I've always wondered how much get's syphoned off from the 2 ZSL zoos to the charity side of their activities. Although the charity does some great work, get's lots of grants and obviously does a lot of fund raising, you do have to ask with almost 2m visitors a year, how come the 2 sites are in the state they are now. It does seem that Whipsnade is declining more than London, I remember visiting in the late 1980's when you would come across species hidden away off the main paths such as Kori Bustards, Peccaries, the vultures, Cereopsis geese... At least they are doing some redevelopment at London, as much as I loved the old reptile house at least they're building a new one, albeit with a much reduced collection and the Snowdon development at least preserves that amazing structure for the future, all it's been for the last 30 years is a breeding ground for Sacred Ibis, an invasive species. I hope they redevelop the rest of the North Bank, some new aviaries would be great. The old reptile house would make a great new aquarium and as for the Mappins... Sorry, I know this is the Whipsnade thread, the loss of the Sea Lions is a major blow, I remember swimming with the dolphins, but there was an example of ZSL realizing the enclosure was not suitable for dolphins, as well as a change in the law, so I guess the enclosure is going to stand there and rot, like the listed elephant house and the Discovery Centre. ZSL does seem to see itself as the UK version of the WCS, but just without the philanthropic support that organizations in the US seem to attract. The 200th anniversary is coming up soon, it would be so amazing if they could turn things around by then, new developments in turn bring in more visitors, if they can survive Covid they can survive anything, but unlike many of the endangered species they don't have, is survival enough?
