to share this earlier, but ZSL actually did a YouTube Short (also probably on other social media) where they show off little peeks of the enclosure, including a very spacious pool!

Video can be found here, although unfortunately shorts don’t seem to embed: https://youtube.com/shorts/eiVvvztt3ck

It’s truly great that a brand new House has opened at the zoo, even if you can’t go inside. I don’t think the zoo has ever had a Capybara House before, aside from the Rodent House a long time back?

I do like to use the term “House” instead of the official names because it’s just a nice, kinda antiquated way of simplifying everything

 

[cerperal]

And wow, they’ve done a lot of landscaping with that new capybara enclosure and it looks almost unrecognisable compared to when the tortoises were in there. Looks like an impressive job and will be even better once the grass grows back. I hope the pool is still there though? Capybaras probably need it even more than the tortoises did!

Agreed, I genuinely don't think the average visitor could guess what it used to hold. But the pool is still there, and has been slightly deepened - it's a little over a metre and a half apparently, plus the indoor heated one.

RE the mouse lemurs and tree shrew - the mouse lemurs I believe are the young from earlier in the year, and the zoo isn't going to hold tree shrews again (certainly not in Night Life at least). I'm looking forward to seeing what goes in there

 

[Aramar]

Nos that the former tortoise enclosure is occupied once again, the only empty enclosure is the small one in front of the otters and meerkats, right?

 

[Mugcake]

RE the mouse lemurs and tree shrew - the mouse lemurs I believe are the young from earlier in the year, and the zoo isn't going to hold tree shrews again (certainly not in Night Life at least). I'm looking forward to seeing what goes in there

One thing I’m wondering is, why doesn’t the zoo put the Tree Shrew in the Rainforest House? I imagine they’d be able to live just fine in the main centre treetops, and if they really need it to be in a separate enclosure then they could put it where the bokyboky is now.

The latter makes a lot of sense when you consider that there’s already a display for them in the Lemur House, and the zoo has been trying to reduce doubling-up lately (which can be seen with the shifting of meerkat keeping, where their traditional home by the Round House is now occupied by mongooses).

 

[Mugcake]

Nos that the former tortoise enclosure is occupied once again, the only empty enclosure is the small one in front of the otters and meerkats, right?

In addition to the Round House, the Anteater Lawn, Penguin Pool and North Bank Aviaries are also vacant, although the latter will almost certainly be demolished due to their small size (and of course the Penguin Pool is a whole other matter).

There’s also a spattering of other enclosures that are disused parts of a much larger whole. Main ones that come to mind is part of an indoor section from the New Lion Terraces, the small Duiker/Antelope paddock at the Lion entrance, the vacant side cages from the Insect House, and the fake mountains on the Mappins (which are practically one enclosure in their own right, they’re just too inaccessible to current paths and too unsuited/old to house anything, even with some modern augmentation).

There’s also others that I think are being used for storage at this point, or ones like the Ravens’ Cage that are purely ornamental (or the Llama House, which is now the First Aid area).

 

[cerperal]

One thing I’m wondering is, why doesn’t the zoo put the Tree Shrew in the Rainforest House? I imagine they’d be able to live just fine in the main centre treetops, and if they really need it to be in a separate enclosure then they could put it where the bokyboky is now.

The latter makes a lot of sense when you consider that there’s already a display for them in the Lemur House, and the zoo has been trying to reduce doubling-up lately (which can be seen with the shifting of meerkat keeping, where their traditional home by the Round House is now occupied by mongooses).

The bokibokys are split because they're still hoping they will form 2 breeding pairs again, and to be honest I quite like having them both in the Lemur house (being Madagascan) and Rainforest Life because of how showy they are. I've always found tree shrews to be fairly shy and given the bokibokys are also endangered unlike the tree shrew I suspect they'd take precedent

I suspect that she would have been too small to have kept track of as well, and I'm not sure how they do when mixed with other arboreal species (aside from the porcupines at Prague, I've never seen them mixed with anything else)

 

[Mugcake]

The bokibokys are split because they're still hoping they will form 2 breeding pairs again, and to be honest I quite like having them both in the Lemur house (being Madagascan) and Rainforest Life because of how showy they are. I've always found tree shrews to be fairly shy and given the bokibokys are also endangered unlike the tree shrew I suspect they'd take precedent

Ah that actually makes a lot of sense :0

 

[Maguari]

Oh cool! Seems like it’s a Vulnerable species, so makes sense that ZSL would be keeping them

In looking them up, found out the island also had a species of snake known as a “burrowing boa” that has sadly been extinct since the 70s

They’ve had the species for several years. I photographed them in the old reptile house in 2019.

They are (or at least were) onshow in the new reptile house too; is this still the case? It would be a shame for such an interesting species to be moved offshow even if it’s still partly visible.

They were certainly on show when I was last there - but labelled as Telfair's Skink, not Round Island Skink (same species, different name).