London Zoo

View from Primrose Hill

London Zoo (London Zoo) is the first zoo, who led the designation Zoologischer Garten and thus referred to the scientific orientation of the institution. He currently is home to 18,499 animals from 752 species and an ant colony with about 10,000 ants.

It lies at the northern end of Regent's Park in London, Regent's Canal divides the system as well as the Outer Circle Ring Road. The operating company Zoological Society of London also still has the Whipsnade Wild Animal Park in Bedfordshire, where the larger animals such as elephants and rhinos are housed.

History

The zoo was opened in 1828 as a collection of animals for scientific studies and was initially available only to members of the Zoological Society accessible. For the public, it was opened in 1847.

London Zoo was the first reptile house in 1849, the first aquarium in 1853, the first insect house in 1881 and the first children's zoo in 1938.

Architecture

From the outset, leading architects have worked for the architecture of its buildings:

• The Clock Tower ( built in 1828 for llamas ) and the Giraffe House ( 1836-1837 ), designed by Decimus Burton,
• The Mappin Terraces (1913-1914) designed by Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell and John James Joass,
• The Reptile House (1927 ) was designed by Joan Beauchamp Procter and Guy Dawber.
• The Penguin Pool (1934 ), the Roundhouse ( 1932-1933 ) for the gorillas and the North Gate Kiosk ( 1936) were designed by Berthold Lubetkin,
• The aviary aviary Snowdon (1962-1964) was and Lord Snowdon, Cedric Price and Frank Newby
• Designed the former elephant and rhinoceros house (1962-1965) by Sir Hugh Casson and Neville Conder

Famous Animals

The Egyptian Hippo Obaysch was from his arrival in 1850 until his death in 1878 an attraction that attracted up to 10,000 visitors daily temporarily to the zoo. The elephant Jumbo was in 1865, also an attraction of the zoo; especially by the extraordinary attention that the press dedicated to the elephant next to the audience, the sale of the animal showman PT Barnum in the U.S. to a national scandal.

In 1870, a quagga lived in the London Zoo. The quagga is an extinct subspecies of the plains zebra now.

The black bear Winnie came in 1914 as a gift from a Canadian officer in the zoo. The author Alan Alexander Milne animated a zoo visit to his stories about Winnie the Pooh.

Facilities and buildings

In Blackburn Pavilion is a tropical free -flight aviary. The Butterfly Paradise shows butterflies in all stages of development from many regions of the world including Africa, Southeast Asia and Central and South America. In the complex Asian Asian big cats lions and Sumatran tigers are seen. The exhibition Giants of the Galapagos shows three giant Galápagos tortoises. In the Gorilla Kingdom four western lowland gorillas, as well as monitor lizards and mangabeys can be observed.

The aquarium is divided into three halls: The first hall contains fish from conservation projects, the second focuses on the topic of coral reef and the third is the habitat of the Amazon.

Actions

From 26 to 29 August 2005, the zoo was home to eight people in a special exhibition in the bear enclosure as a particular species. The action was designed to demonstrate membership of man with the animal world and show that its distribution is a particular scourge for the other species.