United Kingdom Zoological Society of London Annual Reports

[juxgirl]

Hey all, I just found out that the Zoological Society of London has digitized what looks to be all of their annual reports from the beginning of the Garden's existence in 1829 till 2021. Looks like most if not all were uploaded on Jan 4, 2024. They include tons of information related to Zoo administrative purposes, Zoo finances, notable specimens, inventory of animal diets etc.

This one is probably my favourite: Annual Report, 1938.
But that's probably because I like to read about Huxley's grandiose projects for the Zoo during his secretaryship.

Here they are in chronological order.
Clicking the thumbnail should bring you to a pdf documents.
I'd love if you posted if you found anything cool, it's a lot of material for one person to go through, and a lot to discuss.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Very interesting indeed - although it is a great pity that they have not uploaded all of the annual stocklist reports for London and Whipsnade, which are generally uploaded to the main ZSL website but taken offline each year in order to be replaced by the newest report.

 

[Tim May]

....
This one is probably my favourite: Annual Report, 1938...

Indeed, 1938 is a particularly interesting year; five giant pandas were acquired (three were purchased and two were "deposited").
The first ZSL "mountain" gorilla "Meng" was obtained that year too although it's now known to have been an eastern lowland gorilla rather than a true mountain gorilla. ( London's only true mountain gorilla was "Reuben" acquired in 1960.)

 

[juxgirl]

Very interesting indeed - although it is a great pity that they have not uploaded all of the annual stocklist reports for London and Whipsnade, which are generally uploaded to the main ZSL website but taken offline each year in order to be replaced by the newest report.

I don't know how much you enjoy the history of the Zoo but I have a list of all the fish and reptiles kept at the Zoo from the List of the vertebrated animals exhibited in the gardens of the Zoological Society of London, 1828-1927, along with gender and who deposited/sold them. I could scan some/all of it, since it's public domain; all the contributors seem to have died in 1945-46. You could probably put a stocklist together piecemeal.
There's also the Proceedings of the ZSL but they're a bit more difficult to get ahold of, though it does talk about some animal deaths and health problems. You might be able to access it through a library.

Anyways, it's a shame that they don't just keep a catalogue of stocklists. I remember being very unhappy about it when I was looking for historic stocklists years ago.

 

[Tim May]

.....I have a list of all the fish and reptiles kept at the Zoo from the List of the vertebrated animals exhibited in the gardens of the Zoological Society of London, 1828-1927, along with gender and who deposited/sold them. I could scan some/all of it, since it's public domain.....

Yes the third volume of the "List of the Vertebrated Animals Exhibited in the Gardens of the Zoological Society of London 1828 – 1927: Centenary Edition" (1929) lists the species of fish, amphibians and reptiles kept at London Zoo between 1828 and 1937. The three volumes are:-

Vol 1 Mammals (by S. S. Flower)
Vol 2 Birds (by G. Carmichael Low)
Vol 3 Reptiles (by S. S. Flower); Amphibians (by Malcolm A. Smith); Fishes (by E.G. Boulenger).

There's also the Proceedings of the ZSL but they're a bit more difficult to get ahold of, though it does talk about some animal deaths and health problems. You might be able to access it through a library.

The early "Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London" are available on-line from the Biodiversity Heritage Library.

 

[Tim May]

...the List of the vertebrated animals exhibited in the gardens of the Zoological Society of London, 1828-1927.......all the contributors seem to have died in 1945-46

Of the four contributors to the Centenary Edition of "List of the Vertebrated Animals..."

S. S. Flower died:- 1946
G. Carmichael Low died:- 1952
Malcolm A. Smith died:- 1958
E. G. Boulenger:- 1946

 

[Max Blundell]

Very interesting indeed - although it is a great pity that they have not uploaded all of the annual stocklist reports for London and Whipsnade, which are generally uploaded to the main ZSL website but taken offline each year in order to be replaced by the newest report.

This would be a dream come true if they start to upload animal inventories, I love seeing what has come and gone from the collections each year.