ZSL London Zoo ZSL London Zoo News 2017

On December 10th, BBC One, David Attenborough will be presenting a documentary on Jumbo the African Elephant entitled “Attenborough and the Giant Elephant.”

 

London Zoo visit 7th December.

A few notes from my first visit for four(?) years. On a wet miserable winter morning the Zoo certainly did not look its best, with very few visitors at this quiet time of year, apart from a number of school parties.

1. Gorilla Kingdom- the addition of the painted fronds on all the windows coupled with low lighting make for poor viewing indoors now. I heard several people querying the volunteeers over this and of course 'it was done to keep Kumbuka quieter'- does it really? he still hit the glass a few times though it seemed quite playful rather than aggressive. The effect has been to produce the poorest Gorilla viewing in any zoo I know, if they are staying indoors, as they usually do and owing to the bad weather.

2. GK/Monkey exhibits( and bird displays)- the inside showdens of all these seemed to be unlit- the Sulawesi Macaques in particular were almost invisible in their dark den. With the light fading in the afternoon there were still no lights on in these dens.

3. Land of the Lions. I thought the themed nature of this new exhibit was frankly a major waste of money- for very few animals; four Lions, four Langurs and a Vulture Aviary. So much ancillary themed stuff which people must take little notice of. The Lion enclosures themselves are okay but the rest is just a waste IMO. Tiger Territory, without any of this excessive theming, is a much better exhibit I think.

4. The Grey Langurs were very impressive, they seemed larger animals than the previous group at ZSL . in the wet weather the viewing windows of their indoor 'temple' were completely fogged over making them impossible to see however- though fortunately they were visible when fed outside later on.

5. The new Gibbon enclosure was much larger, higher and generally more spacious than I had expected from photos on here.

6. While ZSL still have species-rich displays of Reptiles, Fish, Birds and Inverts( I visited BUGS for the first time and found it very interesting) The Mammal collection, the part most people want to see the most, does seem very weak by comparison nowadays.

7. The ex-Elephant Casson building, while open to the public again, seems like a true 'White Elephant' of the zoo, with no real function, as if years after the Elephants left, the Zoo still doesn't know what to do with it.

8. The section of the North Bank area on the Canal side between the Snowdon Aviary and the greenhouses looks semi-derelict, with empty overgrown aviaries etc, a bad advert for such a major zoo.

Despite the miserable weather and quiet time of year, it was still an interesting visit and I will post a few photos in the Gallery.

 

I have to say I agree almost entirely with your opinions! I can't agree on the Gibbon enclosure, only because I haven’t seen it!

I think you are particularly spot on regarding the gorillas, Land of the Lions and what is a pretty poor mammal collection for a zoo which should and could still be a major one!

 

Yes, of course... I had not thought of that. These did seem huge in comparison with the previous ones.

 

I was pleasantly surprised by the Gibbons. Much better than I had expected it to be.....

 

I look forward to seeing the new enclosure soon hopefully, at least the gibbons are one mammal that returned in 2017!

 

Do you know what would be nice? A free flight humming bird aviary.

 

Wasn’t there an attempt at this when the Blackburn Pavilion reopened? What happened to the hummingbird group they had?

 

London Zoo used to have a free flight hummingbird house next to the Bird House. I remember seeing various species of hummingbirds there, but the last birds kept there tended to be sunbirds and white-eyes.
London Zoo 1973 - Hummingbird House

 

I remember and loved the old one and it was awesome in a small, delicate, peaceful sort of way but I did not know they tried again in the Blackburn Pavillion. What was that like?

 

I liked the old Hummingbird House. It was a good place to sit down and watch birds flying around. I was sad when it was pulled down.

 

I'm not sure if they were ever freeflying in the Blackburn- I seem to remember I saw one of the last ones in one of the enclosures nearest the exit in the little 'anteroom'. I saw Zebra finches in there this time.

I agree a fresh display of Hummers woud be great- fascinating little creatures- almost defy being a bird by their tiny size.

 

I haven't seen free-flying hummingbirds in the Blackburn. As Pertinax says, there were some hummingbirds in the 'anteroom'.

 

The old London Zoo Humming Bird House, that we both remember well, was originally built in 1897 as the Tortoise House; Lord Walter Rothschild, founder of the Tring Zoology Museum, contributed a considerable sum of money for its construction. (Incidentally, the Tring Museum shop sells a postcard depicting Walter Rothschild riding a giant tortoise; the photograph was taken outside this building.)

The Tortoise House was converted into the Humming Bird House in the 1930s. The London Zoo guides for the late 1930s describe this building as housing “one of the largest collections of humming birds to be seen in captivity”

When I was a very young child, in the late 1950s, this house was divided into two separate glass-fronted aviaries, one each side of the central pathway. In 1960, the internal glass barriers were removed converting it into a walkthrough humming bird exhibit. As you mention, towards the end this building housed sunbirds and white-eyes rather than humming birds.

