Thursday, March 30, 2017

London Zoo Part II: Happy Families, Into Africa, and Birds

Near the Rainforest Life/Nightlife building at the London Zoo is a section known as "Happy Families", probably because the species that it exhibits are all gregarious.

This is an Alaotran bamboo lemur. Despite being a bamboo lemur, it feeds mainly on reeds rather than bamboo. In the wild it has an extremely restricted distribution even for a lemur, only found around parts of Lake Alaotra.

Some Asian small-clawed otters. Though this species is ubiquitous in zoos (to the fatigue of some regular zoogoers), they were so cooperative during my visit that I couldn't help but snap a few photos.

Their exhibit is quite well-decorated, too.

Also in the same general area of the zoo is Into Africa, essentially the obligatory spotlight on charismatic African megafauna. To its credit, there are a few relatively rarely-seen species on display, such as this okapi.

Additionally, spot the red forest duiker!

Naturally, however, I was most interested in seeing the zoo's bird collection, so I headed to the northern edge of the zoo where there several species are exhibited. Unfortunately, due to recent reports of avian influenza in Europe, the zoo's walkthrough aviaries (of which there are several) were closed during my visit. Regardless, I was able to photograph this green peafowl from outside one of the aviaries.

A tawny frogmouth, which resembles a broken tree branch when at rest and a Muppet when wide awake.

An Edwards's pheasant.

Some northern white-faced owls, which have gained some fame as the "transformer owl".

In fact, here is one in its "camouflage pose".

Some northern red bishops, a type of weaverbird.

14 comments:

  1. What is your most exotic animals you've seen from A to Z? mine are:
    Aardvark
    Bintoroung
    Cusimanse
    Degu
    Echidna
    Figure 8 Pufferfish
    Gazelle
    Hyacinth Macaw
    Ibex
    Jird
    Kirk Dik Dik
    Langur
    Mara
    Night Heron
    Oryx
    Potto
    Quoll
    Rattlesnake
    Skunk
    Tragopan
    Upside Down Jelly
    Vietnamese Spotted Deer
    Wallaby (swamp wallaby)
    Xenopus
    Yak
    Zebu

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    Replies
    1. I've been to so many zoos and seen so many animals now; I probably couldn't remember my most exotic sighting for each letter off the top of my head!

      Delete
    2. Now I'll tell you where they all were found.
      Aardvark were at London Zoo.

      Binturong at various places, But I remember at Cotswold and Edinburgh.
      Cusimanse and Echidna were at Paignton Zoo.
      Degu were at a pet shop where we went to photograph a chinchilla!
      Figure 8 Pufferfish also at Edinburgh.
      Gazelle were at Marwell and Tel Aviv Safari.
      Hycainth Macaw, also were seen various zones.
      Ibex were at Jerusalem Biblical Zoo.
      Jird also at Cotswold, both 2015 and '17 trips, with K, Kirk's Dik Dik also here, but only on the 2017 trip.
      Langur also remain unphotographed, but this time London Zoo.
      Mara at Bristol Zoo.
      Night Heron at Tel Aviv Safari.
      Oryx I saw at Tel Aviv Safari also and Marwell Zoo. Once this year at Marwell Zoo I saw two Oryx species in one day; Arabian and Scimitar Horned.
      Ps and Qs were seen in similar places, both in nocturnal houses. Pottos however, were at London, whilst Quolls, however were at Bristol. Rattlesnake were at Bristol's Nocturnal House ad well!
      For Skunks, a single striped skunk was seen at Crocodiles of the World. For him attend the 12:20 talk about skunks.
      Tragopan were at Cotswolds Wildlife park and at the left of them was the beautiful Himalayan Monal!
      Upside Down Jelly were at Chessington World of Adventures.
      For V and W search Edinburgh, were near each other the day I went.
      For X Xenopus Laevis is an African Species of Frog, and an unfrequent zoo appearer. As I said on the Ueno Zoo small mammal house post, I've seen them at Jerusalem Biblical Zoo.
      I have seen Yak at Riga Zoo and (maybe) Whipsnade Zoo as well.
      Zebu were at Beale Park.

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  2. OK, just list animals you've seen from A to Z, don't need to be exotic, can be if you want.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tried to avoid using the same examples as yours:
      Aye-aye
      Bee-eater
      Cuban crocodile
      Duiker
      Electric eel
      Flying frog
      Gray fox
      Hedgehog tenrec
      Inca dove
      Japanese giant salamander
      Kiwi
      Leopard cat
      Matamata
      Nutria
      Oropendola
      Prevost's squirrel
      Quail
      Rakali
      Sengi
      Tinamou
      Unicorn fish
      Vampire bat
      Wombat
      Xiphophorus
      Yellow mongoose
      Zebra shark

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  3. Animals seen in blog:
    A: Bristol Zoo I and Ueno IV
    B: N/A
    C: National Redux VI
    D: London II and Maryland Zoo
    E: Shanghai Aquarium
    F: London V
    G: Arizona Sonora Desert Museum
    H: National Zoo VII
    I: Also Arizona Sonora Desert Museum (that's a long name!)
    J: Ueno V
    K: Bronx III
    L: Taipei I
    M: San Diego I and Vancouver
    N: N/A (again!)
    O: National Zoo redux II
    P: National Zoo redux VII
    Q: Ueno Zoo III
    R: London Zoo I
    S: National Zoo (the one with no redux, no number, just National Zoo)
    T: also National Zoo
    U: N/A (How many animals are/aren't represented here?)
    V: Gonna faint of N/As..
    W: */*
    X: Remember a science show I remember but can't remember the name of? well..
    YOURE GONNA MAKE MY HEAD EXPLODE!!
    Y: Bristol I
    Z: Baltimore Aquarium

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    Replies
    1. Wow, I'm surprised you went back to find them all!

      I saw bee-eaters at the San Diego Wild Animal Park (now called the San Diego Zoo Safari Park), on a trip before I started this blog.
      Nutria were at the Audubon Zoo (another pre-blog trip) and I've also seen them at the Taipei Zoo (but didn't get pictures, evidently).
      Unicorn fish I've seen at various places, but one I remember is the Vancouver Aquarium (no photos).
      Vampire bats were at the Woodland Park Zoo (also pre-blog) and maybe some other places, too.
      Wombats were at the San Diego Zoo (but I didn't get photos).
      I cheated a little with the X. Xiphophorus is the genus of swordtails and platies, some of which are very common aquarium fish. I've even kept a few myself.

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    2. Oops; with X you got me confused with Xiphosura, the genus of horseshoe crabs.

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    3. Ha, I could have used that one as well. I've seen them at the Osaka Aquarium, among other places.

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  4. I also have taken at Cotswold Wildlife Park a picture of three (awake!) Tawny Frogmouth..
    http://www.matthewsanimals.co.uk/media/IMG_3428.JPG

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  5. In the same day a picture was taken of a..
    M**ag**y G*a*t Ju*ping *at..
    http://www.matthewsanimals.co.uk/media/IMG_3533.JPG

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  6. In a zoo, would you rather the Temminck's Tragopan in the India or China exhibit? Where do they have a larger range? Also the India exhibit will include a rhino, but should the rhino have another rhino or is it okay to have one on its own? They are in separate enclosures!

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    Replies
    1. Temminck's tragopans have a larger range in China than in India.

      I'm not an expert in keeping rhinos in captivity, but my understanding is that Indian rhinos are generally solitary as adults, so they'd likely be okay living on their own. Younger individuals may form social groups, however.

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