London Zoo, also known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens is the world's oldest scientific
zoo
A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes.
The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoo ...
.
It was opened in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
on 27 April 1828,
and was originally intended to be used as a collection for
scientific study
Scientific study is a kind of study that involves scientific theory, scientific models, experiments and physical situations. It may refer to:
*Scientific method, a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, based on empirical or measurabl ...
. In 1831 or 1832, the animals of the
Tower of London menagerie were transferred to the zoo's collection. It was opened to the public in 1847.
Today, it houses a collection of 673
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of
animal
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...
s, with 19,289 individuals, making it one of the largest collections in the United Kingdom.
The zoo is sometimes called Regent's Park Zoo.
It is managed under the aegis of the
Zoological Society of London
The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained the London Zoo, and since 1931 Whipsnade Park.
History
On 29 ...
(established in 1826),
and is situated at the northern edge of
Regent's Park
Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...
, on the boundary line between the
City of Westminster and the borough of
Camden (the
Regent's Canal
Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in e ...
runs through it).
The Society also has a more spacious site at
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, formerly known as Whipsnade Wild Animal Park, is a zoo and safari park located at Whipsnade, near Dunstable in Bedfordshire, England. It is one of two zoos (the other being ZSL London Zoo in Regent's Park, London) that are ...
in
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...
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
A public aquarium (plural: ''public aquaria'' or ''public Water Zoo'') is the aquatic counterpart of a zoo, which houses living aquatic animal and plant specimens for public viewing. Most public aquariums feature tanks larger than those kept b ...
(1853),
first insect house (1881) and the first
children's zoo
A petting zoo (also called a children's zoo, children's farm, or petting farm) features a combination of List of domesticated animals, domesticated animals and some wildlife, wild species that are docile enough to touch and feed. In addition to ...
(1938).
ZSL receives no state funding and relies on 'Fellows' and 'Friends' memberships, entrance fees and sponsorship to generate income.
History
The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) was established by
Sir Stamford Raffles
Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British statesman who served as the Lieutenant-Governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816, and Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen between 1818 and 1824. He is ...
and
Sir Humphry Davy
Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet, (17 December 177829 May 1829) was a British chemist and inventor who invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He is also remembered for isolating, by using electricity, several elements for the ...
in 1826,
who obtained the land for the zoo and saw the plans before Raffles died of
apoplexy
Apoplexy () is rupture of an internal organ and the accompanying symptoms. The term formerly referred to what is now called a stroke. Nowadays, health care professionals do not use the term, but instead specify the anatomic location of the bleedi ...
(what would now be called a
stroke) later that year on 5 July – his birthday.
After his death, the
third
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (d ...
Marquis of Lansdowne
Marquess of Lansdowne is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain created in 1784, and held by the head of the Petty-Fitzmaurice family. The first Marquess served as Prime Minister of Great Britain.
Origins
This branch of the Fitzmaurice famil ...
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
The Arabian oryx (''Oryx leucoryx'') or white oryx is a medium-sized antelope with a distinct shoulder bump, long, straight horns, and a tufted tail. It is a bovid, and the smallest member of the genus ''Oryx'', native to desert and steppe areas o ...
,
greater kudu
The greater kudu (''Tragelaphus strepsiceros'') is a woodland antelope found throughout eastern and southern Africa. Despite occupying such widespread territory, they are sparsely populated in most areas due to declining habitat, deforestation, ...
s,
orangutan
Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genu ...
and the now extinct
quagga
The quagga ( or ) (''Equus quagga quagga'') is a subspecies of the plains zebra that was endemic to South Africa until it was hunted to extinction in the late 19th century. It was long thought to be a distinct species, but early genetic ...
and
thylacine
The thylacine ( , or , also ) (''Thylacinus cynocephalus'') is an extinct carnivorous marsupial that was native to the Australian mainland and the islands of Tasmania and New Guinea. The last known live animal was captured in 1930 in Tasma ...
.
The Society was granted a
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but s ...
in 1829 by
King George IV
George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten ye ...
, and in 1847 the zoo opened to the public to aid funding.
It was believed that
tropical
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in
the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...
animals could not survive outside in London's cold weather and so they were all kept indoors until 1902, when
Dr Peter Chalmers Mitchell
Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell (23 November 1864 – 2 July 1945) was a Scottish zoologist who was Secretary of the Zoological Society of London from 1903 to 1935. During this time, he directed the policy of the Zoological Gardens of London and c ...
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.
The first woman to be a curator at the London Zoo was
Evelyn Cheesman, in 1920.
In 1962, 'Caroline', an Arabian oryx, was lent to
Phoenix Zoo
The Phoenix Zoo opened in 1962 and is the largest privately owned, non-profit zoo in the United States. Located in Phoenix, Arizona, the zoo was founded by Robert Maytag, a member of the Maytag family, and operates on of land in the Papago Park ...
,
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
in the world's first international co-operative breeding programme.
Today, the zoo participates in breeding programmes for over 130 species.
In the 1980s, London Zoo housed 8,000 animals of more than 900 species, and in the 1990s the zoo possessed 7,000 animals of 850 species; the next biggest collection in Britain was
Chester Zoo
Chester Zoo is a zoo at Upton-by-Chester, Cheshire, England. Chester Zoo was opened in 1931 by George Mottershead and his family. It is one of the UK's largest zoos at . The zoo has a total land holding of approximately .
Chester Zoo is ope ...
, 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
Wombats are short-legged, muscular quadrupedal marsupials that are native to Australia. They are about in length with small, stubby tails and weigh between . All three of the extant species are members of the family Vombatidae. They are ada ...
,
Tasmanian devil or
long-nosed potoroo
The long-nosed potoroo (''Potorous tridactylus'') is a small, hopping, gerbil-like mammal native to forests and shrubland of southeastern Australia and Tasmania. A member of the rat-kangaroo family (Potoroidae), it lives alone and digs at night f ...
.
Although this vast collection was part of the zoo's appeal, it may also have been one of the main causes of its 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.
One benefit of the 'swell of public support' was the development of volunteer staff. Employed by both Education and Animal care, these volunteers give one day a week to assist the running of London Zoo and can be recognised by their red pullovers.
London Zoo during the Second World War
After the start of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, the London Zoo was closed multiple times for over a week at a time starting 11:00am on 3 September 1939, when all Zoological Places were closed by order of the Government. On 27 September 1940, high explosive bombs damaged the Rodent house, the Civet house, the gardener's office, the propagating sheds, the North Gate and the Zebra house. Later, in January 1941, the Camel House was also hit, and the aquarium could not open until May 1943 due to extensive bombings. No animals were harmed during the incidents, although a zebra, a female ass, and her foal escaped from the zoo during the bombings.
For safety reasons, all venomous animals were killed at the London Zoo. Throughout the duration of the war, wounded men were reportedly let into the London Zoo for free.
Areas and attractions
Monkey Valley
![Snowdon Aviary at London Zoo, England-16Aug2009](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Snowdon_Aviary_at_London_Zoo%2C_England-16Aug2009.jpg)
The Snowdon Aviary was designed by
Cedric Price
Cedric Price FRIBA (11 September 1934 – 10 August 2003) was an English architect and influential teacher and writer on architecture.
