Half term: Can you seahorses?

A brand new seahorse exhibit opens for February half term.

Males that give birth, females who perform romantic dances, and couples that form life-long relationships are just some of the fascinating behaviours visitors will see at ZSL London Zoo’s brand-new Seahorses exhibit this half term.

Opening on 16 February, Seahorses will be home to 172 long and short-snouted seahorses, both of which are the focus of ZSL London Zoo conservation breeding programmes.

Bringing its historic location right up-to-date, the Seahorses exhibit features cutting edge technology, allowing ZSL London Zoo’s team of aquarists to continue their phenomenally successful breeding projects for these rapidly declining species.

Leading the way in seahorse breeding, ZSL London Zoo has bred hundreds of seahorses in the past four years, with more than 300 individuals moving on to join other breeding groups across Europe.

With eight bespoke holding tanks, Seahorses will show visitors the various stages of the seahorse lifecycle, with special curved tanks for the fry (seahorse babies), different tanks for juveniles and separate tanks for each of the mating pairs, who like a bit of privacy.

ZSL’s team of presenters will be revealing Seahorse Secrets every day during half term, with a daily talk about these remarkable creatures, including what seahorses have in common with monkeys and chameleons!

Facing habitat loss due to fishing and trawling in the wild, seahorses are increasingly threatened and breeding programmes are important for not only increasing their numbers in Zoos but giving conservationists the opportunity to learn more about these species to apply to the wild projects.

Animal talks: "Men at Work"

Find out all about dads of the animal kingdom in our daily animal talks this half term. From male penguins who look after the eggs, to attentive tamarin monkey fathers, and male seahorses who give birth to the young, get all the facts in our fun, interactive talks.

• 11.15am - Megabugs
• 12 noon - Big Fish in the Aquarium
• 1.30pm - Storytelling The Tipi Animal Adventure. Let the presenters guide you through the world of dads in nature in this interactive storytelling session.
• 2.00pm - Its A Frog’s Life!
• 2.30pm - Seahorse Secrets in the Aquarium: hear all the secrets of these amazing underwater animals, including what they have in common with a monkey and a chameleon…
• 2.30pm - Rainforest Live! It's the hottest place to be this winter.
• 3.00pm - Giraffe High Tea (in the giraffe house)

Visitors will also be able to watch Penguin Beach Live! happening at 11.30am and 1.30pm daily.

Book Zoo tickets