A Guidebook Library: TLD's year-long randomised walkthrough of zoo guides

[TeaLovingDave]

So, another year has come and gone.

2021 was certainly a lot better, all things considered, than 2020 had been - moreover, although the current world situation is still far from normal, the Zoochat community was able to reach rather more zoological collections in the last 12 months than was the case at the start of the pandemic, and the flow of zoo news and discussion has picked up quite a lot. However, there has still been a noticeable drop in the general level of forum discussion and discourse, and an accompanying reduction in the number of lengthy forum-uniting discussions; as such, I've been mulling over the possibility of starting a project with the express purpose of encouraging mass participation and discussion for a while now.

Independently from this, throughout 2021 - as was the case in 2020 - one of my key coping mechanisms for dealing with the stress, anxiety and, on occasion, full-blown autistic meltdowns which the pandemic and accompanying factors have caused has been my existing hobby (a result not merely of my interest in zoos, but also my interest in history and historiography) of collecting zoo guidebooks, maps and other such documents. As a result, I have been participating in a number of groups over on Facebook devoted to the discussion and promotion of zoo guidebooks and other memorabilia, and have increasingly felt that this is a subject which is capable of generating a great number of distinct avenues for discussion, if presented properly; the history of a zoological collection, the socio-economic and political history of the countries in which they are located, how a collection changes and develops over time both in terms of enclosure standards/design and the species held, and even how a collection ultimately falters and is lost.

The key factor which caused these disparate thoughts to click together was my recent highlighting on FB of a number of recent acquisitions which caused my total collection of unique guidebooks to cross into four digits, including two or three particularly unusual items, after which a number of Zoochatters messaged me to bemoan the fact that much of the content on the group in question drops away too rapidly for discussion to take place - one of the pitfalls of the FB group model over the classic forum/messageboard model here on Zoochat!

Therefore, I decided that this year I would aim to post images and discussion of one randomly-selected guidebook from my collection each day - or as regularly as time-commitments allow, with the explicit intention that the Zoochat community ask questions about the contents and context of the guidebooks highlighted, discuss their own guidebook collections where possible, discuss what makes a zoo guidebook or map particularly good, and in general use my posts as the backbone for a nice solid forum-uniting discussion which will hopefully take us throughout 2022

To ensure the thread gets off to a nice juicy start I have actively selected the guidebooks which will be highlighted for the first five days of this project, aiming for collections/items which provide plenty of talking points and potential for questions; after this point, guidebooks will be selected by the simple method of using a random number generator. Each post will, wherever possible, include at minimum an image of the front cover, any accompanying map and at least one internal page.

An index (to be updated as the thread progresses) will follow this post, after which the first guidebook of the year will be highlighted.

I very much look forward to the discussions that are ahead of us!

 

[TeaLovingDave]

INDEX​

(Above: the bookcases containing my zoo guidebooks and some of my natural history and zoo history book collection - the shelves have long-since overflown since the photograph was taken, however!)