The son of an architect (A.G. Price, who worked with Harry Weedon), Price was born in Stone, Staffordshire ...
,
Frank Newby
Frank Newby (26 March 1926 – 10 May 2001) was one of the leading structural engineers of the 20th century, working with such architects as Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, Eero Saarinen, Cedric Price,James Gowan (architect) James Stirling, an ...
and
Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, and first built in 1964.
It was Britain's first public, walk-through aviary, and primarily housed shorebirds such as gulls and ibis. In 2021, the aviary was re-developed into a walkthrough enclosure called "Monkey Valley", which opened to the public in August 2022 and houses a troop of
eastern black and white colobus monkeys.
Land of the Lions
Land of the Lions is London Zoo's
Asiatic lion
The Asiatic lion is a population of '' Panthera leo leo'' that today survives in the wild only in India. Since the turn of the 20th century, its range has been restricted to Gir National Park and the surrounding areas in the Indian state of Gujar ...
enclosure. It covers 2,500 square metres, and is designed to resemble an Indian town on the edge of the
Gir Forest National Park
Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary, also known as Sasan Gir, is a forest, national park, and wildlife sanctuary near Talala Gir in Gujarat, India. It is located north-east of Somnath, south-east of Junagadh and south-west of Amreli. ...
, intended to demonstrate how the lion's natural habitat overlaps with local urban environments.
Hanuman langur
Gray langurs, also called Hanuman langurs and Hanuman monkeys, are Old World monkeys native to the Indian subcontinent constituting the genus ''Semnopithecus''. Traditionally only one species ''Semnopithecus entellus'' was recognized, but since a ...
s,
common dwarf mongoose
The common dwarf mongoose (''Helogale parvula'') is a mongoose species native to Angola, northern Namibia, KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, Zambia and East Africa. It is part of the genus ''Helogale'', along with the Ethiopian dwarf mongoose.
Ch ...
s and
Rüppell's vulture
Rüppell's vulture (''Gyps rueppelli''), also called Rüppell's griffon vulture, named after Eduard Rüppell, is a large bird of prey, mainly native to the Sahel region and East Africa. The current population of 22,000 is decreasing due to loss ...
s are also dislayed in this area.
Tiger Territory
Tiger Territory is London Zoo's
Sumatran tiger enclosure, designed by architect Michael Kozdon
and officially opened by the
Duke of Edinburgh in March 2013. The zoo currently owns five tigers, a male named Asim, a female named Gaysha, and their three cubs born in June 2022. The enclosure is 2,500 square metres (27,000 square feet) in size, and features authentic Indonesian plant life, as well as a net canopy of 3mm steel cable supported by four metal poles.
Reeves's muntjac
Reeves's muntjac (''Muntiacus reevesi''; ), also known as the Chinese muntjac, is a muntjac species found widely in southeastern China (from Gansu to Yunnan) and Taiwan. It has also been introduced in Europe, western United States and Japan. It ...
s,
northern white-cheeked gibbon
The northern white-cheeked gibbon (''Nomascus leucogenys'') is a Critically Endangered species of gibbon native to South East Asia. It is closely related to the southern white-cheeked gibbon (''Nomascus siki''), with which it was previously co ...
s and
babirusa
The babirusas, also called deer-pigs ( id, babi rusa), are a genus, ''Babyrousa'', in the swine family found in the Indonesian islands of Sulawesi, Togian, Sula and Buru. All members of this genus were considered part of a single species unti ...
s are also displayed in this area.
Gorilla Kingdom
Opened by the Duke of Edinburgh in March 2007, Gorilla Kingdom consists of a moated island, home to a group of
western lowland gorilla
The western lowland gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla gorilla'') is one of two Critically Endangered subspecies of the western gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla'') that lives in montane, primary and secondary forest and lowland swampland in central Afri ...
s. The zoo currently owns four gorillas: two adult females named Mjuuku and Effie, an infant female named Alika (the daughter of Mjuuku and former silverback Kumbuka) born in December 2014, and an infant male named Gernot born in November 2015. The Gorilla Kingdom area also features smaller enclosures housing
white-naped mangabeys and
Celebes crested macaque
The Celebes crested macaque (''Macaca nigra''), also known as the crested black macaque, Sulawesi crested macaque, or the black ape, is an Old World monkey that lives in the Tangkoko reserve in the northeastern tip of the Indonesian island of Su ...
s.
Into Africa
Into Africa is an
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
-themed area opened in April 2006.
Animals on display in this area include
Chapman's zebra
Chapman's zebra (''Equus quagga chapmani''), named after its describer James Chapman, is a subspecies of the plains zebra.
They, like their relatives, are native to the savannah of north-east South Africa, north to Zimbabwe, west into Botswa ...
s,
common warthog
The common warthog (''Phacochoerus africanus'') is a wild member of the pig family (Suidae) found in grassland, savanna, and woodland in sub-Saharan Africa. In the past, it was commonly treated as a subspecies of ''P. aethiopicus'', but today t ...
s,
okapi
The okapi (; ''Okapia johnstoni''), also known as the forest giraffe, Congolese giraffe, or zebra giraffe, is an artiodactyl mammal that is endemic to the northeast Democratic Republic of the Congo in central Africa. It is the only species ...
s,
Rothschild's giraffe
Rothschild's giraffe (''Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi'') is a subspecies of the Northern giraffe. It is one of the most endangered distinct populations of giraffe, with 1,399 mature individuals estimated in the wild in 2018.
Taxonomy an ...
s,
pygmy hippos and
African wild dog
The African wild dog (''Lycaon pictus''), also called the painted dog or Cape hunting dog, is a wild canine which is a native species to sub-Saharan Africa. It is the largest wild canine in Africa, and the only extant member of the genus '' Lyca ...
s. London Zoo's Giraffe House was first built in 1837, and is the world's oldest zoo building that is still used for its original purpose. The current giraffe enclosure features a high-level viewing platform to give the public face-to-face contact with the giraffes.
Rainforest Life and Night Life
Rainforest Life is a walk-through indoor exhibit that houses many species of
rainforest animals. Among the species in the main forest walk-through are
Linnaeus's two-toed sloth
Linnaeus's two-toed sloth (''Choloepus didactylus''), also known as the southern two-toed sloth, unau, or Linne's two-toed sloth is a species of sloth from South America, found in Venezuela, the Guyanas, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil north ...
s,
golden lion tamarin
The golden lion tamarin (''Leontopithecus rosalia'', pt, mico-leão-dourado , ), also known as the golden marmoset, is a small New World monkey of the family Callitrichidae. Native to the Atlantic coastal forests of Brazil, the golden lion t ...
s,
red titi monkeys,
red-faced spider monkeys,
big hairy armadillos,
Goeldi's marmoset
The Goeldi's marmoset or Goeldi's monkey (''Callimico goeldii'') is a small, South American New World monkey that lives in the upper Amazon basin region of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, and Peru. It is the only species classified in the genus ''Call ...
s,
southern tamandua
The southern tamandua (''Tamandua tetradactyla''), also called the collared anteater or lesser anteater, is a species of anteater from South America and the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean. It is a solitary animal found in many habitats, fro ...
and
Rodrigues flying fox
The Rodrigues flying fox or Rodrigues fruit bat (''Pteropus rodricensis'') is a species of bat in the family Pteropodidae, the flying foxes or fruit bats. It is endemic to Rodrigues, an island in the Indian Ocean belonging to Mauritius. Its nat ...
es. The building also has a darkened area called "Nightlife", which houses nocturnal animals such as
Mohol bushbaby
The Mohol bushbaby (''Galago moholi'') is a species of primate in the family Galagidae which is native to mesic woodlands of the southern Afrotropics. It is physically very similar to the Senegal bushbaby, and was formerly considered to be its s ...
