London Zoo

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ZSL London Zoo is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on April 27 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for scientific study. It was eventually made open to the public in 1847. Today it houses a collection of 704 species of animals, with 16,802 individuals, making it one of the largest collections in the United Kingdom.

It is managed under the aegis of the Zoological Society of London (established in 1826), and is situated at the northern edge of Regent's Park (the Regent's Canal runs through it). The Society also has a more spacious site at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire to which the larger animals such as elephants and rhinos have been moved. As well as being the first scientific zoo, ZSL London Zoo also opened the first Reptile house (1849), first public Aquarium (1853), first insect house (1881) and the first children's zoo (1938).

ZSL receives no state funding and relies on 'Fellows', 'Friends', 'Members', entrance fees and sponsorship to generate income.

The closest London Underground stations are Camden Town and Chalk Farm and is served by the 274 bus route.

History

ZSL was established by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1826, who obtained the land for the Zoo and saw the plans before he died of apoplexy later that year. After his death the third Marquis of Lansdowne took over the project and supervised the building of the first animal houses. The Zoo opened in April 1828 to fellows of the Society, providing access to species such as Arabian oryx, greater kudus, orangutan and the now extinct quagga & thylacine. The Society was granted a Royal Charter in 1829 by King George IV, and in 1847 the Zoo opened to the public to aid funding.

It was believed that tropical animals could not survive outside in London's cold weather and so they were all kept indoors until 1902, when Dr Peter Chalmers Mitchell was appointed secretary of the Society. He set about a major reorganisation of the buildings and enclosures of the Zoo, bringing many of the animals out into the open, where many thrived. This was an idea inspired by Hamburg Zoo, and led to newer designs to many of the buildings. Mitchell also envisaged a new park to the north of London, and in 1926 Hall Farm, near to Whipsnade village, was bought. In 1931 Whipsnade Wild Animal Park opened, becoming the world's first open zoological park.

In 1962 'Caroline', an Arabian oryx was lent to Phoenix Zoo, Arizona in the world's first international co-operative breeding programme. Today the Zoo participates in breeding programmes for over 130 species.

Threat of closure

At the beginning of the 1990s the Zoo had almost 7,000 animals; the nearest any other collection came to in Britain was Chester Zoo, with just under 3,500 animals. Many of the species in London Zoo could not be seen anywhere else in the country, such as the wombat, Tasmanian devil or long-nosed potoroo.

Although this vast collection was part of the Zoo's appeal, it may also have been one of the main causes of it's financial problems. This contributed to the Zoo being faced with closure in the 1980s. Due to the public change of attitude to animals kept in captivity and unsuitably cramped space, the Zoo also suffered dwindling visitor numbers. However, when it was announced that London Zoo would close in 1991, a swell of public support in visitors and donations allowed the Zoo to continue its work, attempt to balance its books, and take on the huge task of restoring its buildings and creating environments more suitable for animal behaviour in the late 20th Century.

Areas and attractions

The zoo is currently (2008) undergoing a renovation project aimed at replacing cages with enclosures which recreate animals' natural environments, giving a better lifestyle to the animals, and a more realistic experience to visitors. In 2005 the "African Bird Safari" and "Meet The Monkeys" walkthroughs opened and in 2006 "Into Africa" and "Butterfly Paradise" exhibits opened, while in Easter 2007 the Duke of Edinburgh officially opened the new "Gorilla Kingdom" and "Clore Rainforest Lookout" a walkthrough rainforest replacing the small mammals building.

During Easter 2008 the Bird House will reopen as a tropical rainforest called the "Blackburn Pavilion".

Other plans include the redevelopment of the Children's Zoo and the Lion Terraces.

	Number of species	Number of animals
Mammals	83	303
Birds	109	489
Reptiles	75	299
Amphibians	20	129
Fish	191	5516
Invertebrates	226	10066
Total	704	16802

African Bird Safari

The African Bird Safari opened in Easter 2005 as a redevelopment of the Stork and Ostrich House, replacing three out-of-date enclosures. It is built around a walk-through design long and high, incorporating a bridge over a stream and high trees.

Species on display include Abdim's stork, superb starlings, Madagascar teals, Von der Decken's hornbills, lilac-breasted roller and blue-bellied roller.

Aquarium

There has been an aquarium at the Zoo since 1853 and was the first aquarium to be established in the world. The word 'aquarium' also originates at London Zoo, beforehand the term for a fish enclosure was 'Aquatic Vivarium'. The current aquarium was built in 1921 beneath the Mappin Terraces as the public demand to see the fish increased. In April 1924 King George V with his wife Queen Mary opened the aquarium.

