So when did you become a Zoo fan?(UK only)

G

garyjp

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
I just wondered when and where the moment clicked when you realised that you loved going to the Zoo. Which zoo? How old were you? Why? What was your lightbulb moment ? What do you remember most ?

For me I must of been 12/13 years of age I was allready a XYZ club member at London Zoo - so could go half a dozen times a year , PWP or Broxbourne as it was - was just up the road and I had visited both Shepreth and Chessington when it was more of a 50/50 split.
It was my annual holidays to the Isle of Wight Sandown Zoo, Seaview Wildlife encounter (flamingo Park then) , Tropical bird Park St. Lawrence (now closed) & Robin Hill zoological and Country Park. After doing the previous my parents would buy me a season ticket to use in a 2 week period to go to Robin Hill. Was it much of a zoo no not really, the cages were pretty crap to be honest and their selection of animals were limited but their primate collection fascinated me beyond reason. Olive Baboon, pig tailed Macaque, Rhesus Macaque and crab eating macaque. I literally stayed all day watching these animals, photograhing, taking notes , studying their behaviour .I was hooked !
 
About 1961 or 1962. The first toy I remember having was an elephnat, I had no interest in cars or trains.

When I was 5 years old in 1962 I was the only person in my school who knew what an okapi was. I think this explains my lifelong interest in ungulates.

the headmaster was very impressed, he had not heard of the species himself.
 
Well then, in that case,: It wasn't sudden or anything like that, my grand/parents took me to the Bronx a couple times of year and I always loved watching the elephants. And as I got a little older I was getting books, researching, etc... and I just developed a love for them(animals/zoos).
 
Can you really become a zoo fan before you visit a zoo? I think not.
In which case, I think I became one in the summer of 1958 (or perhaps it was 1959) after my first visit to Chester with my uncle and my cousin. I remember showing the zoo map to my mother and telling her about all the animals we saw (except the beaver of course). As I have written before, I suddenly got very disappointed when I saw that one of the places on the map was labelled 'buffet' and I remember saying "We saw the buffalo but we didn't see the buffet" (I pronounced it to rhyme with Miss Muffet and her tuffet of course), so she had to explain to me what a buffet was.

Alan
 
bongorob said:
About 1961 or 1962. The first toy I remember having was an elephnat, I had no interest in cars or trains.
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I still have my first toy, which was also an elephant (made out of soft corderoy). Its name is Ele.
 
I cannot remember the exact age but it must have been very young! For all of my life animals have been my passion and I was lucky enough that I had parents who let me follow that passion in everyday life!
we had various pets and we would visit zoos regularly.
Every holiday each member of our family would choose something to do or visit and I can distinctly remember my brother saying "oh no! Not another zoo or farm!! " when it was my turn to choose :D

As an adult I only really started visiting zoos and collecting zoo guides/books etc at about 18 and then by the time I was 20 it was an obsession!
 
I have a vague memory of watching the bears on the Mapin Terraces at London zoo, I was about five years of age. It was at the end of the day and was getting dark and I was exhausted to the point that I was nodding off while standing there but still didn't want to leave. This visit and a diet of Animal Magic turned me into a zoo fanatic.
 
I remember being taken to Paignton Zoo in 1959, then when I was old enough visited lots of different ones including some very small ones such as Sewerby and a tiny one at New Brighton .Been to quite a lot of Zoos since then, remember a very friendly Anoa at London Zoo and a baby Seriema at Stagsden called Cedric.
 
crested seriema said:
I remember being taken to Paignton Zoo in 1959, then when I was old enough visited lots of different ones including some very small ones such as Sewerby and a tiny one at New Brighton .Been to quite a lot of Zoos since then, remember a very friendly Anoa at London Zoo and a baby Seriema at Stagsden called Cedric.
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I was born and raised in Wallasey, so I visited it as a child too. It was very small indeed with very few animals. The only one I remember is a lioness. I also remember being disappointed. That visit did not stimulate my interest in zoos in any way.

Alan
 
It would be my first visit to Jersey in the summer of 1981 [aged 11],i fell in love with the place and the gorillas in particular.I felt it was my first proper zoo and the obsession started there.
Newquay was my first because it was the closest zoo but it was a godawful place back then.
 
My zoo interest started in the early 90's with frequent visits to Dudley and BNC but truly came to life in about 1992 with my first visits to Twycross and London with much better collections. I don't remember much about those 2 visits but do recall being astounded by the apes at Twycross and how they appeared to live in luxury compared to their counterparts in Dudley's ape house. My opinion has changed a lot since then... ;)

Before that I already had a habit of drawing my own zoos and trying to create them with plastic animals, my grandad even built me little wooden animal houses and brought fake grass to add to the realism! Basically I've had a slight obsession since I was knee high to a katydid! :D
 
In the Spring of 1963 when my love affair with Flamingo Park started!

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My lifelong association with Sewerby started around the same time.
 
I was taken to various zoos from the age of 3 (in the 60`s), and I have not stopped visiting them ever since!
 
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