,
slender loris
The slender lorises (''Loris'') are a genus of loris native to India and Sri Lanka. The genus comprises two species, the red slender loris found in Sri Lanka and the gray slender loris from Sri Lanka and India. Slender lorises spend most of their ...
es,
West African potto
The West African potto (''Perodicticus potto'') is a species of nocturnal strepsirrhine primate. It is found in tropical West Africa. It is also known as Bosman's potto, after Willem Bosman, who described the species in 1704. It is the type speci ...
s,
Malagasy giant rat
The Malagasy giant rat (''Hypogeomys antimena''), also known as the votsotsa or votsovotsa, is a nesomyid rodent found only in the Menabe region of Madagascar. It is an endangered species due to habitat loss, slow reproduction, and limited ra ...
s and
blind cave fish
The Mexican tetra (''Astyanax mexicanus''), also known as the blind cave fish, blind cave characin, and blind cave tetra, is a freshwater fish of the family Characidae of the order Characiformes. The type species of its genus, it is native to ...
.
The Outback
The Mappin Terraces was first opened in 1913,
and features an artificial rocky cliff made of concrete blocks for animal enrichment. This was the zoo's first major attempt at recreating natural environments, and many different species have been kept in this enclosure during its lifetime, including
bears,
penguins,
sheep
Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated ...
,
goat
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...
s and
wild boar
The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...
. The Mappin Terraces is currently an Australia-themed exhibit called "The Outback", housing
emu
The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus '' Dromaius''. The emu ...
s and
red-necked wallabies.
The Aquarium
![London Zoo 00936](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/London_Zoo_00936.jpg)
There was an
aquarium at the zoo from 1853 until 2019. The zoo's first aquarium was also the world's first public aquarium,
and was created and stocked by
Philip Henry Gosse
Philip Henry Gosse FRS (; 6 April 1810 – 23 August 1888), known to his friends as Henry, was an English naturalist and populariser of natural science, an early improver of the seawater aquarium, and a painstaking innovator in the study of ma ...
who coined the word "aquarium".
The most recent aquarium was built in 1921 next to the Mappin Terraces, and was officially opened by
King George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...
and his wife
Queen Mary in April 1924.
The aquarium was separated into three halls, each home to different types of fish and other aquatic wildlife. The first hall primarily contained freshwater species such as
rudd
''Scardinius'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae commonly called rudds. Locally, the name "rudd" without any further qualifiers is also used for individual species, particularly the common rudd (''S. erythrophthalmus''). Th ...
and
European eels, as well as some saltwater species involved in various conservation projects and captive-breeding programmes, such as
broad sea fans,
uaru
''Uaru'' is a small genus of cichlids found in blackwater and whitewater habitats in the upper Orinoco and the Amazon basin.
Etymology
The name ''Uaru'' comes from the Amazon word for toad.
Species
There are currently two recognized species in ...
s and
seahorse
A seahorse (also written ''sea-horse'' and ''sea horse'') is any of 46 species of small marine fish in the genus ''Hippocampus''. "Hippocampus" comes from the Ancient Greek (), itself from () meaning "horse" and () meaning "sea monster" or " ...
s. The second hall displayed various species of
coral reef
A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups.
C ...
fish from around the world, such as
clownfish
Clownfish or anemonefish are fishes from the subfamily Amphiprioninae in the family Pomacentridae. Thirty species of clownfish are recognized: one in the genus '' Premnas'', while the remaining are in the genus '' Amphiprion''. In the wild, t ...
,
copperband butterflyfish
The copperband butterflyfish (''Chelmon rostratus''), also known as the beaked coral fish, is found in reefs in both the Pacific and Indian Oceans. This butterflyfish is one of the three species that make up the genus ''Chelmon'' and all have lon ...
and
regal tangs, as well as real coral. The third hall housed species native to the
Amazon River, including
red-bellied piranha
The red-bellied piranha, also known as the red piranha (''Pygocentrus nattereri''), is a Type (biology), type of piranha native to South America, found in the Amazon basin, Amazon, Paraguay River, Paraguay, Paraná River, Paraná and Essequibo Ri ...
s,
angelfish,
arapaima
The arapaima, pirarucu, or paiche is any large species of bonytongue in the genus ''Arapaima'' native to the Amazon and Essequibo basins of South America. ''Arapaima'' is the type genus of the subfamily Arapaiminae within the family Osteoglossi ...
s and
ocellate river stingray
The ocellate river stingray (''Potamotrygon motoro''), also known as the peacock-eye stingray or black river stingray, is a species of freshwater stingray in the family Potamotrygonidae. It was the first species to be described in the family and ...
s. As well as the three halls, the aquarium also featured the "Big Fish Tank", which contained large fish species that were all former pets, and had to be rescued because their owners did not have the proper equipment or understanding to look after them.
The aquarium closed on 22 October 2019; some animals were moved to a new aquarium at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, while others were set to be housed in a new corals exhibit in the B.U.G.S building in 2020.
Animal Adventure
Animal Adventure (formerly called the Ambika Paul Children's Zoo) opened in 2009 and is an area aimed primarily at children, featuring playgrounds and a water fountain. It was built after a child who loved visiting the zoo with her family, Ambika Paul, passed away from cancer. Her parents donated £1,000,000 to the zoo to build a children’s zoo in her honor. Many of the animals in Animal Adventure are domestic animals, such as
llama
The llama (; ) (''Lama glama'') is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since the Pre-Columbian era.
Llamas are social animals and live with others as a herd. Their wool is soft ...
s,
alpaca
The alpaca (''Lama pacos'') is a species of South American camelid mammal. It is similar to, and often confused with, the llama. However, alpacas are often noticeably smaller than llamas. The two animals are closely related and can success ...
s, and
goat
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...
s, as well as
kunekune pigs. Exotic species on display include
Cape porcupine
The Cape porcupine (''Hystrix africaeaustralis''), Cape crested porcupine or South African porcupine, is a species of Old World porcupine native to central and southern Africa.
Description
left, 180px, head
Cape porcupines are the second large ...
s,
South American coati
The South American coati (''Nasua nasua''), also known as the ring-tailed coati, is a coati species and a member of the raccoon family (Procyonidae), found in the tropical and subtropical parts of South America. An adult generally weighs from a ...
s and
yellow mongoose
The yellow mongoose (''Cynictis penicillata''), sometimes referred to as the red meerkat, is a member of the mongoose family. It averages about in weight and about in length. It lives in open country, semi-desert scrubland and grasslands in An ...
s.
