London zoo news 2012 » ZSL London Zoo

12-08-2012

Been down to ZSL today. Perfect weather. Very crowded. Saw Zaire "defile" one of those flags that had been placed in their enclosure (it was bound to happen ).

Got grabbed by a random little girl who told me that she had just seen the biggest bird in the world - ever. I was then dragged off to see a Hornbill. When last I saw her she was taking her folks to see the vultures. That was a nice change from Kid: "I want to see the elephants" Mom: "yes dear". I've never heard a parent yet admit there are no elephants at London.

Got some good photos but I won't clog up the gallery with more than a couple - the rest are the first 43 in this set if anyone wants a peek.

London Zoo - a set on Flickr

This was the first time I had seen the otters as anything but a furry sleeping heap indoors. Today they were a furry sleeping heap outdoors.

Some idiot gave the squirrel monkeys a bag of nuts and another kept using their flash on the gorillas.

Pickle the little penguin was also swimming - until he discovered the mystery of plexiglass and became more interested in why he couldn't get out.

I'm hoping to have enough material by Xmas to do another photobook for my baby nephew. Did him one on ducks for his first birthday with some of the photos I have taken down St James's Park. I'm thinking either big cats or monkeys/apes. I haven't really got any good cat photos at London but in a few weeks I'm hopefully going to Mervent Zoo near where my family live in France and they have a white bengal tiger there. Knowing my luck it will be asleep in some far corner when I go.

This is also the first time I have been to a zoo ever and it hasn't rained.

13-08-2012

The photos are absolutely stunning, I've really enjoyed looking through them, thank you Wenxue. I am interested to know what you think of the new beaded collars on the squirrel monkeys – to help keepers with identification – but as a photographer do you find them intrusive (or whatever)?

13-08-2012

I mentioned this on the blog post ZSL made about the collars. I understand totally the zookeeping and medical reasons why they need to be able to easily ID each of the monkeys and I can't easily think of another way they can do it. As a photographer though I am really dismayed by them. Even when taking photos of an animal in a zoo you do everything you can to make the photos look as natural as you can (whilst obviously never misleading anyone about the fact they have been taken in captivity). If you get them at the right angle the fur can still hide the collars sometimes but those guys move so fast you are lucky to get anything of them at all.

15-08-2012

According to ZTL the Moholi Bushbabies formerly held at Edinburgh are now located at London Zoo.

There is a chance I might be going to London Zoo on Monday after myself and Hel go to V festival, depending on how muddy we are and how lightly we manage to pack - in which case I will attempt to ascertain the veracity of this information.

16-08-2012

Thanks, this would certainly seem to tie in with the information i posted from my visit last week, though the sign stated they were recently arrived from another zoo, for some reason they didn't name Edinburgh.

16-08-2012

It certainly fits the timeline - as I said, if I visit I'll see if I can find someone to ask directly about it just to check, as it is entirely possible ZTL was erroneously updated with the assumption they were the same individuals due to the timing without direct factchecking.

Did you happen to make a note of the species of bushbaby you saw at London? If you saw Moholi, that would be an additional bit of evidence about their provenance.

16-08-2012

I'm afraid the sign just said bushbaby, but it was a fairly old sign, it may just be that they haven't put a new one up yet though.

16-08-2012

BBC News - Gorilla brothers Kesho and Alf 'joy' at Longleat reunion

Photos of Kesho in his new home at Longleat that brought tears to my eyes.

17-08-2012

When I saw Kesho at ZSL, it seemed all he wanted to do was play with the others but only the youngest Mjuku would join him. He is still just a youngster at heart and probably as happy with his two younger siblings at Longleat than in the ZSL set-up!

Even when they're silverbacked like Kesho, they often aren't fully mature for a few years more- I doubt whether in the wild males less than fifteen years old at the earliest, are mature enough to act as competent group leaders.

21-08-2012

I can confirm the signage does now list them as Moholi bushbabies, and upon speaking with a keeper, they are indeed from Edinburgh. Saw a great deal of lifeticks today - the only potential lifetick I missed as far as I can tell is the kinkajou, which as a nocturnal creature in a diurnal enclosure was never likely to show up.

22-08-2012

Forgot to mention last night; the hummingbirds are back onshow.

11-09-2012

The new tiger exhibit is already being announced even if it is 6 months away.
Still found it noteworthy to post here.

Link: London Zoo plans £3.6m enclosure redevelopment for endangered tigers - London - News - Evening Standard


I really look forward to it (and to which species they add on)!

12-09-2012

I was cycling past the zoo the other day en route to Camden. The majority of the tallest poles are in, as are some of the perimeter posts. The public wall for much of the Casson paddock appears to have gone as it looks like the moat is developed as a public pathway. There are large trees ready to go in, I'm hoping in the Casson paddock.

I imagine the 'five times the space' quote will include both outdoor enclosures, as well as the offshow cubbing enclosure and dens, and the main indoor dens. I was surprised at how small the longer outdoor area seemed to be, but I would need to see it from other angles before really being able to make that kind of judgement. That said, I think people expecting the outdoor space to appear large (in relation to the average exhibit for this species elsewhere) will find lots of floor-to-ceiling glass, flashy interp and lush planting, but possibly not a sense that the cats have a lot of space. I don't think a netted enclosure helps, but I'm guessing this was cheaper/easier to get permission for than a really secure perimeter fence. Regardless of what we might pick up on when its finished, it will have a 'finish' that will impress the majority of visitors, provided the animals don't pace.

I will visit in a few weeks and upload some photos unless someone else does before me.

26-09-2012

Both of the current Sumatran Tigers, Lumpar and Raika have today been "retired" to WHF, Kent. Hopefully won't be long before the first of the new breeding pair arrives at ZSL

27-09-2012

ZSL have had very little breeding success with their Tigers over the years. The only cub raised was 'Hari' now in Australia (New Zealand?). I think I know who the female is, I would be curious to see who the new male would be. It seem recently a lot of Sumatran Tiger moves have/will happen. I know South Lakes' pair (Alisha and Padang) are due to move off soon I'm unsure where.