The exhibit is separated into three halls, each home to different types of fish:

The first hall contains species involved in various conservation projects, such as captive-breeding programmes and other ZSL-based initiatives. These include species such as rudd, European eels, pink sea fans, spiny starfish and seahorses.
The second hall is a coral reef habitat with tropical species from across the globe, including copperband butterflyfish and clownfish.
The third hall contains Amazon fish including electric eels, glass knifefish, lungfish and stingray.

The aquarium also includes the Big Fish Tank which holds fish rescued from private homes that had insufficient equipment to look after the fish. This includes catfish, tucunare, tambaqui and pirapitinga. The breeding room is also visible to the public.

Blackburn Pavilion

The Blackburn Pavilion will open to the public on 21 March 2008 as a revamp of the old Bird House. The Victorian building was originally built in 1883 as a Reptile House. The exhibit is named after the Blackburn family, who provided support to the Zoo during the early 1990s when the Zoo was faced with closure.

Recreating both rainforest and cloud forest environments the pavilion holds more than 50 different species of bird including toucans, starlings, kookaburras, lovebirds, and hummingbirds (the only place in the UK to see them). The exhibit also contain several species in danger of extinction, or are already extinct, such as the socorro dove.

B.U.G.S

B.U.G.S (Biodiversity Underpinning Global Survival), formerly Web of Life, aims to educate the public on biodiversity itself. Displaying over 140 species, including leaf-cutter ants, Mexican redknee tarantulas, flamboyant flower beetles, anteaters and Malaysian giant stick insects. Since 98% of all known animal life are invertebrates the majority of the species on display are also invertebrates.

The building is environmentally friendly, constructed from materials requiring little energy to produce, and generating its heating from visitors' and animals' body heat.

B.U.G.S is also home to ZSLs Invertebrate Conservation Unit, a facility for the breeding of invertebrates.

Butterfly Paradise

The Butterfly Paradise exhibit launched in May 2006, holds butterfly and moth species from several major regions, including Africa, South-east Asia, and Central & South America. The species of both fauna and flora have been selected to complement each, with the plants having to provide nectar and breeding areas for the animals.

Species on display include clipper butterfly, great eggfly butterfly, zebra longwing and postman butterfly.

Like much of the Zoo the exhibit aims to educate the public on conservation projects, such as species recovery programmes, habitat protection initiatives and climate change issues. Alongside the free-flying exhibit there is a pupae breeding room allowing the public to see the development of new butterflies.

Children's Zoo

The Ambika Paul Children’s Zoo is based around two sections, the pet care centre and the paddock, and provides a hands-on exhibit aimed at children.

The pet care centre offers advice on keeping and caring for your pets and animals on display include species of rabbits, guinea pigs, mice, rats, stick insects, chinchillas, degus and snails. The paddock includes sheep, Anglo Nubian goats, pygmy goats, llamas, alpacas reindeer and Tamworth pigs.

It was set up in 1994 from a donation by Swraj Paul in memory of his daughter, Ambika Paul, who died of leukemia.

Clore Rainforest Lookout

The Clore Rainforest Lookout was opened by HRH Duke of Edinburgh on 29 March and opened to the public on 30 March 2007. The Lookout replaces the Charles Clore Pavilion for Mammals, which was built in 1967, with the aid of the Clore Duffield Foundation.

The exhibit recreates the South American rainforest and provides canopy and forest floor levels for the public to wander through. Species on display include two-toed sloths, agoutis, silvery marmosets, golden-headed lion tamarins, Goeldi’s monkeys, Geoffroy’s marmosets, pottos, slow loris, slender loris, emperor tamarins, gentle lemurs and pygmy marmosets.

Nightzone, a darkened section, provides an insight into nocturnal rainforest life. This area includes Rodrigues fruit bats, long-nosed potoroos, emperor scorpions and Malasay giant jumping rats.

Gorilla Kingdom

Gorilla Kingdom is a flagship exhibit which opened in Easter 2007. It is a 5.3-million pound development that took 18 months to build, was launched by HRH Duke of Edinburgh on 29 March and opened to the public on 30 March 2007.

It replaces old monkey enclosures with a giant moated island and indoor gym that is home to a group of western lowland gorillas. There are currently three gorillas in the enclosure: Bobby, a 23-year-old male; Zaire, a 32-year-old female, and Effie, a 14-year-old female. The area also holds black-and-white colobus monkeys.