At approximately 6am on Saturday 23 December 2017, a large fire started at Animal Adventure. It was brought under control by 9:30am after spreading to the cafe/shop there, three quarters of which was estimated to have been severely damaged. A nine-year-old aardvark named Misha was pronounced dead, and four meerkats were declared unaccounted for and presumed dead. The zoo reopened on Christmas Eve.
The Reptile House
One of London Zoo's most well-known buildings, the Reptile House opened in 1927 and was designed by
Joan Beauchamp Procter and
Sir Edward Guy Dawber.
It houses several species of reptile, including
Jamaican boa,
Philippine crocodile
The Philippine crocodile (''Crocodylus mindorensis''), also known as the Mindoro crocodile, the Philippine freshwater crocodile, the ''bukarot'' in Ilocano, and more generally as a ''buwaya'' in most Filipino lowland cultures, is one of two spec ...
s,
Annam leaf turtles,
Fiji banded iguanas,
northern caiman lizards,
puff adder
The puff adder (''Bitis arietans'') is a viper species found in savannahs and grasslands from Morocco and western Arabia throughout Africa except for the Sahara and rainforest regions.U.S. Navy. 1991. ''Venomous Snakes of the World''. US Govt. ...
s,
king cobras and
emerald tree boa
The emerald tree boa (''Corallus caninus'')Mehrtens JM. 1987. ''Living Snakes of the World in Color''. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. . is a boa species found in the rainforests of South America. Since 2009 the species ''Corallus batesii ...
s. In December 2012, a refurbished amphibian section was opened to the public, displaying amphibians such as
Chinese giant salamander
The Chinese giant salamander (''Andrias davidianus'') is one of the largest salamanders and one of the largest amphibians in the world.[axolotl
The axolotl (; from nci, āxōlōtl ), ''Ambystoma mexicanum'', is a paedomorphic salamander closely related to the tiger salamander. Axolotls are unusual among amphibians in that they reach adulthood without undergoing metamorphosis. I ...]
s,
African bullfrog
The African bullfrog (''Pyxicephalus adspersus'') is a species of frog in the family Pyxicephalidae. It is also known as the pixie frog due to its scientific name. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Af ...
s,
Lake Oku clawed frogs,
White's tree frog
The Australian green tree frog (''Ranoidea caerulea''), also known as simply green tree frog in Australia, White's tree frog, or dumpy tree frog, is a species of tree frog native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in th ...
s and various types of
poison dart frog.
Giants of the Galápagos
Giants of the Galápagos was opened in 2009 to coincide with the 200th birthday of
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...
, and is home to three female
Galápagos giant tortoises named Dolly, Polly and Priscilla. The exhibit features a large indoor area, with a heated pond and
underfloor heating
Underfloor heating and cooling is a form of central heating and cooling that achieves indoor climate control for thermal comfort using hydronic or electrical heating elements embedded in a floor. Heating is achieved by conduction, radiation and ...
, while the outdoor paddock has been designed to mimic the tortoise's natural environment and features two heated pools, one of which is a naturalistic clay wallow.
The Attenborough Komodo Dragon House
![London Zoo 01050](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/London_Zoo_01050.jpg)
London Zoo's
Komodo dragon
The Komodo dragon (''Varanus komodoensis''), also known as the Komodo monitor, is a member of the monitor lizard family Varanidae that is endemic to the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, and Gili Motang. It is the largest extant ...
enclosure was opened by
Sir David Attenborough
Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural histor ...
in July 2004.
The zoo used to own two Komodo dragons, a female named Rinka and a male named Raja. Raja was filmed in his exhibit for an action sequence in the 2012
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
film ''
Skyfall
''Skyfall'' is a 2012 spy film and the twenty-third in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. The film is the third to star Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond and features Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva, the vill ...
''. A new male dragon called Ganas (one of the
parthenogenic
Parthenogenesis (; from the Greek grc, παρθένος, translit=parthénos, lit=virgin, label=none + grc, γένεσις, translit=génesis, lit=creation, label=none) is a natural form of asexual reproduction in which growth and development ...
hatchlings from
Chester Zoo
Chester Zoo is a zoo at Upton-by-Chester, Cheshire, England. Chester Zoo was opened in 1931 by George Mottershead and his family. It is one of the UK's largest zoos at . The zoo has a total land holding of approximately .
Chester Zoo is ope ...
) moved to London in 2015 after the previous dragons died. Their enclosure is designed to resemble the dragon's natural habitat of a dry river bed, and sounds of Indonesian birds are regularly played into the enclosure.
Tiny Giants
Tiny Giants, formerly called B.U.G.S.) is an exhibit featuring invertebrates and fish. It is held in a building called The Millennium Conservation Centre, and the building displays over 160 species, including
western honey bee
The western honey bee or European honey bee (''Apis mellifera'') is the most common of the 7–12 species of honey bees worldwide. The genus name ''Apis'' is Latin for "bee", and ''mellifera'' is the Latin for "honey-bearing" or "honey carrying" ...
s,
leafcutter ant
Leafcutter ants, a non-generic name, are any of 47 species of leaf-chewing ants belonging to the two genera '' Atta'' and ''Acromyrmex''.
These species of tropical, fungus-growing ants are all endemic to South and Central America, Mexico, and par ...
s,
emperor scorpion
The emperor scorpion, ''Pandinus imperator'', is a species of scorpion native to rainforests and savannas in West Africa. It is one of the largest scorpions in the world and lives for 6–8 years. Its body is black, but like other scorpions i ...
s,
golden orb weavers,
Madagascar orb weavers,
Mexican redknee tarantulas,
bird-eating spiders,
desert locust
The desert locust (''Schistocerca gregaria'') is a species of locust, a periodically swarming, short-horned grasshopper in the family Acrididae. They are found primarily in the deserts and dry areas of northern and eastern Africa, Arabia, and sou ...
s,
moon jellyfish
''Aurelia aurita'' (also called the common jellyfish, moon jellyfish, moon jelly or saucer jelly) is a species of the genus '' Aurelia''. All species in the genus are very similar, and it is difficult to identify ''Aurelia'' medusae without genet ...
,
partula snails and many others. It also features a large coral reef aquarium with corals and over 200 reef fish. The Millennium Conservation Centre aims to be environmentally friendly, constructed from materials requiring little energy to produce, and generating its heating from the body heat of both the animals and visitors. In May 2015, an exhibit called In With the Spiders opened in the exhibit as Europe's first and only spider walkthrough exhibit. It houses many different types of spiders including one of the United Kingdom's most endangered animals, the
fen raft spider
The great raft spider or fen raft spider (''Dolomedes plantarius'') is a European species of spider in the family Pisauridae. Like other ''Dolomedes'' spiders, it is semiaquatic, hunting its prey on the surface of water. It occurs mainly in neutr ...
.
as well as
golden orb weavers.