Day 1) Zoo Berlin 1866
Day 2) Kano Zoo c.1986
Day 3) Tierpark Berlin 1989
Day 4) London Zoo 1877
Day 5) WWT Washington 1979
Day 6) Weltvogelpark Walsrode 2003
Day 7) Riber Castle Wildlife Park 1971
Day 8) Exmoor Zoo 2013
Day 9) Zoo Berlin 1899
Day 10) Zoo Leipzig 2013
Day 11) Zoo Jihlava 2017
Day 12) Dierenpark Wassenaar 1962
Day 13) Wildpark Schwarze Berge 2012
Day 14) WWT Slimbridge 1984
Day 15) Howletts Wild Animal Park 1976
Day 16) Zoo Antwerpen 2015
Day 17) Tierpark Berlin 1992
Day 18) Highland Wildlife Park 2006
Day 19) Southampton Zoo c.1970
Day 20) Zoo Basel 1995
Day 21) Chessington Zoo 1965
Day 22) Penscynor Wildlife Park 1982
Day 23) Cincinnati Zoo 1928
Day 24) London Zoo 1907
Day 25) Stazione Zoologica di Napoli 1953
Day 26) Western Plains Zoo c.1977
Day 27) Tierpark Berlin 2012
Day 28) Zoo Wroclaw 2019
Day 29) Belgrade Zoo 2011
Day 30) Chestnut Centre 2004
Day 31) Scottish Owl Centre 2013
Day 32) Scottish Deer Centre c.1990
Day 33) Weltvogelpark Walsrode 1982
Day 34) Belle Vue Zoo Park 1967
Day 35) Cotswold Wildlife Park 1976
Day 36) Sunshine Aquarium 1982
Day 37) National Zoological Park Delhi 1983
Day 38) Tierpark Berlin 1957
Day 39) Bristol Zoo 1926
Day 40) Zoo-Aquarium Berlin 1975
Day 41) Le Parc des Felins 2007
Day 42) Zoo-Exotarium Frankfurt 1958
Day 43) Zoo Berlin 1901
Day 44) Zoo Praha 2019
Day 45) Brixham Marine Aquarium 1967
Day 46) Highland Wildlife Park 1990
Day 47) Zoopark Chomutov 2000
Day 48) Lowther Wildlife Park 1971
Day 49) Brookfield Zoo 1948
Day 50) Glasgow Zoo 1986
Day 51) Tynemouth Aquarium 2019
Day 52) Weltvogelpark Walsrode 1963
Day 53) Bronx Zoo 1911
Day 54) Tierpark Hellabrunn 1955
Day 55) Beijing Zoological Gardens 1975
Day 56) Healesville Sanctuary 1971
Day 57) SEALIFE Loch Lomond 2018
Day 58) Loch Lomond Bear Park 1972
Day 59) Lambton Lion Park 1972
Day 60) Zoo Berlin 1903
Day 61) Zoo Berlin 1905
Day 62) Zoo Berlin 1906
Day 63) Dallas World Aquarium 2008
Day 64) National Zoological Park at the Smithsonian 2021
Day 65) Trentham Monkey Forest 2016
Day 66) Glasgow Zoo c.1948
Day 67) Zoo Wroclaw 2017
Day 68) Wellington Zoo c.1970
Day 69) Norfolk Wildlife Park 1965
Day 70) London Zoo 1953
Day 71) Tallinna Loomaaed 1989
Day 72) Cotswold Wildlife Park 2014
Day 73) Flamingo Park 1973
Day 74) Kilverstone Wildlife Park 1988
Day 75) Brighton Aquarium c.1923
Day 76) Weltvogelpark Walsrode 2019
Day 77) Belfast Zoo 1935
Day 78) Birdland 1964
Day 79) WWT Washington 2006
Day 80) Zoo Berlin 1908
Day 81) Zoo Wroclaw 1910
Day 82) Cornish Seal Sanctuary 1991
Day 83) Tierpark Hellabrunn 1995
Day 84) Tierpark Hagenbeck 1948
Day 85) Birmingham Nature Centre c.1980
Day 86) Paignton Zoo 1949
Day 87) Bognor Regis Pets Corner 1956
Day 88) Chester Zoo 2005
Day 89) L'Aquarium Barcelona 2018
Day 90) Bideford Zoo 1970
Day 91) Taronga Zoo 1944
Day 92) Zoo Warszawa 1963
Day 93) Zoo Berlin 1910
Day 94) Zoo Berlin 1912
Day 95) Zoo Plock 2012
Day 96) Edinburgh Zoo 1977
Day 97) Tierpark Berlin 2009
Day 98) Hamerton Zoo 1995
Day 99) Suffolk Wildlife Park 1986
Day 100) Belle Vue Zoo Park 1902
Day 101) Zoopark Moscow 1978
Day 102) Scottish Sea Life Sanctuary 1979
Day 103) Milwaukee County Zoo 1967
Day 104) Shedd Aquarium 1960
Day 105) Highland Wildlife Park 2012
Day 106) Alpenzoo Innsbruck 1975
Day 107) Diergaarde Blijdorp 1978
Day 108) Linton Zoo 1985
Day 109) Zoo Berlin 1914
Day 110) Marineland Oceanarium 1964
Day 111) Los Angeles Zoo 1968
Day 112) Detroit Zoo 1956
Day 113) Jerusalem Biblical Zoo 1968
Day 114) Gatorland Zoo 1979
Day 115) Living Coasts 2012
Day 116) Dierenpark Emmen 2001
Day 117) Zoo Ostrava 2008
Day 118) Tierpark Hagenbeck 1955
Day 119) Knuthenborg Safaripark 1971
Day 120) Taronga Zoo 1919
Day 121) Zoo Berlin 1925
Day 122) Zoo Berlin 1926
Day 123) Zoo Berlin 1927
Day 124) Zoo Berlin 1928 (Polar Bear)
Day 125) Budapest Zoo 1996
Day 126) Zoo-Aquarium Berlin 1971
Day 127) Haus des Meeres 2022
Day 128) Zoo Frankfurt 2008
Day 129) Wildpark Luneburger Heide 2015
Day 130) Faruk Yalçın Zoo and Botanical Garden 1995
Day 131) Stanley Zoo 1970
Day 132) Westfälischer Zoologischer Garten zu Münster 1959
Day 133) Zoo Berlin 1928 (Gorilla)
Day 134) Zoo Berlin 1929
Day 135) Alpenzoo Innsbruck 2019
Day 136) Port Erin Aquarium 1951
Day 137) Guernsey Zoo 1976
Day 138) Parc Safari Hemmingford 1972
Day 139) Zoo Dvůr Králové 2020
Day 140) Zoopark Moscow 2004
Day 141) Ueno Zoological Gardens 2014
Day 142) Zoo Wuppertal 1992
Day 143) Zoo de Doue la Fontaine 1992
Day 144) Whipsnade Zoo 1933
Day 145) Whipsnade Zoo 2021
Day 146) Skegness Natureland 1978
Day 147) Zoo Krefeld 2000
Day 148) St Catherine's Island Zoo c.1970
Day 149) Jersey Zoo 1989
Day 150) Zoo Berlin 1930

