APRIL 2016

COMMUNITYNEWSLETTER

Dear neighbour,

ZSL LONDON ZOO’S most majestic residents were given a Royal welcome on Thursday 17 March – when our brand new Asiatic lion exhibit Land of the Lions

was officially opened by HM The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.Lionesses Indi, Rubi and Heidi even showed their respect for our Royal guests – coming to within a whisker of Her Majesty and His Royal Highness in the exhibit’s stunning 360⁰ Temple Clearing.ZSL Director General Ralph Armond said: “We were delighted to welcome Her Majesty and His Royal Highness to ZSL London Zoo to open our new Land of the Lions exhibit. Her Majesty actually opened our previous lion enclosure 40 years ago and it was an honour to have her return with HRH The

Duke in the year of her 90th birthday.” Her Majesty has been patron of international conservation charity the Zoological Society of London, which runs ZSL London Zoo and ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, for as long as she has been the reigning monarch. Land of the Lions is ZSL London Zoo’s biggest and most breath-taking project-to-date. Incorporating ZSL’s decades of animal expertise it provides the ideal new home for the Asiatic lions, which will play a vital role in the European breeding programme for the endangered species – of which only 500 remain in the wild.

IT’S BEEN a busy year at ZSL so far for local matters affecting community life. In light of this, we’ve put together a one-off residents’ newsletter to make sure you are up to date with ZSL London Zoo’s plans and positions on a variety of local matters.From HS2 and CS11 to our summer events schedule and plans for the Zoo’s much-loved Snowdon Aviary, we wanted to make sure you are kept in the know on the matters that concern you most. Summer is almost here and London is in full bloom. It’s the perfect time to enjoy everything the local area has to offer and we hope to welcome you to ZSL London Zoo very soon.

Rich StortonDirector of Communications, ZSLrichstortoncomms@zsl.org

Heidi the lioness greets HM The Queen and HRHThe Duke of Edinburgh as they open Land of the Lions.

HM The Queen opens new Land of the Lions exhibit

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

IN MARCH, ZSL officially registered our opposition to Transport for London’s proposed Cycle Superhighway 11. Our concern is that CS11 may impede access to ZSL London Zoo for visitors who need access by car. This could affect our ability to inspire people to support animal conservation and cause a substantial loss in income – affecting

our charitable conservation activities.  Our response to the consultation does not mean that ZSL objects to the wider purposes of the proposed scheme in terms of achieving environmental and traffic safety improvements for local residents and visitors to the Regent’s Park area. On the contrary, ZSL encourages its visitors to travel to ZSL London Zoo in a variety of ways including by bike and public transport. ZSL is keen to work with TFL to explore our concerns and we have attended several of the Regent’s Park stakeholder meetings organised by TFL. We have invited TFL to consult with us on assessing the impacts and exploring measures that could be taken to mitigate them.

LAST YEAR we submitted a petition to the House of Commons against HS2’s use of ZSL London Zoo’s main visitor car park as a holding base for their construction lorries and vehicles during the build of the high speed line.The initial bid we received from HS2 was to use a small area of the car park, which we did not contest on the basis that we felt we could mitigate the impact.Since receiving notice of the initial bid, ZSL has worked extensively with the Royal Parks Foundation on the Hedgehog Survey in Regent’s Park.As well as Regent’s Park being home to the last remaining population of hedgehogs living in central London, the survey highlighted that there is a significant population

of hedgehogs living and breeding in the Zoo’s car park, that are well-maintained and healthy.It is of paramount importance that they remain so. We believe that any change to the car park would be devastating to the hedgehog population and feel that the best solution would be to source an alternative location for the lorry park.HS2 ecologists believe that mitigating measures can be put in place to protect the hedgehogs. ZSL does not accept this and has challenged the ecologists to demonstrate their position. We have invited them to meet with ZSL in May to show the effectiveness of any proposed measures.As this point, ZSL is following formal procedures to resolve the situation, before considering next steps.

Cycle superhighway – our position

ZSL LONDON ZOO was granted a new premises licence last year.We are applying to Westminster Council for some minor amendments to the premise licence. We are not seeking to extend the hours or capacity of our current licence so please be assured the local community will not be affected.The amendments will simply add five existing structures to the license. These are existing refreshment outlets which have had a makeover since last year’s

application and have been renamed – such as our ‘Sblended’ milkshake shop, which is now the ‘Beach Hut’. We also want to amend some wording to the license to ensure it accurately covers our popular annual Streak for Tigers. The Streak is a fund raising activity and we want the wording of this clause to better reflect this activity. If you have any questions about these amendments, email: richstortoncomms@zsl.org.