Penguin Beach
Penguin Beach opened on 26 May 2011 and 2019 and houses
Humboldt penguin
The Humboldt penguin (''Spheniscus humboldti'') is a medium-sized penguin. It resides in South America, its range mainly contains most of coastal Peru. Its nearest relatives are the African penguin, the Magellanic penguin and the Galápagos pen ...
s. Until March 2017, a single male
northern rockhopper penguin
The northern rockhopper penguin, Moseley's rockhopper penguin, or Moseley's penguin (''Eudyptes moseleyi'') is a penguin species native to the southern Indian and Atlantic Oceans. It is described as distinct from the southern rockhopper penguin.
...
named Ricky also lived here, before being moved to
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, formerly known as Whipsnade Wild Animal Park, is a zoo and safari park located at Whipsnade, near Dunstable in Bedfordshire, England. It is one of two zoos (the other being ZSL London Zoo in Regent's Park, London) that are ...
. The pool itself is currently the largest penguin pool with penguins in an English zoo. Penguin Beach is available on a public hire basis for events outside the zoo's normal opening hours.
In with the Lemurs
Opened in March 2015, In with the Lemurs is a walk-through exhibit housing a group of
ring-tailed lemurs and
Lac Aloatra bamboo lemurs. It also has a family of
aye-aye
The aye-aye (''Daubentonia madagascariensis'') is a long-fingered lemur, a strepsirrhine primate native to Madagascar with rodent-like teeth that perpetually grow and a special thin middle finger.
It is the world's largest nocturnal primate. ...
s living in the indoor section as well as
lesser hedgehog tenrec
The lesser hedgehog tenrec (''Echinops telfairi'') is a species of mammal in the family Tenrecidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Echinops'' and is named in honour of Charles Telfair. It is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitats a ...
s. The exhibit is designed to resemble a shrub forest in
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
, featuring plant life such as
loquat
The loquat (''Eriobotrya japonica'') is a large evergreen shrub or tree, grown commercially for its orange fruit and for its leaves, which are used to make herbal tea. It is also cultivated as an ornamental plant.
The loquat is in the family R ...
and
Chusan palm
''Trachycarpus fortunei'', the Chinese windmill palm, windmill palm or Chusan palm, is a species of hardy evergreen palm tree in the family Arecaceae, native to parts of China, Japan, Myanmar and India.
Description
Growing to tall, ''Trachyca ...
trees.
Meet the Monkeys
Opened by comedians
Noel Fielding
Noel Fielding (; (born 21 May 1973) is an English actor and comedian. He is best known for his work with The Mighty Boosh comedy troupe alongside Julian Barratt in the 2000s, and more recently as a co-presenter of ''The Great British Bake Off'' ...
and
Julian Barratt
Julian Barratt Pettifer (born 4 May 1968) is an English comedian, actor and musician. As a comedian and comic actor, he is known for his use of surreal humour and black comedy. During the 2000s he was part of The Mighty Boosh comedy troupe along ...
of
The Mighty Boosh
The Mighty Boosh is a British comedy troupe featuring comedians Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. Developed from three stage shows and a six-episode radio series, it has since spanned a total of 20 television episodes for BBC Three which aired ...
in 2005,
Meet the Monkeys is a walk-through enclosure that houses a troop of
black-capped squirrel monkey
The black-capped squirrel monkey (''Saimiri boliviensis'') is a species of New-World monkey native to the upper Amazon basin in Bolivia, western Brazil and eastern Peru. They weigh between 365 and 1135 grams and measure, from the head to the b ...
s. The exhibit has no roof, and there are no boundaries between the monkeys and the visitors. It is the southernmost enclosure in the zoo.
Butterfly Paradise
![London Zoo Atlas Moth](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/London_Zoo_Atlas_Moth.jpg)
Opened in May 2006, Butterfly Paradise houses several different species of butterfly and moth from around the world, as well as plant species specially selected to provide nectar and breeding areas for the insects.
Species on display include the
clipper butterfly,
blue morpho butterfly,
atlas moth
''Attacus atlas'', the Atlas moth, is a large saturniid moth endemic to the forests of Asia. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''.
Description
The Atlas moth is one of the largest ...
,
zebra longwing
''Heliconius charithonia'', the zebra longwing or zebra heliconian, is a species of butterfly belonging to the subfamily Heliconiinae of the family Nymphalidae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1767 12th edition of ''Systema Natura ...
,
glasswing butterfly and
postman butterfly.
The exhibit also features a
caterpillar hatchery and a pupa display cabinet, where visitors can witness different types of pupae and the development of new butterflies.
Bird Safari
The Bird Safari opened in 2005 as a redevelopment of the old stork and ostrich house, replacing enclosures that were out of date by modern zoo-keeping standards.
It is a walk-through exhibit housing various species of birds including
waldrapp ibises,
Abdim's stork
Abdim's stork (''Ciconia abdimii''), also known as the white-bellied stork, is a stork belonging to the family Ciconiidae. It is the smallest species of stork, feeds mostly on insects, and is found widely in open habitats in Sub-Saharan Africa a ...
s,
Fischer's turaco
Fischer's turaco (''Tauraco fischeri'') is a species of bird in the family Musophagidae. It is found in Coastal East Africa, including Kenya, Somalia, and Tanzania. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropica ...
s,
hamerkop
The hamerkop (''Scopus umbretta'') is a medium-sized wading bird. It is the only living species in the genus ''Scopus'' and the family Scopidae. The species and family was long thought to sit with the Ciconiiformes but is now placed with the ...
s,
white-faced whistling ducks and
blue-bellied rollers.
Blackburn Pavilion
The Blackburn Pavilion is a rainforest-themed tropical bird aviary that opened in March 2008, as a refurbishment of the zoo's out-of-date bird house.
The building was originally constructed in 1883, as a reptile house. The pavilion houses fifty different species of exotic birds, among which include
Socorro doves,
red-crested turaco
The red-crested turaco (''Tauraco erythrolophus'') is a turaco, a group of African Otidimorphae birds. It is a frugivorous bird endemic to western Angola. Its call sounds somewhat like a jungle monkey.
Description
The red-crested turaco weighs ...
s,
splendid sunbirds and
red-and-yellow barbets. Outside the entrance is one of the pavilion's prominent features, a large elaborate clock by
Tim Hunkin
Tim Hunkin (born Timothy Mark Trelawney Hunkin, 27 December 1950 in London) is an English engineer, cartoonist, writer, and artist living in Suffolk, England. He is best known for creating the Channel Four television series ''The Secret Life of ...
. It gives a bird-themed display every thirty minutes throughout the day.
Others
Other notable animals in London Zoo's collection include
greater flamingo
The greater flamingo (''Phoenicopterus roseus'') is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. It is found in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, and in southern Europe.