The building stood for eighty-eight years being demolished in 1985.

 

I probably went in this building, but can't really remember it. Thanks for posting this link, there are several other interesting photos on it too.

 

Humming birds were also kept c1985 in the bird house, they were housed in a small glass-fronted aviary on the left as you entered the bird house (next to the tarictic hornbills)

 

Indeed checking the ZSL Annual Reports for this era, rather than relying on my memory as to the exact species, London Zoo had amazilia hummingbird Amazilia amazilia in 1985 and both this species and sapphire spangled emerald hummingbird Amazilia lactea in 1986.

 

ZTL says that the following hummingbirds were kept in London Zoo.

Hummingbird House and other buildings (up to 1985)
Amethyst Woodstar (Calliphlox amethystina)
Andean emerald (Amazilia franciae)
White-chested emerald (Amazilia brevirostris)
Blue-chested hummingbird (Amazilia amabilis)
White-bellied emerald (Amazilia candida)
Copper-rumped hummingbird (Amazilia tobaci)
Sapphire-spangled emerald (Amazilia lactea)
Plain-bellied emerald (Amazilia leucogaster)
Glittering-bellied emerald (Amazilia fimbriata fimbriata)
Glittering-throated emerald (Amazilia fimbriata nigricauda)
Rufous-throated sapphire (Amazilia sapphirina)
Rufous-tailed hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl)
Rufous-tailed hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl tzacatl)
Heine`s rufous-tailed hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl jucunda)
Steely-vented hummingbird (Amazilia saucerrottei)
Antillean crested hummingbird (Orthorhyncus cristatus)
Band-tailed Barbthroat (Threnetes ruckeri)
Black jacobin (Florisuga fusca)
Purple-throated carib (Eulampis jugularis)
Purple-bibbed whitetip (Urosticte benjamini)
Napo sabrewing (Campylopterus villaviscensio)
Sombre hummingbird (Campylopterus cirrochloris)
Violet sabrewing (Campylopterus hemileucurus)
Long-tailed woodnymph (Thalurania watertoni)
Purple-crowned woodnymph (Thalurania colombica)
Violet-capped woodnymph (Thalurania glaucopis)
Long-billed hermit (Phaethornis longirostris)
Reddish hermit (Phaethornis ruber)
Horned sungem (Heliactin bilophus)
Fork-tailed woodnymph (Thalurania furcata)
Buff-tailed coronet (Boissonneaua flavescens)
Brazilian ruby (Clytolaema rubricauda)
Black-throated mango (Anthracothorax nigricollis)
Green-brested Mango (Anthracothorax prevostii)
Frilled Coquette (Lophornis magnificus) Black-eared fairy (Heliothryx auritus)
Blue-chinned sapphire (Chlorostilbon notatus)
Glittering-bellied emerald (Chlorostilbon lucidus)
Pucheran's emerald (Chlorostilbon lucidus pucherani)
Guyana blue-tailed emerald (Chlorostilbon mellisugus subfurcatus)
Western emerald (Chlorostilbon mellisugus melanorhynchus)
Brown Inca (Coeligena wilsoni)
Green-crowned brilliant (Heliodoxa jacula)
Brown violetear (Colibri delphinae)
Sparkling violetear (Colibri coruscans)
Ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) Racket-tailed coquette (Discosura longicaudus)
Red-billed streamertail (Trochilus polytmus)
Stripe-breasted starthroat (Heliomaster squamosus)
Swallow-tailed hummingbird (Eupetomena macroura)
White-chinned sapphire (Hylocharis cyanus)
White-tailed emerald (Elvira chionura)
White-tailed goldenthroat (Polytmus guainumbi)
White-throated hummingbird (Leucochloris albicollis)
Ruby topaz (Chrysolampis mosquitus) Golden-tailed sapphire (Chrysuronia oenone)

Bird House (1985-2008)
Black-throated mango (Anthracothorax nigricollis)
Brown violetear (Colibri delphinae)
White-necked Jacobin (Florisuga mellivora)
Sapphire-spangled emerald (Amazilia lactea)

Blackburn Pavilion (2008 to date)
Costa's hummingbird (Calypte costae)
Emerald hummingbird (Amazilia amazilia)

 

This is really interesting!!

17/08164/LBC | Internal refurbishment of Hall 1 to the Aquarium at ZSL London Zoo including repair work to the structure of the Mappin Terraces, and installation of five sun tubes to the roof of the Mappin Terraces. | The Mappin Terraces Outer Circle Regents Park London NW1 4RY