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'ZSL London Zoo' is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London in 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 more than 651 species of animals.
It is managed under the auspices 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).
The zoo is currently (2007) 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. For example, in 2005 the African Bird Safari and Meet The Monkeys walkthroughs opened and then in 2006 the new "Into Africa" and "Butterfly Paradise" exhibits opened, while at Easter 2007 the Duke of Edinburgh officially opened the new "Gorilla Kingdom" and "Clore Rainforest Lookout" a walkthrough rainforest replacing the small mammals building. ^[3]
In Easter 2008 the Bird House will reopen as a tropical rainforest, home to a variety of birds.
The closest London Underground stations are Camden Town and Chalk Farm.

Contents

Zoo Architecture

Stars of the Past

Filming at the Zoo

Notes and references

External links

Zoo Architecture

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 elsewhere in the zoo, near "Barcley Court". As of Spring 2007, Lubetkin's structure was filled with water but was home to no animals, at the moment the zoo is considering its long-term use.

★ The Snowdon aviary (1962-1964) (Grade II
★ listed).

★ 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

Stars of the Past

★ ZSL London Zoo was home to the only living quagga ever to be photographed, along with a number of thylacine. 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.

★ 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 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.^[4][5]

Filming at the Zoo

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

★ A scene from the 1964 film ''The Pumpkin Eater'' with Anne Bancroft and James Mason is set here.

★ 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.

★ 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 ''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.

★ 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.

★ 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.

Notes and references

1. ZSL Corporate and Private Events
2. ZSL Animal Inventory 31/12/2006
3. BBC News story
4. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4184466.stm
5. http://www.zsl.org/london-zoo/whats-on/the-human-zoo,94,EV.html

External links

★ London Zoo Website

★ London Zoo in the 19th C.

★ Michael Pead :: Photos of London Zoo

★ Google Maps

★ 360 Panorama outside London Zoo