Highlights at ZSL London Zoo
New for May half-term – Heroes and Villains
Meet ZSL’s own superheroes, our elite team of keepers, vets, scientists and conservationists, working to protect animals from some of the planet’s greatest villains, such as plastic pollution, and join forces with them to help protect our planet. Discover what you can do to help protect our wildlife from the planet’s greatest villains.
New for Summer – Become A Superhero
School’s not out for summer this year at ZSL London Zoo – as young visitors will be invited to enrol in ZSL’s brand new Superhero School, launching in July. Kids will be transformed into superheroes for the day, where they can discover their own hidden superpowers and find out how to protect the animal kingdom. It’s all in a day’s work at ZSL London Zoo.
Zoo Nights
An array of after-hours explorations for night-owls to embark on – Zoo Nights at ZSL London Zoo is back! With more than 17,000 animals to visit, last year’s sell out summer event will be the most unique way for grown-ups to celebrate summer in the city in 2018. Enjoy team quizzes, tours and a packed programme of feeds and talks alongside food and drink on the lawn for an idyllic end to what promises to be a unique evening.
Boo at the Zoo – Spooktacular week of events at ZSL London Zoo during Halloween
Boo at the Zoo is coming to ZSL London Zoo promising a week of frightful fun this October half term, enchanting little monsters with an array of fang-tastic activities from Saturday 22 to Sunday 28 October 2018
Gir Lion Lodge
Fancy falling asleep to tropical birdsong, and waking up to a lion’s roar instead of your alarm clock? Then ZSL London Zoo has the experience for you, right in the heart of the Capital. Guests will be welcomed to nine colourful cabins nestled in the heart of ZSL’s Land of the Lions exhibit. Experience exclusive after-hour tours, special animal feeds and a two course dinner. The experience also helps to support ZSL’s global work for wildlife, prices start from £395 per couple, with each additional child place at the year-round fixed price of £50, including entry to ZSL’s Zoos on both days of the experience. With places already selling fast, visit www.zsl.org/girlionlodge to book a night at the wildest overnight stay in London.
Snowdon Aviary
The Snowdon Aviary, a Grade II*listed structure, is one of the Zoo’s 13 listed structures but is currently on Historic England’s At Risk Register. ZSL’s planned restoration project will remove it from the list and save it for future generations to enjoy. The unique structure, which is visible on the London skyline from Primrose Hill, has had its design rejuvenated by renowned architects Foster + Partners. The ambitious Snowdon Aviary plans will enable ZSL to transform the historic exhibit into a state-of-the-art walk-through primate enclosure, allowing visitors, community groups and schoolchildren to get closer than ever before to its troop of amazing colobus monkeys. Earlier this year the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) granted an incredible £4.9M for the Aviary to be overhauled by Foster + Partners, and we have had generous donations from the Garfield Weston Foundation and the Wolfson Foundation, but the international conservation charity still needs to raise a further £1.9M before restoration work can begin. To donate and save a landmark of historic, cultural and architectural significance visit zsl.org/savethesnowdon
Meet Santa
Sprinkle some extra magic over the festive season this year by journeying through the animal kingdom to Meet Santa at ZSL London Zoo. Throughout December, children can visit Santa’s grotto in the heart of the Zoo, where they can make Christmas cards and decorations with Mrs Claus, join in a jolly sing-along with Santa’s helpers and take home a festive family portrait and special gift.
- ZSL Scientific Events
Across the year, a packed schedule of seminars, conferences and evening events – many of them free to attend and open to members of the public – will bring together luminaries from across the field of conservation science at ZSL’s London base to discuss exciting new ideas and pressing priorities across the world of wildlife. Highlights of the 2018 diary already confirmed include a major two-day symposium discussing the urgent global need to set aside greater space for nature, and evening scientific events exploring topics ranging from the collaborations working to conserve the fantastic biodiversity of China, to identifying solutions to the issue of by-catch that continues to impact whale and dolphin populations.
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