Epilogue Posts

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)

 

[Coelacanth18]

a number of recent acquisitions which caused my total collection of unique guidebooks to cross into four digits

I knew some details about how extensive your guidebook collection was prior to this thread... yet I'm still shocked by that number!

As someone who is both a casual history buff while also being fairly ignorant about zoo guidebooks and zoo history, I am very excited for this thread and for learning a lot about the history of things I talk about a near-daily basis.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Day 1: Zoo Berlin (1866) - Der Führer im Zoologischen Garten zu Berlin

So; the first guidebook I will be highlighting as part of this thread will the oldest item in my guidebook collection at over 155 years old; by coincidence, it so happens that it was released in the exact same year that my great-great grandmother Elizabeth Ann Younger was born, something which has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on the significance of the guidebook, nor on any other pertinent factor as far as those reading this post will be concerned, but it *does* provide a useful little milestone in my brain to aid in picturing just how long ago it was released. Perhaps more interesting to the wider forum population is the observation that given the fact that the unification of Germany as a single country as we would – more or less – recognise it did not occur until 1870, at the end of the Austro-Prussian War, this is *not* a “German” guidebook per se; rather, it is a guidebook from the Kingdom of Prussia, released in the opening months of the aforementioned war.

This is also quite a recent addition to my collection, having fallen into my hands only a few months ago by pure happenstance; one of my usual online haunts when looking for interesting second-hand books of any sort is Abebooks, a site which serves as a marketplace for independent bookstores around the world, and when performing one of the various keyword searches I check every day or two I stumbled across a newly-added listing for a Zoo Berlin guidebook. None of the descriptive details – page number, cited author, precise title and so forth -seemed to fit any guidebook I knew to exist, and the alleged year of release sounded FAR too old for a book being sold as cheaply as was the case… but given the aforementioned low price of the book (around £15 plus postage from Germany) I thought it was worth the gamble.

On arrival, it was immediately clear to me that this was something special – it was indeed as old as the listing had claimed, and was incredibly delicate to the touch. In fact, to this date I have literally handled it only a half-dozen times, and that as briefly as possible; in order to look through the guidebook, in order to scan select pages, and to place it in acid-free protective containment. At some point I intend to scan the remaining pages, so that a full record of the contents of this guidebook is preserved; as far as I have been able to gather subsequent to purchasing this guidebook, having asked a number of individuals in the wider zoo guidebook community, no one appears to have come across *any* other extant copies of this edition. Given the utter devastation which hit Zoo Berlin – and the wider city – during the Second World War it is unsurprising that several 19th century guidebooks issued by the collection are now known only to exist through mentions in the reference sections of surviving books and documents; perhaps other copies of this particular edition *do* exist somewhere, but in case they do not, it is more-or-less my duty both as a historian and a zoo enthusiast to ensure that a full record of the guidebook is created now.

