zoogeekmaelstrom
Well-Known Member
There are a lot of famous zoo animals like Harambe and Jumbo the elephant, and I would like to see if you have some famous zoo animals that you know or have met in person.
Famous zoo animals
- Thread starter zoogeekmaelstrom
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Mac
Active Member
This probably doesn't meet the criteria if you're looking for Harambe-level fame and publicity, but Sutton, the first male elephant (in the world) to be born through Artificial Insemination. His father is actually a wild bull elephant, and so his birth provides some great genetic benefits in terms of the breeding programs and ex-situ conservation efforts. He's now moved from West Midland Safari Park (my local) to Noah's Ark Farm Zoo, to learn how to be a fully-functioning bull. I assume that with his unique wild genetics and the recent move, he will become an important breeding member in the future. I'm very happy to be able to say I've gotten to see him multiple times, and I hope that I'll be able to see him again in the near future.
Nile Hippo Expert
Well-Known Member
I'd have to say the Fiona the Hippo is be most famous zoo animal (Her brother Fritz does not count because he would not be that famous without Fiona). Winnie the Black Bear at the London Zoo back in the '20s and '30s might be THE most famous zoo animal of all time, despite the fact that she died many years before I was born.
Can I suggest that Jumbo is the most famous zoo animal ever?
I concur: I think London Zoo's African elephant "Jumbo" is the most famous zoo animal ever.
I was just about to make an almost identical post when I saw you'd beaten me to it by a few minutes.
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Jumbo is probably the most famous, Harambe is probably a close second.
I think the most famous zoo animals that I've personally seen are the following from London Zoo:
A zoo's most famous animal
- "Guy" western lowland gorilla (1947 - 1978)
- "Chi-Chi" giant panda (1958 - 1972)
- "Brumas" London Zoo's first successful polar bear birth (1949 - 1958)
A zoo's most famous animal
Goldie the escapee Golden Eagle was famous in his day. I may have unknowingly seen Brumas when I was very young, definitely saw Guy, Chi-chi and Goldie multiple times. Less well known was ZSL’s Bornean Orangutan Bulu, first Orang reared in U.K., and relatively recently deceased at Paignton.
The character of Smokey inspired by the original bear is well-known, but the actual, real-life bear himself is virtually unknown. Winnie may be a much more famous zoo animal of the same species. Similar case there, but I feel like more people are aware that Winnie the Pooh is based on an actual bear compared to Smokey.
Nile Hippo Expert
Well-Known Member
Snowflake the albino gorilla (1964-2003 at the Barcelona Zoo) was also a world famous animal because he has the "one of a kind" status with being the only recorded albino gorilla in the world.
Sphenisciologist
Well-Known Member
Not necessarily the most famous, but I think Roy and Silo, the Central Park Zoo's two gay chinstrap penguins from the late 90's, would be worth an honorable mention.
Aardwolf
Well-Known Member
In his own lifetime, the real Smokey was very famous. Like Winnie, though, over the years the real animal has become essentially forgotten, despite the fame of their cartoon image.
Ham the space chimp is another National Zoo resident who was very famous in life, and largely forgotten in death
zoogeekmaelstrom
Well-Known Member
There's also famous zoo animals from Asia as well, like Ah Meng, the orangutan from the Singapore Zoo who was considered a tourist icon for Singapore. Grape-kun the penguin from the Tobu Zoo is another example, as he was attracted to a cardboard cutout of a penguin character from an anime about a safari park. Then, we have Jia Jia, the world's oldest panda to have ever lived before she sadly passed away in 2016 in Ocean Park, Hong Kong. She is probably the most famous zoo animal where I live, as I live in Hong Kong and actually got to see her before her death.
I have not seen anyone discussing either Cacareco or Tião.
— Cacareco was the third black rhino to be born in captivity in the world. Carioca, it was loaned for three months to the São Paulo Zoo in 1958, becoming the star of the collection. Even though she had already returned to her homeland, she was still loved by the people of São Paulo. This love gave journalist Itaboraí Martins an idea: launch the rhinoceros as a candidate for councilor. The idea was so popular that Cacareco won the 1959 municipal elections, receiving a total of one hundred thousand votes. Her candidacy inspired the Rhinoceros Party of Canada and a very popular 1960 Carnival song.
— Two newspapers (Casseta Popular and Planeta Diário) launched Tião's “candidacy” for mayor of Rio de Janeiro in the 1988 municipal elections, representing those who were unsatisfied with the country's precarious situation at the time. Upon receiving four hundred thousand votes, he is now on the Guinness World Records as the most voted chimpanzee in the world. Besides this, he was very popular with visitors at the zoo and was loved by the keepers. Tião unfortunately passed away in 1996, but his skeleton remains preserved at Centro de Primatologia do Rio de Janeiro.
— Cacareco was the third black rhino to be born in captivity in the world. Carioca, it was loaned for three months to the São Paulo Zoo in 1958, becoming the star of the collection. Even though she had already returned to her homeland, she was still loved by the people of São Paulo. This love gave journalist Itaboraí Martins an idea: launch the rhinoceros as a candidate for councilor. The idea was so popular that Cacareco won the 1959 municipal elections, receiving a total of one hundred thousand votes. Her candidacy inspired the Rhinoceros Party of Canada and a very popular 1960 Carnival song.
— Two newspapers (Casseta Popular and Planeta Diário) launched Tião's “candidacy” for mayor of Rio de Janeiro in the 1988 municipal elections, representing those who were unsatisfied with the country's precarious situation at the time. Upon receiving four hundred thousand votes, he is now on the Guinness World Records as the most voted chimpanzee in the world. Besides this, he was very popular with visitors at the zoo and was loved by the keepers. Tião unfortunately passed away in 1996, but his skeleton remains preserved at Centro de Primatologia do Rio de Janeiro.
Mac
Active Member
I also forgot to mention Hazel & Monty, the first two Southern Koala joeys born in Europe, who I had the extreme pleasure of meeting on Christmas Eve 2022. Cutie Monty was fresh out of the pouch, so it was an incredible day, seeing as the first time I ever saw a koala was with pretty much every age-band of a koala: Newborn Joey, Big sister joey, adult koalas!
Nile Hippo Expert
Well-Known Member
How about the Taipei Zoo's Asian Elephant bull Lin Wang? He was not only a celebrity elephant that people from all over the world would come to see, and when he was moved in the mid-1980s, crowds lined the streets just to see him. He also lived to the unprecedented age of eighty-six years, which at the time was the age record for elephants in captivity.
Other famous animals at London Zoo include Jumbo the African elephant, Belinda the bird-eating spider, Professor Wu the Chinese giant salamander and Josephine the Great Indian hornbill