Taxonomy
The greater flamingo was desc ...
s,
Bactrian camel
The Bactrian camel (''Camelus bactrianus''), also known as the Mongolian camel or domestic Bactrian camel, is a large even-toed ungulate native to the steppes of Central Asia. It has two humps on its back, in contrast to the single-humped dro ...
s,
red river hog
The red river hog (''Potamochoerus porcus'') or bushpig (a named also used for the ''Potamochoerus larvatus''), is a wild member of the pig family living in Africa, with most of its distribution in the Guinean and Congolian forests. It is rarely ...
s,
military macaw
The military macaw (''Ara militaris'') is a large parrot and a medium-sized macaw that gets its name from its predominantly green plumage resembling a military parade uniform. It is native to forests of Mexico and South America and though conside ...
s,
hyacinth macaw
The hyacinth macaw (''Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus''), or hyacinthine macaw, is a parrot native to central and eastern South America. With a length (from the top of its head to the tip of its long pointed tail) of about one meter it is longer tha ...
s,
blue-throated macaw
The blue-throated macaw (''Ara glaucogularis''), also known as the Caninde macaw or Wagler's macaw, is a macaw endemic to a small area of north-central Bolivia, known as Los Llanos de Moxos. In 2014 this species was designated by law as a natur ...
s,
meerkats,
Asian small-clawed otters and
great white pelicans.
Future developments
The zoo plans to create better accessibility, which will involve relocating the main entrance to the east, adjacent to the Broad Walk in Regent's Park.
In November 2016,
Foster + Partners were appointed to redevelop and upgrade the Snowdon Aviary with a
colobus monkey
Black-and-white colobuses (or colobi) are Old World monkeys of the genus ''Colobus'', native to Africa. They are closely related to the red colobus monkeys of genus '' Piliocolobus''. There are five species of this monkey, and at least eight subs ...
walkthrough.
Notable past animals
![Quagga London Zoo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Quagga_London_Zoo.jpg)
Throughout its history, the zoo has had many well-known residents. These may have been scientifically important individuals or simply beloved by the public.
Old Martin
Old Martin was a large grizzly bear given in 1811, when already full-sized, to George III by the Hudson's Bay Company. The bear was sent to the Royal Menagerie, Tower of London, Royal Menagerie, housed at the Tower of London. Although this was t ...
was a large
grizzly bear, the first in Britain, moved to the zoo with many other animals from the
Royal Menagerie, Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...
when it was closed in 1832.
The zoo was home to the only living
quagga
The quagga ( or ) (''Equus quagga quagga'') is a subspecies of the plains zebra that was endemic to South Africa until it was hunted to extinction in the late 19th century. It was long thought to be a distinct species, but early genetic ...
ever to be photographed, before the species became
extinct in the wild due to hunting in
southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...
in about 1870. Another now extinct species the zoo held was a number of
thylacine
The thylacine ( , or , also ) (''Thylacinus cynocephalus'') is an extinct carnivorous marsupial that was native to the Australian mainland and the islands of Tasmania and New Guinea. The last known live animal was captured in 1930 in Tasma ...
s, or "
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
n tigers".
Obaysch
Obaysch (1849? – 11 March 1878) was the first hippopotamus seen in Great Britain since prehistory, prehistoric times, and the first in Europe since Ancient Rome. He was captured on an island on the White Nile when he was less than one year old. ...
was the first
hippopotamus
The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...
to be seen in Europe since the Roman Empire, and the first in England since prehistoric times. The hippo arrived at London Zoo in May 1850 as a gift from the
Ottoman Viceroy of Egypt in exchange for some greyhounds and deerhounds. Obaysch led to a doubling of the zoo's visitors that year.
In 1865,
Jumbo
Jumbo (about December 25, 1860 – September 15, 1885), also known as Jumbo the Elephant and Jumbo the Circus Elephant, was a 19th-century male African bush elephant born in Sudan. Jumbo was exported to Jardin des Plantes, a zoo in Paris, and t ...
, the largest
elephant
Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...
known at the time, was transferred to the zoo from
Jardin des Plantes in Paris. His name, possibly from ''Jambo'',
Swahili for ''hello'', became an epithet for anything of large size, such as
Boeing
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...
's
747 Jumbo jet
A wide-body aircraft, also known as a twin-aisle aircraft, is an airliner with a fuselage wide enough to accommodate two passenger aisles with seven or more seats abreast. The typical fuselage diameter is . In the typical wide-body economy cabin ...
. Jumbo became a crowd favourite due to his size, and would give rides to children on his back, including those of
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
. The sale of Jumbo sent the citizens of London into a panic, and 100,000 school children wrote to the Queen begging her to stop the sale. He was sold to
Phineas Barnum
Phineas Taylor Barnum (; July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus (1871–2017) with James Anthony Bailey. He was ...
's circus, the
Barnum & Bailey Circus
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (also known as the Ringling Bros. Circus, Ringling Bros., the Barnum & Bailey Circus, Barnum & Bailey, or simply Ringling) is an American traveling circus company billed as The Greatest Show on Ear ...
, in 1882, where he was later crushed by a
locomotive and killed.
Winnipeg the Bear (or Winnie) was an
American black bear given to the zoo in 1914 by a Canadian
lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...
,
Harry Colebourn.
A. A. Milne
Alan Alexander Milne (; 18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as for children's poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winni ...
visited with his son
Christopher Robin
Christopher Robin is a character created by A. A. Milne, based on his son Christopher Robin Milne. The character appears in the author's popular books of poetry and ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' stories, and has subsequently appeared in various Disney ...
, and the boy was so enamoured with the bear Milne wrote the famous series of books for him entitled ''
Winnie-the-Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard.
The first collection of stories about the character was the book ''Win ...
''.
A
2004 film ''A Bear Named Winnie'' is based on the story of Winnie the bear, with
Michael Fassbender playing Harry Colebourn.
Mo Koundje ('Mok'), a
western lowland gorilla
The western lowland gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla gorilla'') is one of two Critically Endangered subspecies of the western gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla'') that lives in montane, primary and secondary forest and lowland swampland in central Afri ...
, was purchased by the zoo in 1932. A new gorilla house was designed for him by
Berthold Lubetkin
Berthold Romanovich Lubetkin (14 December 1901 – 23 October 1990) was a Georgian-British architect who pioneered modernist design in Britain in the 1930s. His work includes the Highpoint housing complex, the Penguin Pool at London Zoo, Fins ...
. Mok died of
Bright's disease
Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine, and was frequently accompanied ...
in 1938. His skeleton and skin were purchased by
Leeds Museums and Galleries and are on display in Leeds, UK at
Leeds City Museum
Leeds City Museum, originally established in 1819, reopened in 2008 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is housed in the former Mechanics' Institute built by Cuthbert Brodrick, in Cookridge Street (now Millennium Square). It is one of nine ...
and
Leeds Discovery Centre.
Guy, a
western lowland gorilla
The western lowland gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla gorilla'') is one of two Critically Endangered subspecies of the western gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla'') that lives in montane, primary and secondary forest and lowland swampland in central Afri ...
, arrived at the zoo on
Guy Fawkes Night (hence the name) 1947 from Paris Zoo, and lived at the zoo until his death in 1978. Over his 32-year life, he became one of the zoo's best-loved residents.
After years of trying to find a mate, in 1969 five-year-old Lomie arrived from
Chessington Zoo. They were kept separated for a year to adjust to each other, until they were finally united. Although they got on well together they never produced any offspring. In 1982 Guy was commemorated by a
bronze statue in Barclay Court, sculpted by
William Timym
William Timym, (1902–1990) was an artist whose best known work is probably the ''Bleep and Booster'' cartoons for the BBC's '' Blue Peter''.
