Flamingo Land The Animals of Flamingo Land 1976

Parrotsandrew

Parrotsandrew

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
As it is coming up to the fortieth :eek: anniversary of the publication of "The Animals of Flamingo Land" (published just after the name change from Flamingo Park), I thought it would be interesting to list the species in the collection then as a comparison with today's smaller collection. Looking through my records, the nearest figures I have got from the IZYB would be for 31st December 1974 when the collection was listed as follows:

Mammals 83 species; 310 specimens
Birds 124; 725
Reptiles 106; 150
Amphibians 6; 17
Fishes 6;40 (surprisingly low)

There had been 92 species of mammal at 31st December 1970, and 155 of bird at 31st December 1966.

Anyway, I shall start with the mammals for 1976 - I shall list their names as given in the book unless there is an obviously spelling mistake.

Bennett's Wallaby

Douroucouli or Night Monkey
Capuchin Monkey (albifrons per the scientific name)
Black Spider Monkey
Hamadryas Baboon
Barbary Ape
Pig-tailed Macaque
Crab-eating Macaque
Rhesus Macaque
Celebes Black Ape
Sooty Mangabey
White-collared Mangabey
Green Monkey (Callithrix per the scientific name listed)
Diana Monkey
Moustached Monkey
White-nosed Guenon
Patas or Hussar Monkey

White-handed Gibbon

Orang-utan
Orang-utan (Sumatran)
Chimpanzee

Giant Anteater

Crested Porcupine

Bottle-nosed Dolphin

Grey Wolf
Australian Dingo
Arctic Fox
Raccoon-like Dog
Polar Bear
European Brown Bear
Himalayan Black Bear
Raccoon
Indian Mongoose
Spotted Hyaena
Tiger
Lion
Leopard
Puma
Cheetah
Caracal
Scottish Wid Cat

Californian Sea Lion
Grey Seal

African Elephant
Indian Elephant

Donkey
Grant's Zebra
South American Tapir

Collared Peccary
Bactrian Camel
Arabian Camel
Guanaco
Llama
Alpaca
European Red Deer
North American Wapiti
Fallow Deer
Japanese Sika Deer
Pere David's Deer
Javanese Muntjac
Reticulated Giraffe
Red Lechwe (Waterbuck)
Arabian Gazelle
Barbary Sheep
North American Bison
Ankole Cattle

I am just thinking I have a photograph of a De Brazza's Monkey taken in 1976 - maybe the species arrived during the year.
 
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Now on with the birds (I realised this afternoon that the book does not include fishes no matter how many there were - the aquarium would have been on the site of the original dolphinarium then). If one of the parrots was what the book says, it is a bit of a sensation...but...

South American Rhea

Emu

King Penguin
Jackass Penguin
Humboldt Penguin

Eurasian White Pelican
Brown Pelican

Common Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron
Cattle Egret
White Stork
Marabou Stork

European White Spoonbill
Wood Ibis
Scarlet Ibis
Sacred Ibis
Greater Flamingo
Cuban Flamingo
Chilean Flamingo

Mute Swan
Australian Black Swan
Domestic Goose
Greylag Goose
Snow Goose
Chinese Goose
Lesser White-fronted Goose
Pink-footed Goose
Bar-headed Goose
Canada Goose
Barnacle Goose
Egyptian Goose
Common Pintail Duck
Bahama Pintail Duck
Common Teal
Common Wigeon
Mallard Duck
Shelduck
Ruddy Shellduck
Tufted Duck
Goldeneye Duck
Mandarin Duck
Carolina Duck
Eider Duck
Red-crested Pochard
Muscovy Duck

Andean Condor
Tawny Eagle
Bateleur Eagle
Augur Buzzard
Cinereous Vulture
White-backed Vulture
Griffon Vulture
Caracara

Crested Guan
Red-legged Partridge
Ring-necked Pheasant
Reeves's Pheasant
Silver Pheasant
Golden Pheasant
Lady Amherst's Pheasant
Blue Peafowl
White Peafowl
Black-shouldered Peafowl
Pied Peafowl
Common Guinea Fowl

Sarus Crane
Crowned Crane
Grey-winged Trumpeter
Purple Gallinule
Ypecaha Wood Rail

Inca Tern

Roseate Cockatoo
Moluccan Cockatoo
Chattering Lory
Budgerigar
Australian Cockatiel
Alexandrine Parakeet
Ring-necked Parakeet
Moustached Parakeet
Plum-headed Parakeet
Canary-winged Parakeet
Quaker Parakeet
African Grey Parrot
Amazon Green Parrot (with the scientific name agilis)
Red-shouldered Conure
Black-headed Conure
Red-fronted Conure
Lesser Patagonian Conure
Blue and Yellow Macaw
Green-winged Macaw
Scarlet Macaw

White-cheeked Turaco (surprised at that spelling in 1976 - always "Touraco" to me)

Great Eagle Owl
Malayan Fish Owl
Tawny Owl

Ariel Toucan

Java Sparrow
Greater Hill Mynah
Glossy Starling (Aplonis panayensis)
Red-billed Blue Tree Pie
Common Jay

Oh for a bird collection as extensive as that today. Was the "Amazon Green Parrot" really the Black-billed Amazon? In her book on Amazon Parrots Rosemary Low says the female at Regent's Park from the 1960s was for many years probably the only one in any collection in Europe. Could another have been resident in Kirby Misperton?
 
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Flamingo Land.....

'Australian' Cockatiel? As opposed to the little known Outer Mongolian Cockatiel perhaps.
Not the sort of collection one would see today, mammals or birds.
 
