ZSL London Zoo North Mammal House

oldrover

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
Just a very quick query, could any of you tell me whether the North Mammal House still standing, if so (although I suspect not) is it still open in some capacity. If not what's there now.

Thanks for reading.
 
Just a very quick query, could any of you tell me whether the North Mammal House still standing, if so (although I suspect not) is it still open in some capacity. If not what's there now.

Thanks for reading.

Sorry, what zoo are you referring to?
 
The North Mammal House is long gone - it was demolished around 1970 to make way for the education centre which is tucked in the northwest corner of the zoo, beyond the Snowdon Aviary.
 
Incidentally, although always known as the North Mammal House, it was actually two separate but adjacent buildings so North Mammal Houses would have been a more appropriate name.

The old North Mammal House was emptied of animals (mostly cats) in 1968 as it was scheduled for demolition. However it was then subsequently used to provide temporary accommodation for various monkeys in 1970 / 1971 after the old Monkey House had been partly demolished and before the new primate accommodation in the Sobell Pavilions was ready.

London Zoo’s twentieth thylacine (and the last outside Australia) died in the North Mammal House on 9th August 1931.
 
London Zoo’s twentieth thylacine (and the last outside Australia) died in the North Mammal House on 9th August 1931.

My girlfriend's grandmother got a photo of this animal, as I learnt when going through her old papers and documents when she died - I really have to root it out again and put it on here!
 
My girlfriend's grandmother got a photo of this animal, as I learnt when going through her old papers and documents when she died - I really have to root it out again and put it on here!

If you find that pic, I recommend you not to upload it in the Internet ! and take good care for it-it's worth a lot, because only a handful Pictures of a living tasmanian tiger are still exist.Just an advice from me.;)
 
Please, please do post it, every one of these photos is a precious resource and would mean a lot to a lot of people to see it.

Oh, I plan to :) just need to find it; in the intervening time since Hel's grandmother died the family have moved house so half the stuff is still boxed up!

Among the other nice things in that batch of photo albums is a load of shots she took on a walking tour of Germany and Austria in the mid-1930's, including photos taken at Zoo Berlin. Nothing especially unusual that I can recall though.
 
Oh, I plan to :) just need to find it; in the intervening time since Hel's grandmother died the family have moved house so half the stuff is still boxed up!

Among the other nice things in that batch of photo albums is a load of shots she took on a walking tour of Germany and Austria in the mid-1930's, including photos taken at Zoo Berlin. Nothing especially unusual that I can recall though.

Thanks mate that's great to hear.
 
If you find that pic, I recommend you not to upload it in the Internet ! and take good care for it-it's worth a lot, because only a handful Pictures of a living tasmanian tiger are still exist.Just an advice from me.;)

There are far more than a 'handful' of photos of living Thylacines, I can assure you. Enough to fill a small book probably. And more are still being discovered from time to time.
 
While being interviewed for the book Carnivorous Nights, Bob Brown produced a photo he'd recently bought at a bric a brac stall. He also mentioned that they still pop up from time to time.
 
If you look on the 'Thylacine Museum' website, it includes many (but not all) of the known Thylacine photos as well as all the films. I think you can probably trace the origin and other details of the last Thylacine at London Zoo too. (If not I have them somewhere).

The photo I really like, (its not on that site) is the one of a Thylacine in the (first) Hobart Zoo standing upright to interact with a keeper(?) on the other side of the wire.

Regarding dogs- the dog here and this Thylacine may have been familiar. In aggressive and hunting encounters most larger dogs (kangaroo dogs, collies etc) were very scared of (wild) Thylacines which of course reacted aggressively by threat-yawning, biting etc, but the smaller, pluckier terrier types would sometimes go in for the attack.
 
Last edited:
I think the last London zoo specimen was I believe originally part of a pair, one of which died at sea after being kept off shore because of some sort of docker's or seaman's strike.

I know the photo you mean it's a very nice one. I've tried to trawl through the internet to find as many pictures as I can. While there are a lot which usually come up in any search, I found a few which rarely appear, the Haes photo for example. These rarer ones, rarer to me at any rate, I've put together here;

revotisThartmannIII's Library | Photobucket

I'm sure they're all familiar but there quite a few that aren't on the museum site, although there are some wonderful ones on that site that as far as I can tell don't appear on the web anywhere.

I'm left wondering has there ever been an appeal of any sort, especially in Tasmania and Australia for people to submit any home photos they may have?
 
I think the last London zoo specimen was I believe originally part of a pair, one of which died at sea after being kept off shore because of some sort of docker's or seaman's strike.

Indeed London Zoo’s last thylacine, a female, was one of a pair but, sadly, the male died at sea and never reached the zoo.

This animal was purchased for £150 from the animal deal G. B. Chapman of Tottenham Court Road, London.

It arrived at the zoo on 26th January 1926 and died in the North Mammal House on 9th August 1931.

Bernard William Tucker of Oxford University performed a detailed dissection and study of its head; the remains of its head are still preserved in the Oxford Zoology Museum.

I've tried to trawl through the internet to find as many pictures as I can. While there are a lot which usually come up in any search, I found a few which rarely appear, the Haes photo for example. These rarer ones, rarer to me at any rate, I've put together here;
revotisThartmannIII's Library | Photobucket

Very many thanks for this link; there are some extremely interesting photographs here.

My girlfriend's grandmother got a photo of this animal, as I learnt when going through her old papers and documents when she died - I really have to root it out again and put it on here!

Yes, please, “root it out again” and post it on ZooChat – you cannot have too many photos of thylacines.

Among the other nice things in that batch of photo albums is a load of shots she took on a walking tour of Germany and Austria in the mid-1930's, including photos taken at Zoo Berlin. Nothing especially unusual that I can recall though.

No photos of the Berlin Zoo mountain nyala?
 
Last edited:
Back
Top