London - day 2

Today we had a much quieter day as London has strict rules regarding trading hours and most places do not open before 10.00am.

We travelled to Regent Park and visited the London Zoo. It’s much smaller than Melbourne Zoo and it’s much older but they have updated the exhibits over time. The highlight was the walk through areas where the little monkeys are free range around you. They’re cheeky little ratbags and you need to be careful of your food or equipment such as phones or ipads (they steal them and pull them apart!)

Scarlett Ibis

 

 The one thing that is really standing out on our visits is the commitment to environmental enrichment  - the clinics, shelters, universities and  Zoo all have all put a lot of thought into their care of animals, providing toys, various textures, sensory stimulation and auxiliary staff dedicated to spending time with the animals.  Its effects are evident as most of the animals we have seen are very content with minimal signs of stress.

Two toed Sloth

Our other half of the day was spent at the Museum of Natural History – an immense building full of the history of the animal kingdom. It has a large dinosaur collection but my favourite was the mammal room. It has everything from mice to an enormous blue whale model.

 

 

The rest of the day was taken up with last minute shopping, washing our stinky clothes and finding food. Finally an early night, ready for an early start tomorrow as we visit Waltham’s Research Centre and make our way to Nottingham.