Zoo Yearbook volume 18 gives the 1976 figures.

mammals 65 species 255 specimens
birds 100 species 602 specimens
reptiles 47 species 100 specimens
amphibians 2 species 12 specimens
fishes 30 species 150 specimens
invertebrates 2 species 15 specimens

the attendance in 1976 was estimated as 600,000

from the 17th to 24th April 1976 I stayed at the Flamingo Park caravan site, I'm sure that if they had exhibited a black-billed Amazon I would have noticed. However the lack of a sighting does not mean that they did not have one.
 
FBBird said:
'Australian' Cockatiel? As opposed to the little known Outer Mongolian Cockatiel perhaps.
Not the sort of collection one would see today, mammals or birds.
Click to expand...

I did think "what other sort is there?" as I was typing it! I should have explained the book comprises copies of the labels for the species in the collection. Just after I had switched off it struck me there are labels for the Plum-headed Parakeet and the Donkey (I shall edit them in above), neither of which are in the back, and checking through there are no labels for the Red-legged Partridge or the Ariel Toucan. Some of the labels use a different name from the one on the list in the back of the book - for example, it is just "Cockatiel" on the label, and the "Caracara" is labelled as the Common Caracara, plus it is "Touraco" on the label - hurray. Also Cebus albifrons is labelled as the Brown Capuchin (it was definitely apella that was there in later years), so there is a question mark there (albifrons at Sewerby is now labelled as the "Brown Pale-fronted"). As you say, it is not the sort of collection one would see today, but I wish I could see it again.
 
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bongorob said:
Zoo Yearbook volume 18 gives the 1976 figures.

mammals 65 species 255 specimens
birds 100 species 602 specimens
reptiles 47 species 100 specimens
amphibians 2 species 12 specimens
fishes 30 species 150 specimens
invertebrates 2 species 15 specimens

the attendance in 1976 was estimated as 600,000

from the 17th to 24th April 1976 I stayed at the Flamingo Park caravan site, I'm sure that if they had exhibited a black-billed Amazon I would have noticed. However the lack of a sighting does not mean that they did not have one.
Click to expand...

Thank-you for that, bongorob. I have just realised I do have volume 18, but I think I stopped making notes from them for my Flamingo Park file after the zoo's name change! I did not give a thought to looking it up yesterday - thank-you for stepping in. Your visit in 1976 would have been just at the time of the publication of the book. I am far from convinced the Amazon would have been a Black-billed! Just looking at the drawing on the copy of the label, it doesn't even have a dark bill, but then it does not look like one of the more commonly seen species either (it must be said, though, that the quality of the drawings is variable). I suppose only a photograph would reveal the truth. The total for fishes would seem about right from my memory of the aquarium.
 
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In the absence of fishes, on with the final lists:-

AMPHIBIANS

Surinam Toad
African Clawed Frog
African Bullfrog
Brazilian Horned Toad
Asiatic Giant Toad
Marine Toad

REPTILES

Seychelles Giant Tortoise
Greek Tortoise
Wood Terrapin
Spanish Terrapin
Serrated Terrapin
Red-eared Terrapin
Black Box Terrapin
Map Terrapin (no label in book)
Leaf Terrapin
Florida Mud Terrapin
Snapping Turtle
Side-necked Turtle
African Mud Turtle (Pelomedusa subrufa)
African Mud Turtle (Pelosius Spp)

Nile Crocodile
Dwarf Crocodile
American Alligator

Brooke's European Gecko
Flat-tailed Flying Gecko
Plated Lizard
Thailand Water Dragon
Common Iguana
Black-pointed Tegu
Bengal Monitor Lizard
Warren's Zonure

Boa Constrictor
Garden Tree Boa
Cooke's Tree Boa
Emerald Tree Boa (not on list in back of book)
African Python (Python sebae)
Reticulated Python
Bull Snake
Speckled King Snake
Mangrove Snake
Blunt-headed Tree Snake (not on list in back of book)
Red-spotted Beaked Snake
African Beauty Snake
Puff Adder
Water Moccasin or Cottonmouth
Western Diamond-back Rattlesnake
Pacific Rattlesnake (no label in book)
Red Rattlesnake
Dusky Pigmy Rattlesnake

A few venomous species there, and a collection that puts today's minimal reptile display firmly in the shade.
 
Parrotsandrew said:
......Spotted Hyaena..........
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting these lists, Andrew; very interesting.

It is good to see somebody spelling "hyaena" correctly; the current trend of omitting the first 'a' and writing "hyena" irritates me.

Do you have details, please,of what happened to the spotted hyaenas that were bred at Flamingo Land in the 1970s? i.e. were they sent to other zoos and, if so, where?
 
Tim,

a couple of spotted hyaenas from Flamingoland went to Belfast in the mid 70s. Another ended up at Colchester much later on.
 
Tim May said:
Thanks for posting these lists, Andrew; very interesting.

It is good to see somebody spelling "hyaena" correctly; the current trend of omitting the first 'a' and writing "hyena" irritates me.

Do you have details, please,of what happened to the spotted hyaenas that were bred at Flamingo Land in the 1970s? i.e. were they sent to other zoos and, if so, where?
Click to expand...

Thank-you Tim, pleased you enjoyed them. Yes, I much prefer "hyaena", although I think the thing that annoys most where new spellings are concerned is that "mynah" has become "myna". I think it looks awful and I fail to see the point of it.

I did not have any details regarding the hyaenas bred at Flamingo Land, so many thanks from me too to Paradoxurus for the information.

I have just scanned a few pages from "The Animals of Flamingo Land", so I shall post those in the gallery.
 
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