There follows a handful of select scanned pages from the guidebook; firstly, a double-page spread containing discussion of the Monkey House and the inhabitants within, along with a rather excellent illustration of the structure in question; secondly, a double-page spread containing discussion of the Cassowary House and environs, along with an equally-good illustration of said structure; and finally, the rear cover of the guidebook, which as one can see contains discussion of the final few enclosures on the walkthrough account of the zoo, along with an illustration of what - from the context at hand - would seem to be a cattle house given the discussion below regarding the domestic Yak held at the collection.

As one can see, the typeface is heavily stylised - something which is the case for many of my older German-language guidebooks - which renders it somewhat tricky to read, but I have been slowly trying to learn how to do so given the wealth of information regarding the early history of the zoo which this and other early Berlin guidebooks will contain, much of which I imagine has never been published in English!

The one major fault with this particular item barring how fragile it is – as the scanned pages show, they have come loose from the original stitching holding them together with the mere action of opening the guidebook and placing it in the scanner – is the fact that it lacks a map, something which judging from the numerical references located throughout wherever an exhibit is cited *was* present alongside the guidebook when originally issued, although whether this was as an insert within the pages, a separate document or otherwise I may never know.

I look forward to any questions, remarks or other such feedback you have to offer! I strongly suspect that I will not have nearly as much to say about many of the guidebooks that will follow, incidentally, so I beg your forgiveness if this post has drawn a little long!

 

[Bengal Tiger]

I'll say @TeaLovingDave, this is a mighty interesting thread, thanks ever so much for creating it!

 

[Ned]

Am I correct in thinking the title 'Der Fuhrer im Zoologischen Garten' means 'The leader in the zoological garden'? If so, do you know why it has this title?

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Am I correct in thinking the title 'Der Fuhrer im Zoologischen Garten' means 'The leader in the zoological garden'? If so, do you know why it has this title?

The word "führer" does not solely mean "leader", with the alternate (and I think original) meaning literally translating to "guide" - even now it is regularly used in compound words such as Bergführer (mountain guide) and Führerschein (driver's licence), although for obvious reasons the word on its own tends to be avoided now!

The most commonplace names for zoo guidebooks in German are therefore "Zoo-Führer" or "Zoo-Wegweiser" - the latter word more-or-less means "signpost" in English.

 

[Skukuza]

Will be following this thread with interest TLD!

Great start with the Berlin guide. I have some of the very old London guides but nothing coming close to this in age or rarity.

Lovely when an overlooked gem falls in your lap.

 

[Jurek7]

The part of old guidebooks which is most interesting are animals now very rare in zoos or completely extinct. For example Sumatran rhino or Javan tiger. Would you care to mention them?

(Equally interesting are mentions how some animals common in zoos were extremely rare or difficult to keep alive in the past, for example gorillas).

 

[TinoPup]

Day 1: Zoo Berlin (1866) - Der Führer im Zoologischen Garten zu Berlin

So; the first guidebook I will be highlighting as part of this thread will the oldest item in my guidebook collection at over 155 years old; by coincidence, it so happens that it was released in the exact same year that my great-great grandmother Elizabeth Ann Younger was born, something which has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on the significance of the guidebook, nor on any other pertinent factor as far as those reading this post will be concerned, but it *does* provide a useful little milestone in my brain to aid in picturing just how long ago it was released. Perhaps more interesting to the wider forum population is the observation that given the fact that the unification of Germany as a single country as we would – more or less – recognise it did not occur until 1870, at the end of the Austro-Prussian War, this is *not* a “German” guidebook per se; rather, it is a guidebook from the Kingdom of Prussia, released in the opening months of the aforementioned war.

