Skeaping's Horse was presented to The Tate Gallery in 1945. The Skeaping Horse was acquired by ZSL by a small group of subscribers in 1937. It was erected in Whipsnade Park in the same year and remained there until 1945. ZSL’s costs in erecting it amounted to about £12, and Council were promised that ZSL should not incur any expense, so it was deducted from the subscriptions received and John Skeaping was sent £115.
The Northern Aviary, widely known as the Snowdon Aviary, is the largest of the Zoo's aviaries. It is a large tension structure and made of aluminium. An early example of a walkthrough aviary, its landscaping is integrated with the circulation system to allow the public close up views of birds in a variety of habitats. The aviary arose from Sir Hugh Casson's 1958 Development Plan as a replacement for the Great Aviary of 1888, situated near the Main Gate. Anthony Armstrong-Jones (Lord Snowdon) was commissioned to design the building in 1960 on the strength of his design for a birdcage at Mereworth Castle and a recommendation by the Duke of Edinburgh, then President of the Zoological Society and Lord Snowdon's brother-in-law. Armstrong-Jones had trained (but not qualified) in architecture so Casson brought in Cedric Price, who was soon joined by his friend Frank Newby. Built 1962-64, with a benefaction of £50,000 from Jack Cotton; Anthony Armstrong-Jones (Lord Snowdon) and Cedric Price, architects; Frank Newby (of F J Samuely and partners), engineer; Leonard Fairclough (London) Limited, general contractor; Carter Horsley, suppliers of super-structure; Westminster Engineering, suppliers of mesh cladding; Margaret Maxwell (of Bridgwater, Shepheard and Epstein), landscape consultant. Cost £125,000. In July 2021, restoration work started on the aviary which will repurpose it to house colobus monkeys.
The South Canal Bank Staff Flats were built as part of the landscaping of the whole of the Zoo's south canal bank. They were needed because the contemporaneous development of the Cotton Terraces involved the demolition of a Superintendent's House. Built 1962-63, Franz Stengelhofen and Sir Peter Shepheard, architects.
The Southern Aviary of 1905 is the largest of the Zoo's early aviaries. It was an early attempt to provide a natural environment for birds, giving them space for free flight. The landscaping of artificial rockwork and ponds, with mature willows, was a reordering of what had been the Southern Ponds from about 1860.
The Southern Aviary was demolished circa 2008 for the Giant Tortoises.
