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Sven Seiffert - Horticulturist

© ZSLHow long has the Clore rainforest Biome been open and how did it come about?

The Clore has been open to the public since April 2007 and was the outcome of a very generous donation from the Duffield foundation. ZSL decided to spend the money in this area due to the fact that many of the enclosures were in need of refurbishing, that’s when the idea for the Clore first arose.

How did you go about deciding what plants to use inside the Clore?

We started working with a landscape artist. He made some suggestions and together we worked out the criteria; assessing plant availability and perching areas for the birds within the biome. We then sourced the plants that we required from nurseries and eventually decided to use to a small nursery in Holland as there are no tropical nurseries in Britain. All plants had to be Southern or Central American.

This exhibit is a living, breathing ever-changing construct, were you quite excited about the months ahead and watching it grow?

I was very excited about the project and still am! An exhibit that gives so much space to animals and is such an opportunity for seeing exotic plants, is very exiting to me.
In the process of researching I discovered a plant which is a favorite food of sloths. So we may be able to plant them here in the future to allow the sloth’s to feed from their environment.

Do any of the plants provide food for the eight different species in the Biome?

In the Biome you can see that the pygmy marmosets have made holes in the tree bark – a little research told us that the marmosets get their calcium intake from feeding on the gum that is produced for this particular tree. The Silvery Marmosets then feed from it also once the pygmy’s have made their incision.

Since the Clore has been finished has their been any problems or challenges you’ve had to face?
There is a hard water problem in London, you may be able to see a white residue on some of the plants which is Calcium Carbonate, and so with this in mind we have to filter our water.
We were also concerned about the animal damage but this turned out not to be as much of an issue as we thought it would be, however the Agoutis are wreaking havoc on the central trees by chewing around their bases.

As there is no use of pesticides here at ZSL London Zoo how do you control the pests within the Biome?

We use something known as Biological pest controls, which means using bugs to eat other bugs. We started to try it in the Butterfly Exhibit and it was very successful so we tried it in here to. (Sven produces a chart of bugs) Australian Ladybug Larvae feeds on Mealy bug. As Mealy bug is a problem in the Biome the Larvae has been released. We would like them to breed in here and have a stable population. They’ll be hard to spot from outside the biome though as they tend to sit on the underside of leaves.

The Clore rainforest is a tropical rainforest, does it have to be set at a certain temperature in order for the plants to survive and grow?

This enclosure does need to replicate a tropical rainforest therefore it needs to be kept at a temperature of 18 – 26 Degrees. It is difficult to maintain that temperature especially when it gets hot. Humidity is also important and this is usually 65 – 90 % in a tropical rainforest.

Could you please tell us about irrigation and what technique is used within the Biome?

We use a basic system of 4 sprinklers in the corners similar to rotating lawn irrigation. This device comes on twice a day for around 5 minutes at a time. We also use a basic drainage system of a channel for water, but most of the water is taken up by plants.
Our task is to determine whether all of the plants get enough moisture as there are wet and dry spots in the biome. We do regular soil tests for nutrient levels, minerals and PH Levels.

Have you grown anything here at the zoo yourselves for the Biome?

Yes, three of the plants in the Biome were grown from seedlings here in our Tropical Nursery and then planted In the Biome. These are the Custard Apple trees.