This is also quite a recent addition to my collection, having fallen into my hands only a few months ago by pure happenstance; one of my usual online haunts when looking for interesting second-hand books of any sort is Abebooks, a site which serves as a marketplace for independent bookstores around the world, and when performing one of the various keyword searches I check every day or two I stumbled across a newly-added listing for a Zoo Berlin guidebook. None of the descriptive details – page number, cited author, precise title and so forth -seemed to fit any guidebook I knew to exist, and the alleged year of release sounded FAR too old for a book being sold as cheaply as was the case… but given the aforementioned low price of the book (around £15 plus postage from Germany) I thought it was worth the gamble.

On arrival, it was immediately clear to me that this was something special – it was indeed as old as the listing had claimed, and was incredibly delicate to the touch. In fact, to this date I have literally handled it only a half-dozen times, and that as briefly as possible; in order to look through the guidebook, in order to scan select pages, and to place it in acid-free protective containment. At some point I intend to scan the remaining pages, so that a full record of the contents of this guidebook is preserved; as far as I have been able to gather subsequent to purchasing this guidebook, having asked a number of individuals in the wider zoo guidebook community, no one appears to have come across *any* other extant copies of this edition. Given the utter devastation which hit Zoo Berlin – and the wider city – during the Second World War it is unsurprising that several 19th century guidebooks issued by the collection are now known only to exist through mentions in the reference sections of surviving books and documents; perhaps other copies of this particular edition *do* exist somewhere, but in case they do not, it is more-or-less my duty both as a historian and a zoo enthusiast to ensure that a full record of the guidebook is created now.

There follows a handful of select scanned pages from the guidebook; firstly, a double-page spread containing discussion of the Monkey House and the inhabitants within, along with a rather excellent illustration of the structure in question; secondly, a double-page spread containing discussion of the Cassowary House and environs, along with an equally-good illustration of said structure; and finally, the rear cover of the guidebook, which as one can see contains discussion of the final few enclosures on the walkthrough account of the zoo, along with an illustration of what - from the context at hand - would seem to be a cattle house given the discussion below regarding the domestic Yak held at the collection.

As one can see, the typeface is heavily stylised - something which is the case for many of my older German-language guidebooks - which renders it somewhat tricky to read, but I have been slowly trying to learn how to do so given the wealth of information regarding the early history of the zoo which this and other early Berlin guidebooks will contain, much of which I imagine has never been published in English!

The one major fault with this particular item barring how fragile it is – as the scanned pages show, they have come loose from the original stitching holding them together with the mere action of opening the guidebook and placing it in the scanner – is the fact that it lacks a map, something which judging from the numerical references located throughout wherever an exhibit is cited *was* present alongside the guidebook when originally issued, although whether this was as an insert within the pages, a separate document or otherwise I may never know.

I look forward to any questions, remarks or other such feedback you have to offer! I strongly suspect that I will not have nearly as much to say about many of the guidebooks that will follow, incidentally, so I beg your forgiveness if this post has drawn a little long!

The illustrations are fantastic! So detailed and well-drawn, they may as well be black and white photos.

I'm still amazed the seller didn't realize what they had, and how much they could have gotten for it. I hope there's a few more out there, maybe also in the hands of people who don't yet know how important it is, but at least this one ended up in the hands of someone who would take great care of the item itself and letting the community know of its contents.

For each book, could you maybe tell us the number of pages, illustrations, and photos? Maybe a bit about how the book is divided?

 

[TeaLovingDave]

The part of old guidebooks which is most interesting are animals now very rare in zoos or completely extinct. For example Sumatran rhino or Javan tiger. Would you care to mention them?

That's certainly my plan going forward, as-and-when any guidebook I highlight happens to mention taxa of that nature

Having scrubbed my hands very, very thoroughly to get rid of any skin oils I have gone through the 1866 guidebook in question making a note of every single scientific name mentioned, both in order to construct a list of species held at Zoo Berlin at the time of publication and to seek any highlight taxa for you. The most time-consuming aspect of this task, as one might expect, was checking every scientific name provided to ascertain to which species they apply given the vast number of synonyms, archaic taxonomy and so forth present in the text. Writing down the scientific names took only 10 minutes or so, whilst checking them has taken me several hours!

Unfortunately, as I noted above, the ornate font means that interpreting the text where precise species are not listed is somewhat tricky, and as such the list that follows is only partial; for instance, the text mentions that the Monkey House contains guenons, capuchins, baboons and lemurs, but names none of them, and elsewhere in the text I am fairly sure several hoofed animals (domestic and otherwise) are listed with merely a common name.