The Exhibit is also home to mangabeys, monitor lizards, a variety of bird species and Diana monkey.

The exhibit was inspired by a conservation project that is managed by ZSL in Gabon. It has been planted with plants and herbs that the gorillas can eat while the island itself represents a natural forest clearing in the Central African rainforest.

A visitor to the exhibit will learn about the plight of western lowland gorillas in the wild and conservation of rainforests, while being separated from the animals on the island by either a moat or a floor to ceiling window.

Into Africa

Into Africa opened on 1 April 2006, and features a high level viewing platform to bring the public face-to-face with the giraffes. Zebras were reintroduced to the Zoo after an 8-year absence, joining the Rothschild giraffe in the main enclosure.

After a survey found that 95% of visitors preferred enclosures without bars the decision was made to use glass windows instead, to bring the public closer to the animals and gain a more intimate experience.

African hunting dogs can be observed through periscopes and observation pods while other species include warthog, okapi and red river hogs.

Komodo Dragons

The Komodo Dragon enclosure opened on 12 July 2004 by Sir David Attenborough, mimics a dry river bed with a curving glass wall. There are two adult dragons, Raja (male) and Sungaï (female), and four babies. The Komodo dragons were introduced as part of the European Conservation Breeding Programme.

Mappin Terraces

When the Mappin Terraces opened in 1913, it was the first time that members of the public could see animals in an arctic environment. The exhibit is currently themed around the mountains of Asia and is home to sloth bears and hanuman langurs. In the past it has been home to Polar bears, Ibex, Snow Leopards and other mountain creatures.

When visitors visit the aquarium they do not realise that they are in fact walking underneath the artificial mountains and the reservoirs that hold the water for the aquarium.

Meet The Monkeys

Meet The Monkeys is a enclosure which was opened on 21 March 2005 by Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt, of The Mighty Boosh. The exhibit is open, with no roof, and no boundaries between the public and animals. Designed to recreate the Bolivian Rainforest, it holds black-capped squirrel monkeys which are part of the European Conservation Breeding Programme.

The Zoos outer boundary had to be increased to accommodate the new enclosure, encroaching into Regent's Park to the south-east.

Reptile House

The Reptile House opened in 1927 and was designed by Joan Beauchamp Proctor and Sir Edward Guy Dawber. Visitors may notice Reptiles and other animals carved by George Alexander on the front of the building.

It is currently home to various reptiles including lizards, tortoises, crocodiles and snakes, adjacent to the house is the Komodo Dragon house (see above).

Snowdon Aviary

The Snowdon Aviary was designed by Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, Cedric Price and Frank Newby, and built in 1964.

Over the years a variety of birds have been kept in the aviary from birds of prey to waterfowl. The current birds in the aviary include green peafowl, sacred ibis, little egrets, cattle egrets, night herons, waldrapp, ducks, pigeons and African grey-headed gulls.

The Snowdon Aviary was spoofed in the Scotland and The Goodies and the Beanstalk episodes of The Goodies television series.

Zoo World

Built around the Casson Pavilion, originally the old Elephant and Rhino House, Zoo World is now home to bearded pigs, bactrian camels and also provides a winter home for the pygmy hippos. Previously this house was a temporary home to monkeys and birds while the Clore Rainforest Lookout and Blackburn Pavilion was built.

Inside the house displays inform visitors about the zoo and its various conservation programs.

Others

These animals are not part of any specific exhibit: gibbons, vultures, tigers, lions, servals, parrots, spider monkeys, penguins, meerkats, otters, lemurs, aye aye and tapirs

Future developments

Plans have been announced to build a new amphibian exhibit named Frog World. This will be part of a major ZSL amphibian conservation project costing £2.2 million also including a disease-research laboratory and a captive-breeding programme.

These new developments are all part of the new masterplan to create better accessibility, which involves relocating the main entrance to the east, adjacent to the Broad Walk in Regent's Park.

