Tags: #LondonZoo #SummerOuting #social
Banner Image credit: Ryan Prince Art.
On Sunday 16 July, we went on our first group social visit to ZSL London Zoo and we were quite fortunate to have good weather throughout our 4 hour visit, except for very light showers right at the end of the day. We were keen for our VI’s, family and companions to have a memorable and fun day out, exploring some of the animal enclosures and visitor areas throughout the zoo. We also had the opportunity to check out some of the facilities including the shops, Amphitheatre and the Terrace Restaurant.
Image: A view of the Penguin Beach.
Image credit: MaMoMi.
ZSL London Zoo
The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) was founded in 1826 and is an international scientific, conservation and educational charity whose mission is to promote and achieve the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. Their groundbreaking science and active conservation projects are now in more than 50 countries and their two Zoos, ZSL London Zoo and ZSL Whipsnade Zoo.
Our Visit
From visiting the Land of the Lions, birds in the Snowdon Aviary, the giraffes in Into Africa, the Tiger Territory, Gorilla Kingdom, the Penguin Beach and a walk-through of the tropical birds enclosure that is called the Blackburn Pavilion, the zoo provided an intriguing space and ideal location for a group social visit. With over 20,166 animals (the official figure from 1st of January 2017) at ZSL London Zoo, there was a lot to view, experience, enjoy, have lots of conversations around and learn from.
Images, clockwise from top: Andrew giving a little intro on entry to the zoo; Lynn and Victoria have a chat; a view of the Tiger Territory through the protective glass; Camels feeding; the group listening to the Macaws as they are being fed; Devaki and our support team and family all stroking the goats in the Touch Zone; and Ramona and Jean with support team.
Image credit: Ryan Prince Art.
Admittedly, we did not expect to see all the animals but the time spent was just about right for us as we weaved around and negotiated so many outdoor spaces and indoor animal enclosures. It was an even more enjoyable day as the weather in London was quite nice, with only a few minutes of light drizzles observed near the end of our visit.
Access
It was great to see that the zoo had a lot of accessible areas, with places like the Land of the Lions and the Tiger Territory wheelchair friendly and with lifts. We also noted that walking around was quite easy with most of the paths made with tarmac. There were also several disabled toilets located around the zoo, and for our pitstop for lunch, we chose to use the toilets by the Terrace Restaurant.
There was a limited number of wheelchairs available for hire which can be booked in advance. Understandably, the zoo has a number of listed buildings like the penguin pool, which restricts the upgrade needed to make it physically accessible to wheelchair users and children.
Assistance dogs are not currently permitted inside ZSL London Zoo because some of their animals react negatively to the presence of dogs. The Zoo is working with Guide Dogs UK to resolve this and hope to be able to welcome guide dogs to certain areas of the zoo in the future.
Finally
This was an incredibly fun day and we’d recommend ZSL London Zoo as a viable place to visit. We shall be planning more group visits in the future, with a focus on specific animals, enclosures and sensory experiences.
Images: On the left are Jean and her companion; on the right is a group photograph with all VI’s, family, companions and MaMoMi support team.
Image credit: Ryan Prince Art.
Thank you to the staff at ZSL London Zoo, with a special mention of the Discovery and Learning department, and the Press Office.
Image: The group walking into the Tiger Territory
Image credit: Ryan Prince Art
Andrew Mashigo
MaMoMi
MaMoMi Initiative 