However, to skip to the two highlight taxa requested by yourself - in 1866 Zoo Berlin appears to have held both Cape Quagga and Javan Tiger

Spoiler: MAMMALS - 68 taxa named

Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) – listed as Felis jubata
Aoudad (Ammotragus lervia) – listed as Ovis tragelaphus
Small-toothed Civet (Arctogalida trivirgata) – listed as Arctogale trivittata
African Brush-tailed Porcupine (Atherurus africanus)
Chital Deer (Axis axis) – listed as Cervus axis
Hog Deer (Axis porcinus) – listed as Cervus porcinus
American Bison (Bos bison) – listed as Bos americanus
Domestic Yak (Bos grunniens)
Zebu (Bos indicus) – listed as Bos taurus indicus
Nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus) – listed as Antilope picta
Wild Water Buffalo (Bubalus arnee) – listed as Bos arnii
Domestic Water Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) – listed as Bos bubalus
Common Marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) – listed as Hapale jacchus
Bactrian Camel (Camelus bactrianus)
Dromedary Camel (Camelus dromedarius)
Dingo (Canis dingo)
Grey Wolf (Canis lupus)
Domestic Goat (Capra hircus)
Western Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus) – listed as Cervus capreolus
Eurasian Beaver (Castor fiber)
Wapiti (Cervus canadensis) – listed as Cervus strongyloceros
Red Deer (Cervus elaphus)
Sika Deer (Cervus sika)
Large Hairy Armadillo (Chaetophractus villosus) – listed as Dasypus villosus
Molina’s Hog-nosed Skunk (Conepatus chinga) – listed as Mephitis chinga
Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta) – listed as Hyaena crocuta
Fallow Deer (Dama dama) – listed as Cervus dama
Eastern Quoll (Dasyurus viverrinus)
Indian Elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) – listed as Elephas indicus
Burchell’s Zebra (Equus quagga burchellii) – listed as Equus burchellii
Cape Quagga (Equus quagga quagga) – listed as Equus quagga
Six-banded Armadillo (Euphractus sexcinctus) – listed as Dasypus setosus
Jungle Cat (Felis chaus)
Edible Dormouse (Glis glis) – listed as Myoxus glis
Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus) – listed as Ursus maleianus
Striped Hyaena (Hyaena hyaena) – listed as Hyaena striata
South African Porcupine (Hystrix africaeaustralis)
North African Porcupine (Hystrix cristata)
Llama (Lama glama) – listed as Auchenia llama
Guanaco (Lama guanicoe) – listed as Auchenia guanacus
Serval (Leptailurus serval) – listed as Felis serval
Black-backed Jackal (Lupulella mesomelas) – listed as Canis mesomelas
Eurasian Otter (Lutra lutra) – listed as Lutra vulgaris
Alpine Marmot (Marmota marmota) – listed as Arctomys marmota
Beech Marten (Martes foina) – listed as Mustela foina
Pine Marten (Martes martes) – listed as Mustela martes
Domestic Ferret (Mustela furo)
South American Coati (Nasua nasua) – listed as Nasua rufa and Nasua socialis
Red-necked Wallaby (Notamacropus rufogriseus) – listed as Halmaturus benetti
Mexican White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus mexicanus) – listed as Cervus mexicanus
Domestic Sheep (Ovis aries) – listed as Ovis recurvicauda
Jaguar (Panthera onca) – listed as Felis onza
Leopard (Panthera pardus) – listed as Felis leopardus
Javan Tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica) – listed as Felis tigris, specifically noted to be Javan in origin.
Bushpig (Potamochoerus larvatus) – listed as Sus larvatus
Northern Raccoon (Procyon lotor)
Cougar (Puma concolor) – listed as Felis concolor
Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) – listed as Cervus tarandus
Sambar (Rusa unicolor) – listed as Cervus aristotelis
Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) – listed as Sarcophilus ursinus
Wild Boar (Sus scrofa)
Brushtail Possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) – listed as Phalangista vulpina
Siberian Brown Bear (Ursus arctos collaris) – listed as Ursus collaris
Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) – listed as Ursus ferox
Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus)
Japanese Black Bear (Ursus thibetanus japonicus) – listed as Ursus japonicus
Large Indian Civet (Viverra zibetha)
Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) – listed as Canis vulpes