Notable animals

ZSL London Zoo was home to the only living quagga ever to be photographed, along with a number of thylacines. Both species are now extinct.
Obaysch: When Obaysch arrived at ZSL London Zoo in 1850, it became the first hippopotamus to be seen in Europe since the Roman Empire, and the first in England since prehistory.
Jumbo: In 1880 the largest elephant known at the time, his name becoming an epithet for anything of large size. He unfortunately became aggressive in old age, and had to stop giving rides; he was sold to Phineas Barnum's circus, where he was hit by a train and killed.
Winnie: In 1914 the zoo was given an American Black Bear by a Canadian Lieutenant. The famous author A.A. Milne visited with his son Christopher Robin, and the boy was so enamoured with the bear Milne wrote the famous series of books for him entitled Winnie The Pooh.
Josephine: a great Indian hornbill who, for many years, was the oldest animal at the Zoo. She lived in the Bird House until her death in 1998 aged 53.
Guy the Gorilla: a lowland gorilla who lived at the Zoo from 5 November 1947 until his death in 1978 and in his later years became one of its best-loved residents.
Brumas: Brumas was the first Polar Bear to be born at the ZSL London Zoo (1949?). "He" was said to be a male, but it was later confirmed that she was in fact a female. However, the public was not informed of this "sex-change" for several months. Brumas was named after the two keepers, BRUce and SAM. Attendance at the zoo soared as a result of "his" appearance, and in his first year reached 3,000,000—a figure that has yet to be topped.
Eros: In 1950 Eros, a wild snowy owl, became lost in a storm and fell exhausted on the deck of HMS Eros off the Azores. During his life at the Zoo he had three mates and fathered 57 chicks. He died in 1993.
Chi Chi: In 1958 she became the Zoo's first Giant Panda and was one of the first Giant Pandas in a western zoo.
Goldie: A golden eagle who became a national celebrity when he escaped for two weeks in 1965, and flew around the roads and trees of Regents Park.
Human beings, Homo sapiens sapiens. An unusual four-day exhibit entitled the "Human Zoo" ran in late August 2005, with people put on display in such garments as fig leaves in the Black Bear exhibit.

Architecture at the Zoo

Since its earliest days, the zoo has prided itself on appointing leading architects to design its buildings. These include:

The Clock Tower (1828, originally built to house llamas) and the Giraffe House (1836-1837) by Decimus Burton (both Grade II listed buildings)
The Mappin Terraces (1913-1914) by Sir Peter Chalmers-Mitchell (1864-1945) and John James Joass (listed Grade II). As of 1997 it is home to Sloth Bears and Hanuman Langurs.
The Penguin Pool (1934), the Round House (built 1932-1933 to house the zoo's gorillas) (As of May 2007 Home to Lemurs and Aye-Ayes) and the North Gate Kiosk (1936) were all designed by Berthold Lubetkin's Tecton firm, with inputs on the Penguin Pool from leading structural engineer Ove Arup. The Penguin Pool and Round House are now listed Grade I, whilst the Kiosk is listed Grade II. The Penguin Pool is no longer considered suitable for penguins, so the birds have been moved to a pool else near the "Barclay Court". As of Spring 2007, Lubetkin's structure was filled with water but was home to no animals and the zoo is considering its long-term use.
The Snowdon aviary (1962-1964) (Grade II* listed), designed by Cedric Price, Lord Snowdon and Frank Newby.
The Elephant and Rhinoceros House (1962-1965) designed by Sir Hugh Casson and Neville Condor (Grade II* listed). As of Spring 2007 it is home to Bactrian Camels, Bearded Pigs and temporary housing for birds.

Filming at the Zoo

Many films and television programmes have been filmed at London Zoo:

A couple of scenes were filmed here for the ITV series Primeval. The first was a confrontation between Helen Cutter and Claudia Brown in the old elephant house. The second was a very brief scene that showed Abby Maitland with a Komodo Dragon. Although the fictional Wellington Zoo played a large role in the episode, most scenes were filmed at Whipsnade Zoo.
In the fifth series of Absolutely Fabulous, Edina and Patsy steal Saffy's new-born infant for a Jean-Paul Gaultier fashion shoot at London Zoo.
A scene from About a Boy was filmed there.
The reptile house scene from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. However in the film the inhabitant of the tank is a Burmese Python but in reality it is home to a Black Mamba.
In the final scene from Withnail and I a sad Withnail is shown standing in the pouring rain next to the former Wolf enclosure, declaiming the speech What a piece of work is a man from Hamlet; the wolves seem unimpressed.
Part of the 1985 film Turtle Diary, based on the novel by Russell Hoban and starring Ben Kingsley and Glenda Jackson, was also filmed here.
The video for the Talk Talk song It's my life was filmed at London Zoo in 1984.
A scene from the 1981 film An American Werewolf in London was filmed here, featuring the lead actor waking up naked in the wolves enclosure. Several other of the animals are also seen. You can clearly see the old caged enclosures of the tigers and apes.
A scene from the 1964 film The Pumpkin Eater with Anne Bancroft and James Mason is set here.

References

External links

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Last updated on Thursday March 13, 2008 at 16:19:59 PDT (GMT -0700)
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