giant pandas for London? » London Zoo

28-10-2008

i think americans particularly need to remember how anti-zoo and pro-welfare the average londoner is. any expansion of zsl into regents park would be met with critisicm from dog-walkers to born free

30-10-2008

Its become almost a cultural thing over the years. London's Zoo is okay- sometimes its politically correct to support it, sometimes not so much, just as long as it stays in its own little corner of the Park and doesn't try to extend its boundaries. The mere mention creates uproar.

01-11-2008

i am glad thou that it wont expand, as the current zoo would be likley to be one huge exhibit, with no historical references

09-11-2008

its official (ish) london are trying to get giant panda's. i have a newpaper (the daily mail) in front of me with a large article on the issue. apparently colchester zoo are also looking into acquiring pandas! there's alot of animal protest rubbish in the article as well.

"these are sentient animals, not diplomatic gifts to be traded between china and britain" - spokesman for Captive Animals Protection Society

""Colchester zoo in essex has also made preliminary inquiries"

09-11-2008

OOOOH - now that really IS interesting!!! I actually believe Colchester would be one of the best places for Pandas in this country, far better than London, so am pleased that they've now entered the equation.

That said, if 3 UK zoos get Giant Pandas after a drought of years, it might lessen their impact on the public and so not be worth the expense after all? I'm not sure what to make of this.

10-11-2008

Two zoos so close together both exhibiting Pandas? The reality seems a little unlikely to me.

10-11-2008

Yeah, I think London would get the upper hand being the 'National' zoo.

Even still, I find it VERY interesting! I might e-mail ZSL, just to get any other possible details if this is confirmation.

10-11-2008

colchester are great at mixed exhibits and natural elements in thier enclosures

london is good at promoting the conservation side of things as well as involving guests

either way i dont mind which collection gets pandas.

10-11-2008

I'm becoming this thread's resident sceptic. There is nothing on The Daily Mail's website about this and I can't find anything with Google either. Of course this doesn't mean it's not true . . . but I'm not convinced yet


Alan

__________________
When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

10-11-2008

well it was in the paper, the was alot of hullaballooo about how they will be the first for ages

10-11-2008

could you scan it prehaps?

10-11-2008

If there were 2 zoos to get pandas
i would have thort that it would have been:
The National zoo:
London Zoo
The Zoo with the most animals:
Chester Zoo
(Although that is biast, cos i hav mentiond before that i want chester to get Pandas)

10-11-2008

I think Chester should have them over London, it has more room to build them a much better exhibit.

10-11-2008

A chester zoo guide book from 2001 has a FAQs section. One of the questions is:


"When are you going to have Giant Pandas?"


And the answer:


"Now there is a question! All we can say is that our links with China are running smoothly after important visits to Chester in 2000. In our twinning document with Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Base and Chengdu Zoo, we agreed to help with animals native to Sichuan Province. Giant Pandas are one of these species! Certainly for some time, our help will be in China."


It gives out rather mixed messages but i don't think that it will happen in the near future - i think the reason that they didn't say no was to keep their options open. Also, Pandas don't really fit into any of the sections proposed by the masterplan.

Ah well, we can always dream!

10-11-2008

It has been stated on here, that chester will not be getting Pandas. Even with their master plan.