Timym (pronounced Tim) was Austrian, grew up in Vienna and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna ...
.
Dumbo (born 1948) was a female
Indian elephant
The Indian elephant (''Elephas maximus indicus'') is one of four extant recognised subspecies of the Asian elephant and native to mainland Asia.
Since 1986, the Asian elephant has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List as the wild pop ...
who lived at London Zoo during the 1950s and was well known for her fondness for sweets. Her parents were killed by hunters, and she was transported from India to England by air, where she spent her adult life giving rides to the children. Dumbo was named after the
eponymous Disney character because she was the first elephant to travel by airplane. In 1958 she was transferred to
Moscow Zoo
The Moscow Zoo or Moskovsky Zoopark (russian: Московский зоопарк) is a zoo founded in 1864 by professor-biologists, K.F. Rulje, S.A. Usov and A.P. Bogdanov, from the Moscow State University. In 1919, the zoo was nationalized. In ...
in return for four endangered
snow leopard
The snow leopard (''Panthera uncia''), also known as the ounce, is a felid in the genus '' Panthera'' native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because the global population is es ...
s. At some point between 1962 and 1971, Dumbo was acquired by circus performer
Dolly Jacobs, but by 1978 she had been sold to Hollywood circus producer Paul V. Kaye and was living in California with three other elephants.
On 27 November 1949,
Brumas became the first
polar bear to be successfully bred at the zoo, and immediately became a major attraction with the public. This led to the zoo's annual attendance to rise to over 3 million in 1950 - a figure that has yet to be topped. Although a female, the press reported that she was a 'he' and this was not corrected at the time, leading the public to believe the bear was a male.
Eighteen years later, on 1 December 1967 the second polar bear bred at the zoo, this time a male, was born. He was named
Pipaluk (a
Greenlandic Inuit
Greenlanders ( kl, Kalaallit / Tunumiit / Inughuit; da, Grønlændere) are people identified with Greenland or the indigenous people, the Greenlandic Inuit (''Grønlansk Inuit''; Kalaallit, Inughuit, and Tunumiit). This connection may be r ...
feminine given name meaning ''little one'' or ''sweet little thing'') but, in 1985, had to leave the zoo when the Mappin Terraces closed.
One of the zoo's most famous
giant pandas,
Chi Chi, arrived in 1958. Although originally destined for an American zoo,
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
had ceased all trade with
communist China and so Chi Chi was refused entry to the United States. In the interests of conservation, ZSL had stated they would not encourage the collection of wild pandas. However, when it was pointed out that Chi Chi had already been collected, her purchase was approved, and she immediately become the star attraction at London Zoo. As the only giant panda in the west she was the inspiration of
Peter Scott
Sir Peter Markham Scott, (14 September 1909 – 29 August 1989) was a British ornithologist, conservationist, painter, naval officer, broadcaster and sportsman. The only child of Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott, he took an interest i ...
's design for the
World Wildlife Fund
The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wo ...
logo.
In July 1972, Chi Chi died and was publicly mourned.
The zoo's last giant panda was Ming Ming. She arrived in 1991 on a breeding loan from China. After unsuccessful breeding attempts with Berlin's Zoo giant panda Bao Bao it had been decided to return Ming Ming to China, leaving the London Zoo without a giant panda since the end of October 1994. Zoo staff later suggested that Chinese zookeepers knew that she was infertile and lent her in order to hide how much more advanced Western husbandry techniques were compared to theirs.
On 31 January 1996 Turgi, who was the last ''
Partula turgida'', died in his habitat.
For four days in late August 2005, the zoo ran an exhibit entitled the
Human zoo
Human zoos, also known as ethnological expositions, were public displays of people, usually in a so-called "natural" or "primitive" state. They were most prominent during the 19th and 20th centuries. These displays sometimes emphasized the sup ...
, which put eight
human
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, cultu ...
s on display in the Mappin Terraces. The idea behind the exhibit was to demonstrate the basic nature of man as an animal and examine the impact we have on the animal kingdom.
Architecture
![Penguin Pool, London Zoo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Penguin_Pool%2C_London_Zoo.JPG)
Since its earliest days, the zoo has prided itself on appointing leading
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
s to design its buildings. Today, it holds two Grade I and eight Grade II
listed structures.
The initial grounds were laid out in 1828 by
Decimus Burton, the zoo's first official architect from 1826 to 1841, made famous for his work on the
London Colosseum
The London Colosseum was a building to the east of Regent's Park, London. It was built in 1827 to exhibit Thomas Hornor's "Panoramic view of London", the largest painting ever created.
The design of the Colosseum was inspired by the Pantheon ...
and
Marble Arch
The Marble Arch is a 19th-century white marble-faced triumphal arch in London, England. The structure was designed by John Nash in 1827 to be the state entrance to the cour d'honneur of Buckingham Palace; it stood near the site of what is toda ...
.
Burton's work began with the Clock Tower in 1828 above what was then the llama house, which today is the first aid kiosk.
In 1830 the East Tunnel, which linked the north and south parts of the zoo together for the first time, was completed, which also acted as a bomb shelter during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
.
Burton concluded his work in 1837 with the Giraffe House, which, due to its functional design, still remains in use as the zoo's giraffe enclosure in the ''Into Africa'' exhibit.
After Burton,
Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell
Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell (23 November 1864 – 2 July 1945) was a Scottish zoologist who was Secretary of the Zoological Society of London from 1903 to 1935. During this time, he directed the policy of the Zoological Gardens of London and c ...
and
John James Joass
John James Joass (1868 – 10 May 1952) was a Scottish architect, born in Dingwall, Scotland. His father William Cumming Joass was an established architect in that town.
The son was given basic training with his father, and then in 1885 arti ...
were appointed to design the Mappin Terraces. Completed in 1914, the Mappin Terraces imitates a mountain landscape to provide a naturalistic habitat for bears and other mountain wildlife. In 1933 the Round House, designed by
Berthold Lubetkin
Berthold Romanovich Lubetkin (14 December 1901 – 23 October 1990) was a Georgian-British architect who pioneered modernist design in Britain in the 1930s. His work includes the Highpoint housing complex, the Penguin Pool at London Zoo, Fins ...
's
Tecton Architectural Group to house gorillas, was one of the first
modernist
Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
style buildings to be built in Britain. The following year the
Penguin Pool also designed by Tecton, was opened; both now grade I listed.
The Modernist dual concrete spiral ramps of the Penguin Pool have made it famous as a piece of modern architecture, but in 2004 the
African penguins were moved out of the pool permanently following 'bumblefoot' infections in the birds caused by micro-abrasions from walking on the concrete.
The Snowdon Aviary, built-in 1964 by
Cedric Price
Cedric Price FRIBA (11 September 1934 – 10 August 2003) was an English architect and influential teacher and writer on architecture.
The son of an architect (A.G. Price, who worked with Harry Weedon), Price was born in Stone, Staffordshire ...
