Fruitbat Forest On the London Zoo homepage there's currently a short video of Fruitbat Forest if you scroll down to near the bottom of the page. "Fruitbat Forest, the newly refurbished Rodrigues bat exhibit in the Roundhouse on the North side of the zoo, will be opening to the public on Saturday, 22nd of October." ZSL London Zoo | Zoo in London - ZSL
Don't think I've seen any further discussion of this - did the fruit bat exhibit open on time? Off to good ol' R.P. on Wednesday next week (16th). It's been a while since I went last - Animal Adventure was still being built - so I've got a lot to catch up on - Animal Adventure, the giant tortoises, repainted Lion Terraces, Brolgas, the latest Clore incarnation, Penguin Beach, fruit bat exhibit, reindeer... Going solo so if anyone is about (I know it's an awkward day!) and fancies meeting up drop me a PM.
^maguari, you make me jelous of the amount of zoo's you visit. Tho I was aware you were in london zo it was silly of me not to put 2 and 2 together really :S . I hope you have fun, any photo's of the lion terraces in General would be aprretiated, thanks
Three days in London and no time for R.P.? Unthinkable Actually, in term of number of different zoos it's actually been a quiet year by recent standards (haven't actually done too many UK zoos for one reason and another).
Can't say I noticed the difference but there may be Lion cubs to see now? Also a new baby Francois Langur around the corner from there. Penguin Beach is good.
Yes, the Rodrigues fruit bat exhibit opened on time and I think it's lovely... they're big, active bats and you can see them really clearly – it's not a whizzy showy-off enclosure but if you like bats it's great because you can see their behaviour up close. Enjoy your visit on Wednesday, Maguari, I'll be there – but busy! Make sure you catch a glimpse of the new lion cubs who are still at the "ahhhh!" stage.
Thanks volvox - feel free to say hi if you spot me (long hair, silly beard, probably big lens and red rucksack!).
Yes, that was a rather stupid judgement for me too make And don't be so ungrateful, you've had a trip to Germany this year
Yes, that was a rather stupid judgement for me too make And don't be so ungrateful, you've had a trip to Germany this year
Hi Guys, I didn't want to start an entirely new thread, so I hope you don't mind me piggy-backing off this thread. We will be in London in mid December for a couple days, and London Zoo is at the top of our itinerary. Questions: Apart from the keeper-for-the-day, are there any other animal encounters? We will not have a car, so are there any other must-visit zoos in/around London that are easily accessible by public transport?
It depends what you mean by "animal encounter". Do you mean actual physical contact or just getting up close to an animal?
Where will you be staying, nanoboy? Any plans for doing something other than London Zoo - and at that time of year, it will be dark at 4 pm - do need to factor in the fact that you can easily spend an hour crossing central London. There is a smallish collection in Battersea Park, on the south side of the Thames. You might just be wise to stick with that, RP itself (called that because London Zoo is in Regent's Park) and (if it's your sort of thing) the Natural History Museum. But look where your digs are first, then plan accordingly.
As has already been mentioned, days will be short that time of year, so most zoos will close at 4:00pm. Consequently, it might not be worth travelling fairly long distances by public transport, to visit zoos out of London, as you will not have a lot of time to spend in the zoo. However, there is the London Aquarium (Sea Life Centre) on the South Bank of the River Thames, near Westminster Bridge.
Not a traditional zoo, but the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust centre in Barnes (easy to reach by tube and bus) has a decent waterfowl collection and excellent birdwatching.
Hi Guys, Cheers for the replies. By 'animal encounter' I mean either or, volvox. For example, in Australia we have done encounters where we fed lions and tigers with tongs through the bars of the cage, without any physical contact. On the other hand, we have had a chameleon, meerkats, lemurs, parrots etc crawl all over us. So basically any encounter where we can pay a little extra to get closer to animals than the general public. Ian, we will be staying in Gloucester Road, which should be a 10 minute walk from the Natural History Museum. We have been a few times before, but will definitely be visiting again, because my wife has to buy a souvenir for her boss's daughter. Battersea Park sounds feasible, as it is just outside Zone 1 I think. Tim and Ian, excellent points about the 4pm closure. It sounds as though I need to ensure that I am at the gates at opening time. When we were in London in early 2009, the aquarium was undergoing renovations, and the girl at the ticket counter told us straight up that there was hardly anything to see. I hope that the renovations have been completed now. Maguari, if we can do some birdwatching during daylight hours, then Barnes sounds like a distinct possibility. I suspect that my wife will prefer to spend her day in the warmth of Harrod's rather than in a freezing bird hide!
There's a fully-enclosed, glazed-windowed observatory if that's any help! http://www.wwt.org.uk/visit-us/london/things-to-see-and-do/visitor-centre/ And Harrods will be open well into the evenings in December so you can do that after dark!
