Memorials to individual animals in zoos

Here's an interesting one . . .
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One you actually commented on, @Onychorhynchus coronatus.
Photo credit to @ThylacineAlive
 
Pertinax said:
I seem to remember that when the Alfred the gorilla bust was at the Monkey Temple, the inscription read something like' copied from the death mask of Alfred the gorilla...' but that rather gruesome description was removed when it was moved. I hope they take it to the Wild Place/new zoo site when they close.
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I think that it would probably make the move but if not then perhaps it might be placed in the Bristol museum alongside the taxidermy specimen ?
 
red river hog said:
I agree. "Queen of the Kalahari" really got me, haha. :D (also that her name was Flower Whiskers . . .)
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Yes, hahaha, really made me cringe when I first saw that picture , hence why I left that comment on the photo.

"Queen of the Kalahari" indeed :rolleyes:

You would imagine from the plaque "Inspiring us to band together for the betterment of our species" that it was to some kind of heroic resistance figure during WW2 but nope just a meerkat...
 
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The Cassowary said:
Yes, Gomek really was a maneater. That’s why he was taken from the wild in the first place. It makes his tame demeanor in captivity all the more surprising, as you’d expect a man-eating crocodile to be much more aggressive towards people.
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Interesting, I'll have to do some reading on this.

Yes, it does indeed, I mean a lot of former man-eating animals such as tigers and leopards have been housed in zoos but crocodiles mostly end up being dealt with lethally and shot.

I would have imagined that if Gomek was a maneater then agonistic behaviour towards human beings would have likely continued during his years in captivity too.
 
More memorials and plaques to individual zoo animals:

Memorial plaque to "Jack" the lion at London zoo, UK:
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Statue and plaque to commemorate the life of "Winnie" the North American black bear at London Zoo, UK:
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A plaque in memory of African elephant "Bwana" at Howletts zoo, UK :
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A plaque (that accompanies the statue) to commemorate the life of "Torgamba" the Sumatran rhino at Howletts zoo, UK:
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A memorial to "Ivan" the gorilla at Atlanta zoo, USA, where he was held:
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A memorial stone and information board to "Annabelle" the Asiatic elephant at Alaska zoo, USA :
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Statue of "Olga" the walrus at the Brookfield zoo, USA :
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A temporary memorial to "Inuka" the polar bear at Singapore zoo, Singapore:
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Statue of "Ah Meng" the orangutang at Singapore zoo, Singapore:
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Notice to mourn the loss of "Tundra" the polar bear at the Bronx zoo, USA:
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A plaque in the memory of "Pepe" the chimpanzee at Dudley zoo, UK :
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Memorial plaque to "Mary" the gibbon at Taronga zoo, Australia:
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Memorial to "Henrietta" the elephant at Western North Carolina Nature Center, USA:
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Quite excessive and tacky statue and memorial in memory to "Bill" the chimp at Sequoia Park zoo, USA:
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A very crappy looking memorial for "Ashoka" the Asiatic lion at Chessington zoo, UK:
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Photo credits to @mhale, @ThylacineAlive, @MagpieGoose, @jusko88 , @sooty mangabey @Chili ,@Tim May , @snowleopard , @Orycteropus , @Jabiru96 , @Benosaurus , @GorillaBoy , @Gigit ,@Zooish , @Milwaukee Man , @Pleistohorse.
 
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@The Cassowary I've done a bit of reading and there really doesn't appear that was ever any substantation to the claims of Gomek being a maneater.

The claim appears to have been based on what villagers told the men who captured this crocodile in the 1960's in the Fly River.

These accounts could have been true but they could have also been local folklore / mythology or incorrect.

Either way maneater or not he was a very impressive animal indeed.
 
This may be somewhat off-topic, but in terms of position and artistic quality, I think that the most impressive memorial in a British zoo is John Aspinall's grave in the middle of the avenue of lime trees leading up to the mansion at Howletts.
The names on the globe commemorate the animals that lived in his collection, including many gorillas and tigers, so it is a memorial to them too.
John Aspinall's grave

John Aspinall's grave

In the avenue of lime trees leading up to the mansion, Howletts, 15th August 2008.
 
gentle lemur said:
This may be somewhat off-topic, but in terms of position and artistic quality, I think that the most impressive memorial in a British zoo is John Aspinall's grave in the middle of the avenue of lime trees leading up to the mansion at Howletts.
The names on the globe commemorate the animals that lived in his collection, including many gorillas and tigers, so it is a memorial to them too.
John Aspinall's grave

John Aspinall's grave

In the avenue of lime trees leading up to the mansion, Howletts, 15th August 2008.
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Thank you very much for sharing this @gentle lemur and don't worry it isn't off topic at all as it is a memorial that commemorates and remembers the lives of the animals kept at the zoo.

It is a very eccentric looking monument but then again John Aspinall was a very eccentric man and I think in that way it is really very fitting.

There looks to be a lot of names on that globe and it would be fantastic to have a look at it and find out the stories of some of these animals.
 
red river hog said:
Here's one at Philly for Coldilocks, their Polar Bear.
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Photo credit to @TinoPup
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Thank you for sharing @TinoPup !

I really like the detail in the sign as I think it would clear up any doubts that visitors had about the situation.

It reminds me of some signs that were put up at Chapultepec zoo, Mexico, in the early 2010's around the polar bear enclosures which stated that the animals were elderly, that they were being given the best care but that the zoo would not replace them with more of the species once they were gone.

I thought this was quite a good idea but it didn't shut up the animal rights activists unfortunately.
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Thank you for sharing @TinoPup !

It reminds me of some signs that were put up at Chapultepec in the early 2010's around the polar bear enclosures which stated that the animals were elderly, that they were being given the best care but that the zoo would not replace them with more of the species once they were gone.

I thought this was quite a good idea but it didn't shut up the animal rights activists unfortunately.
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Their former Polar Bear enclosure is now one for Humboldt Penguins. It makes an excellent enclosure for them, but I hope that they get Polar Bears back!
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Thank you for your comment @Enzo! Do you have any pictures of "Macaco Tião" or the monument to him ?

This is the chimpanzee that infamously threw his crap at a politician right ?

Well he was certainly also a beloved animal but for different reasons in that he did what many people would have surely liked to have done.
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Sadly, I don't have any pictures of the statue, but you'll be able to find many of those on Instagram. Also, yes, he was the chimp that threw dirt (not feces) at one of the city mayors.
 
Enzo said:
Sadly, I don't have any pictures of the statue, but you'll be able to find many of those on Instagram. Also, yes, he was the chimp that threw dirt (not feces) at one of the city mayors.
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I just looked it up and wow ! That is really quite a disturbing looking statue of a chimp...o_O
 
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