Spoiler: BIRDS - 60 taxa named

Indian Myna (Acridotheres tristis) – listed as Gracula (Acridotheres) tristis
Eurasian Black Vulture (Aegypius monachus) – listed as Vultur cinereus
Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata) – listed as Anas galericulata
Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) – listed as Anas sponsa
Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiacus) – listed as Anser aegyptiacus
Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) – listed as Anas boschas
Greater White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons)
Wedge-tailed Eagle (Aquila audax)
Iberian Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos homeyeri) – listed as Aquila fulva
Blue-and-Yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna)
Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) – listed as Ara aracanga and Ara macao
Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)
Intermediate Heron (Ardea intermedia) – listed as Ardea nivea
Eurasian Bittern (Botaurus stellaris) – listed as Ardea stellaris
Brant Goose (Branta bernicla) – listed as Anser bernicla
Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis) – listed as Anser leucopsis
Eurasian Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo) – listed as Strix bubo
Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)
Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) – listed as Buteo vulgaris
Ducorp’s Corella (Cacatua ducorpsii)
Yellow-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea) – listed as Cacatua rosacea
Salmon-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita galerita) – listed as Cacatua galerita
Salmon-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita triton) – listed as Cacatua cristata and Cacatua triton
Long-billed Corella (Cacatua tenuirostris) - listed as Licmetis tenuirostris
Muscovy Duck (Cairina moschata) - listed as Anas moschata
Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius) – listed as Casuarius galeatus
Cape Barren Goose (Cereopsis novaehollandiae) – listed as Cereopsis cinereus
European White Stork (Ciconia alba)
Black Stork (Ciconia nigra)
Golden Pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus) – listed as Phasanius pictus
Metallic Pigeon (Columba vitiensis) – listed as Colymbus cristatus
Black Swan (Cygnus atratus)
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) – listed as Anas olor
Emu (Dromaeus novaehollandiae)
Demoiselle Crane (Grus virgo)
Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus) – listed as Vultur fulvus
White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) – listed as Haliaetos albicilla
Greater Marabou (Leptoptilos dubius) – listed as Ciconia marabu
White-crested Kalij Pheasant (Lophura leucomelanos hamiltoni) – listed as Phasanius albocristatus
Black-backed Kalij Pheasant (Lophura leucomelanos melanota) – listed as Gallophasis melanotus
Silver Pheasant (Lophura nycthemera) – listed as Phasanius nycthemerus
Major Mitchell’s Cockatoo (Lophochroa leadbeateri) – listed as Cacatua leadbeateri
Eurasian Wigeon (Mareca penelope) – listed as Anas penelope
Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)
Red Kite (Milvus milvus) – listed as Milvus regalis
Alagoas Curassow (Mitu mitu) – listed as Crax mitu
Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus)
Great White Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus)
Crested Guan (Penelope purpurascens) – listed as Penelope cristata
Green Pheasant (Phasanius versicolor)
Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) – listed as Phoenicopterus ruber
Southern Caracara (Polyborus plancus) – listed as Polyborus brasiliensis
Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio) – listed as Porphyrio hyacinthinus
Greater Rhea (Rhea americana)
King Vulture (Sarcoramphus papa) – listed as Gyparchus papa
Ruddy Shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea) – listed as Anas casarca
African Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) – listed as Ibis religiosa
European Barn Owl (Tyto alba) – listed as Strix flammea
Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus) – listed as Sarcoramphus gryphus

Spoiler: REPTILES - 8 taxa named

Eastern Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) – listed as Ancistrodon contortrix
American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) – listed as Alligator lucius
Red-footed Tortoise (Chelonoidis carbonaria) – listed as Testudo carbonaria
South American Rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus)
Egyptian Cobra (Naja haje)
European Glass Lizard (Pseudopus apodus) – listed as Lacerta apoda
South African Rock Python (Python sebae natalensis) – listed as Python natalensis
Greek tortoise (Testudo graeca)

Spoiler: AMPHIBIANS - 2 taxa named

Japanese Giant Salamander (Cryptobranchus japonicus)
American Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) – listed as Rana mugiens

 

[TeaLovingDave]

For each book, could you maybe tell us the number of pages, illustrations, and photos? Maybe a bit about how the book is divided?

