Gorilla Kingdon, London Zoo

Sometimes its difficult to know what to do to amuse children at the weekends, particularly considering most of the stuff they seem to want to do involves consuming vast amounts of sweets or burgers or smashing things. All of which can lead to some rather wearying emotions come Monday morning when you have to get up and face the working week after two days spent dealing with children off their heads on E numbers. It would be far preferable to be able to expose them to some (quiet) learning for 48 hours but most children will not be content with a trip to an art exhibition or a historical London walk. As a compromise, how about the rough and tumble of nature set in a learning environment? You can teach them and exhaust them at the same time.

The Gorilla Kingdom at London Zoo took almost 18 months to build and cost somewhere in the region of £5.3m so this is no caged enclosure with one solitary tyre to swing on. There’s an African forest environment, interactive activities and exhibits and even an African aviary that shows you the kind of birds that share the gorilla’s natural environment. There’s plenty to keep kids busy with a field station and walks as well as the gorilla’s themselves.

Gorillas are the largest of all primates and the family groups they live in and the conversations they have are amazingly close to human behaviour. In their natural rainforest habitat the gorillas are often subject to disease and habitat loss or are hunted for their meat and the information provided at Gorilla Kingdom is an important education for the conservationists of the future.

The Gorilla Kingdom is based at London Zoo, which is part of the Zoological Society of London. Ticket prices for the zoo vary but generally under 3s go free, 3-15 year olds are £11.80 and adults £14.80. There’s also a range of saver tickets available (www.zsl.org/zsl-london-zoo/exhibits/gorilla-kingdom). 

London Zoo
Regent’s Park
London
NW1 4RY
+44 (0) 20 7722 3333