Kids at London Zoo

:)
OK, I know not everyone agrees with the idea of animals being kept in cages for entertainment but I took the kids there yesterday to see how ZSL was living up to its conservation aspirations.

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. A highlight of the day must have been walking around the monkey enclosure where you are actually within the cage. The monkeys are so close you could touch them (but aren't allowed to!). They ran along ropes above the visitors and played in the trees and bushes right in front of us. Delightful - and clearly very happy monkies!

The old Penguin pool is still empty with the penguins having been decamped to an enclosure near the main restaurant and shops. The penguins were a bit quiet but there were two herons fighting over who was going to steal the fish that were entertaining.

In the kids area there was an enormous pig (called Queenie) who was making a lot of noise til the keepers came over and hosed her down to cool her off. Obviously, they do pay attention to the condition of the animals.

There was a really cute Sloth bear doing yoga moves too - holding both feet with both paws. He (or she) looked happy enough too.

My son has long wanted to see the Komodo dragon - who did not disapoint. What a huge beast! And he strutted around his large area looking truly like the king of lizards that he is. There were also two baby Komodo dragons in a separate area who looked pretty content as well.

The reptile house was full of snakes, toads, lizards and the odd (small) crododile. The Aquariam was undergoing refurbishment although there were some nice displays.

So overall it was a pretty good day. We missed the various feeding and other displays but no doubt these were good. Lots of keepers and helpers were around and everything seemed quite accessible - although we had a bit of trouble finding the ladies loos at one point.

Happy to see that the elephants and other very large mammals have been moved to Whipsnade where, presumably, they have lots more space.

And on such a lovely sunny day there weren't too many people there. It cost £40 for one adult and two kids. Not bad value.