Can do

In this case, the guidebook comes to 48 pages (counting the front and rear covers in this total) and contains 16 illustrations - of which all but the front cover image and the small image on the back cover (both visible in the photographs already provided) are full-page. Unsurprisingly given the age of this item, there are no photographs whatsoever. Going forward, where possible I'll include these details in a section directly underneath the title of each guidebook post.

The guidebook - as I noted previously - seems to comprise a step-by-step walkthrough of the entire zoo, making references to numbered points which I presume correspond to a map provided alongside the guidebook at the time it was issued, giving a short description of each major house/exhibit before detailing the species that can be seen at each point. There is also an introductory segment which, due to the ornate writing and my shaky grasp of German at the best of times, I am yet to decipher - later Zoo Berlin guidebooks contained segments talking about the history of the zoo as forewords or prologues to the main body of text, so it is possible something of this sort can be found here.

 

[snowleopard]

We have only just begun 2022 and a wonderful new ZooChat thread has already emerged. Congratulations @TeaLovingDave

 

[CheeseChameleon1945]

Having no knowledge of Zoo guidebooks (and german for that matter ) this is shaping up to be an absolute triumph of a thread Dave! It's quite interesting to look at the taxonomy switch ups that you mentioned in the species list. With this many zoo guidebooks you might as well run a museum at this point!
But seriously, a very intruiging thread so far, I've enjoyed reading through it!
And it's only January 1 of 2022!

 

[Junklekitteb]

Thank you for creating this extremely interesting thread! I am looking forward to its development immensely. Just a few questions regarding the collection however:

Metallic Pigeon (Columba vitiensis) – listed as Colymbus cristatus

Surely Colymbus cristatus is the great crested grebe, Colymbus being Linnaeus’ original name for the loons and grebes?

Salmon-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita galerita) – listed as Cacatua galerita
Salmon-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita triton) – listed as Cacatua cristata and Cacatua triton

Out of interest, as I have been trying to figure out the identity of Cacatua cristata for months now, do you mind telling where you found these identities? Was it the German common name?

 

[HungarianBison]

It's just 2nd January, but I already have a candidate to the Thread of the year competition
Thank you for creating this exciting thread @TeaLovingDave.

 

[Ned]

With this many zoo guidebooks you might as well run a museum at this point!

In London in the late 1990s there was a place called The Museum Of.... It held various temporary exhibitions, one of which was an exhibition of zoo guide books. There were some interesting guide books including one for Clin Keeling's 'Pan's Garden' zoo.

 

[Zoo guide books]

In London in the late 1990s there was a place called The Museum Of.... It held various temporary exhibitions, one of which was an exhibition of zoo guide books. There were some interesting guide books including one for Clin Keeling's 'Pan's Garden' zoo.

Yes the guides came from a fellow collector who is well known in the field.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Surely Colymbus cristatus is the great crested grebe, Colymbus being Linnaeus’ original name for the loons and grebes?

You are, of course, correct - my searches on Google kept proposing Columbus cristatus as an autocorrect, which appears to apply to the pigeon I cited, but looking further the option you suggest is much likelier! I had not been aware of that original name, as it happens.

However, even this may be incorrect - looking at the original text and trying to interpret the common name given, it appears to be "Seerabe", which is the common name in German for the cormorant. I'll edit my post to reflect both possibilities, anyhow.

Out of interest, as I have been trying to figure out the identity of Cacatua cristata for months now, do you mind telling where you found these identities? Was it the German common name?

There was no common name given other than "Kacatu" for that particular taxon, as it happens, but a locality of New Guinea was given and searching Cacatua cristata on Google suggested C. galerea as the relevant species - when checking the BOTW entry for this species, it then listed cristata as being a synonym for C. g. triton in the reference notes.

 

[TNT]

It's just 2nd January, but I already have a candidate to the Thread of the year competition
Thank you for creating this exciting thread @TeaLovingDave.

You've taken the words right out of my mouth - the responses and likes that this thread has already received are certainly telling characters of a nomination... or even a winner