,
Lord Snowdon
Antony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, (7 March 1930 – 13 January 2017), was a British photographer and filmmaker. He is best known for his portraits of world notables, many of them published in ''Vogue'', ''Vanity Fai ...
and
Frank Newby
Frank Newby (26 March 1926 – 10 May 2001) was one of the leading structural engineers of the 20th century, working with such architects as Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, Eero Saarinen, Cedric Price,James Gowan (architect) James Stirling, an ...
, made pioneering use of
aluminium
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...
and
tension
Tension may refer to:
Science
* Psychological stress
* Tension (physics), a force related to the stretching of an object (the opposite of compression)
* Tension (geology), a stress which stretches rocks in two opposite directions
* Voltage or el ...
for support. A year later the Casson Pavilion, designed by Sir
Hugh Casson
Sir Hugh Maxwell Casson (23 May 1910 – 15 August 1999) was a British architect. He was also active as an interior designer, as an artist, and as a writer and broadcaster on twentieth-century design. He was the director of architecture for t ...
and Neville Conder, was opened as an elephant and rhinoceros house.
The Pavilion was commissioned "to display these massive animals in the most dramatic way" and designed to evoke a herd of elephants gathered around a watering hole.
Many of these buildings are available on a private hire basis for events, as well as a number of the animal houses. The profits from use of spaces at the zoo are re-invested directly back into the society.
In popular culture
In film and television
Many films and television programmes have made use of London Zoo as a film set.
* The Zoo and its Aquarium appear in Hitchcock's 1936 film
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...
.
* In 1947,
Carol Reed
Sir Carol Reed (30 December 1906 – 25 April 1976) was an English film director and producer, best known for '' Odd Man Out'' (1947), '' The Fallen Idol'' (1948), ''The Third Man'' (1949), and ''Oliver!'' (1968), for which he was awarded the ...
took his film crew and actors
Ralph Richardson,
Michèle Morgan
Michèle Morgan (; née Simone Renée Roussel; 29 February 1920 – 20 December 2016) was a French film actress, who was a leading lady for three decades in both French cinema and Hollywood features. She is considered to have been one of the g ...
and
Bobby Henrey
Robert Henrey (born 26 June 1939) is an Anglo-French former child actor best known for his role as the son of the French ambassador to London in the classic 1948 English film '' The Fallen Idol'', directed by Carol Reed.
Personal
Henrey was the ...
to London Zoo to film location scenes there for ''
The Fallen Idol'' (released in 1948). Scenes were filmed inside the lion house and the reptile house and on the Mappin Terraces. Today, the scenes give an historic view of what the zoo looked like in the immediate post war years.
* A scene from the film ''
The Pumpkin Eater
''The Pumpkin Eater'' is a 1964 British drama film starring Anne Bancroft as an unusually fertile woman and Peter Finch as her philandering husband. The film was adapted by Harold Pinter from the 1962 novel of the same title by Penelope Mortim ...
'' (1964) with
Anne Bancroft
Anne Bancroft (born Anna Maria Louisa Italiano; September 17, 1931 – June 6, 2005) was an American actress. Respected for her acting prowess and versatility, Bancroft received an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two ...
and
James Mason was also set at the zoo.
* In 1967, part of
Dudley Moore
Dudley Stuart John Moore CBE (19 April 193527 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. Moore first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writ ...
and
Peter Cook
Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English actor, comedian, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishme ...
's movie
Bedazzled was filmed at the zoo.
* The opening sequence for series 3 and 4 of the 1973 ITV/Thames television show ''Man About The House'' was filmed in the London Zoological Gardens.
* During ''
An American Werewolf in London'' (1981), the lead character David Kessler (played by
David Naughton
David Walsh Naughton (born February 13, 1951) is an American actor and singer known for his starring roles in the horror film '' An American Werewolf in London'' (1981) and the Disney comedy '' Midnight Madness'' (1980), as well as for a long-run ...
) woke up naked in the wolves' enclosure. Several other animals are also seen and one can clearly see the old caged enclosures of the tigers and apes.
* Part of the film ''
Turtle Diary
''Turtle Diary'' is a 1985 British film directed by John Irvin and starring Glenda Jackson, Ben Kingsley, and Michael Gambon. Based on a screenplay adapted by Harold Pinter from Russell Hoban's novel ''Turtle Diary'', the film is about "peop ...
'' (1985), based on the novel by
Russell Hoban
Russell Conwell Hoban (February 4, 1925 – December 13, 2011) was an American expatriate writer. His works span many genres, including fantasy, science fiction, mainstream fiction, magical realism, poetry, and children's books.
He lived in ...
and starring
Ben Kingsley
Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning five decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and tw ...
and
Glenda Jackson
Glenda May Jackson (born 9 May 1936) is an English actress and former Member of Parliament (MP). She has won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice: for her role as Gudrun Brangwen in the romantic drama ''Women in Love'' (1970); and again for ...
, was also filmed here; the film follows a plan to help two of the turtles escape from the zoo.
* In the final scene from the film ''
Withnail and I
''Withnail and I'' is a 1987 British black comedy film written and directed by Bruce Robinson. Loosely based on Robinson's life in London in the late 1960s, the plot follows two unemployed actors, Withnail and "I" (portrayed by Richard E. Gran ...
'' (1987), 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
"What a piece of work is a man!" is a phrase within a monologue by Prince Hamlet in William Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet''. Hamlet is reflecting, at first admiringly, and then despairingly, on the human condition.
The speech
The monologue, spoken ...
from ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
''.
* In the Disney remake ''
101 Dalmatians'' (1996), the main villain
Cruella DeVil (played by
Glenn Close
Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. Throughout her career spanning over four decades, Close has garnered numerous accolades, including two Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards ...
) kills a white tiger from the London Zoo for its fur.
* In 2000,
the
Burmese python scene from the film ''
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' is a 1997 fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. The first novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series and Rowling's debut novel, it follows Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, a youn ...
'' (2001) was filmed at the zoo's Reptile House. In reality, the tank shown is typically home to smaller reptile species. A
plaque
Plaque may refer to:
Commemorations or awards
* Commemorative plaque, a plate or tablet fixed to a wall to mark an event, person, etc.
* Memorial Plaque (medallion), issued to next-of-kin of dead British military personnel after World War I
* Pl ...
beside the enclosure commemorates the event.
See also
* ''
''
References
Further reading
*
Wilfrid Blunt
Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (17 August 1840 – 10 September 1922), sometimes spelt Wilfred, was an English poet and writer. He and his wife Lady Anne Blunt travelled in the Middle East and were instrumental in preserving the Arabian horse bloodline ...
, ''The Ark in the Park: The Zoo in the Nineteenth Century'' (Hamish Hamilton, 1976).
External links
London ZooArticle and film about the London Zoo(archived 12 May 2019)
Zoo Village
{{authority control
1828 establishments in England
Aviaries
Buildings and structures in Regent's Park
Cultural and educational buildings in London
Grade I listed buildings in the City of Westminster
Grade I listed zoo buildings
Grade II* listed buildings in the City of Westminster
Grade II listed buildings in the City of Westminster
Regent's Park
Decimus Burton buildings
Tourist attractions in London
Tourist attractions in the City of Westminster
Zoological Society of London
Zoos established in 1828
Zoos in England
1828 in London