ZSL London Zoo premise licence – update

HS2 – ecologists to meet with ZSL

COMING SOON

NEW to the Zoo this May, guests will be able to sleep next to our lion pride – when we launch the Gir Lion Lodge, nine colourful private cabins within Land of the Lions. The unique overnight experience will offer the magic of the Zoo after hours through an immersive, fully-hosted adventure. After enjoying a sumptuous meal, guests will embark on an exclusive evening tour, led by a dedicated host who will share their conservation knowledge, information about how ZSL is working to protect the endangered Asiatic lion in India and

fascinating facts about some of the Zoo’s 17,000 residents before guiding guests back to the comfort of their en-suite lodges for the night. The next morning they’ll wake to the roar of our pride before spending the day exploring the rest of the Zoo. Building on the success of ZSL London Zoo’s BedBUGS kids’ sleepovers and our Lookout Lodge at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, we’re excited about adding this new experience. It will be open February to December each year, six nights a week. For more information visit zsl.org.

EXPLORING THE ZOO after hours at special evening events has been a popular part of the ZSL calendar for many years. In 2015 we launched a new event format, ‘Sunset Safari’, the perfect opportunity for the family to experience the Zoo in a different light. Returning for summer 2016, visitors can choose to embark on self-guided Safari Trails where they’ll see the Zoo’s magnificent animals, take in a packed programme of animal feeds and fascinating talks and enjoy delicious food

at the street food festival. All of our events are designed to engage people of all ages with our 750 species and the work we do, while the money raised helps to fund our incredible conservation work in 50 countries around the world. The perfect way to start the weekend, Sunset Safari will run every Friday from 3 June until 15 July 2016 from 6:00pm to 10:00pm, with friends, couples, and families alike invited to experience the magic of the Zoo at sunset. Tickets available now from zsl.org.

THIS SEPTEMBER, animal lovers can watch their favourite films surrounded by their favourite animals – as ZSL’s popular Silent Cinema returns for 5 evening screenings at ZSL London Zoo. Mixing the silverbacks with the silver screen, movie-goers will be completely immersed in the sights, sounds and scents of the animal kingdom, exploring one of the Zoo’s incredible exhibits before each screening – including the perfect combo of a visit to Land of the Lions before Disney’s classic The Lion King.Our very own safari guides will take you on a twilight tour around some of London’s most amazing and exotic enclosures. Peruse the animals up close before they get tucked up in bed and you head towards the lawns of ZSL to be immersed into an outdoor screening of classics like Jumanji, Ace Ventura When Nature Calls and Indiana Jones: The Temple of Doom. The Zoo’s cinema is silent and the film will be broadcast via FM radio headsets, which means the late night cinema screening doesn’t keep the animals (or keepers) up past their bedtime. Tickets for this unique cinematic experience will be available soon – so watch this space!

Silent cinemais back

Gir Lion Lodge launch

Sunset Safarieveningevents

National Lottery fundingsuccess

Forthcoming events

ZSL LONDON ZOO is delighted to have secured a £301,000 Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant to begin the development stage to renovate and modernise the Zoo’s iconic Snowdon Aviary. 2015 saw the 50th anniversary of the completion of the famous structure, which stands proud and visible from Regent’s Canal and Primrose Hill. Inspired by the graceful movements of flying birds, the Snowdon Aviary was a truly unique structure for its time. When the Aviary was opened it was the second largest aviary in the world, and was Britain’s first walk-through, allowing our visitors to get close to birds in a number of habitats. We will use the refurbishment

as the opportunity to create a range of new activities, co-designed with target new visitor groups, to ensure many more people can enjoy, learn and care about the natural heritage of our planet. We see this as the catalyst to put ZSL London Zoo at the heart of the community by offering many more accessible activities for everyone to enjoy. We’re looking forward to working on the project to rejuvenate this innovative structure, creating a new habitat for species and allowing our future visitors to get close to amazing creatures here at ZSL London Zoo. An application for a full grant of £4.8m will be made following the development stage. 

7-8 May – ZSL’s Special Children’s Day: A unique annual event at ZSL London Zoo, welcoming children with special needs and their families and friends. With increased specialist facilities and staff, as well as special interactive events and discounted entry.

18 May – Safari in the City: A special gala evening of adventure, fine dining and

entertainment to raise vital funds to help protect the world’s species and combat the illegal wildlife trade.3 June – Sunset Safari launch: Our popular summer event returns for 2016!6-10 September – Silent Cinema: Watch one of five classic movies on the ZSL London Zoo lawn.To book tickets visit www.zsl.org

Become a memberBECOME a member of ZSL and enjoy unlimited annual visits to both ZSL London Zoo and ZSL Whipsnade Zoo 364 days of the year!

• See your favourite animals whenever you like• Receive invitations to exclusive events • Annual subscription to Wild About – the

award-winning ZSL magazine• Make a valuable contribution to our

worldwide conservation work

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When you have finished with this newsletter please recycle it.

Stay in touchSign up to our mailing list at zsl.org to keep up to date on our conservation work and all the exciting activities planned both here at ZSL London & ZSL Whipsnade Zoo.

Get in touchIf you have any questions about any of the issues raised in this newsletter, email richstortoncomms@zsl.org.

@ZSLLondonZoo

ZSL London Zoo

@ZSLLondonZoo

ZSL is acharity, workingin more than 50

countries aroundthe world.