The Indian rhinoceros ‘Jim’ who lived at the zoo from July 1864 until December 1904 held the longevity record for many years, although I believe that this record has now been surpassed.
Regarding the old elephant house, in his 1973 book 'Animals as Friends: a Headkeeper Remembers London Zoo', James Alldis describes it as:
... a red brick building with a slanting roof and a huge loft for storing hay, straw and foodstuffs. Inside there were separate stalls, one per elephant, with thick posts in front and a narrow safety barrier to protect the public.
In the winter months, the place hardly ever appeared to be dry and the atmosphere was not improved by the numerous rats living in luxury up above.
There was room for an elephant to walk from its stall through the door at the back and out into the exercise yard through an iron gate and round to the front of the house to be saddled up.
A real problem arose in the early 1930s when the biggest elephant of all became ill and died rather suddenly. A large crane would have been needed to lift the entire carcass, but there was not enough room for such machinery to operate and it was necessary to bisect the body and remove half at a time.
I've often stated that there are different beliefs on either side of the Atlantic Ocean when it comes to restoring, renovating or maintaining "historic" structures. In my town of Abbotsford (population 140,000 and about an hour from Vancouver) there was a recent demolition job of a church that was around 95 years old. The local press didn't even give it more than a tiny article in the paper and the once prosperous church is now an empty lot.
Here is a similar situation of a 100 year-old church in Vancouver, and this time a few residents are attempting to halt a proposed demolition. Here is the link, including a photo of the church:
On a side note, anything can be deemed "ugly" regardless whether someone has seen the item in the flesh or not. Millions of people have commented on the painting "Mona Lisa" and many are divided on the beauty of the portrait. Searching through the London Zoo gallery I'd hazard to estimate that there is a 50-50 split between folks who praise the asethetic value of many of the listed buildings and those that sneer at the style, even though most Brits support the notion of preserving the history, architecture, soul, and other beguiling factors of the zoo. The general consensus seems to be that a structure such as the Casson Pavilion is far from beatific, but that it has a rich and extremely varied history.
Re the 'soul' of London Zoo, I always feel rather 'cheated' that the old Elephant House [near where the Tecton Roundhouse is now, I believe] was demolished before I was born. Old photographs show [for their time] reasonable sized outside yards with bathing facilities. What I've never seen is photos or even a plan of the inside; do these exist anywhere?
Certain sounds that always seemed part of the Zoo to me, and part of the visiting experience. Approaching on foot from Camden Town tube station the bull Sealion's barking could be heard in the distance with, if you were lucky, the cry of the Fish Eagle as you got closer.
I am a bit confused here-was this also connected to the large outdoor enclosure the Elephants had before the Casson Pavilion was built? I do vaguely remember as a child seeing the Elephants in this outdoor enclosure(with the concrete sunshade) and also have several cards showing them too, but have no memory of an inside building- I heard that their inside area was 'underground'...was this after the original house was demolished perhaps?
Re Zoo noises; the bull Sealion was surely the most evocative of them all- when the Sealions left London I certainly felt that some of its 'soul' went with them.
I am a bit confused here-was this also connected to the large outdoor enclosure the Elephants had before the Casson Pavilion was built? I do vaguely remember as a child seeing the Elephants in this outdoor enclosure(with the concrete sunshade) and also have several cards showing them too, but have no memory of an inside building- I heard that their inside area was 'underground'...was this after the original house was demolished perhaps?
Re Zoo noises; the bull Sealion was surely the most evocative of them all- when the Sealions left London I certainly felt that some of its 'soul' went with them.
The old Elephant House, to which FBBird refers, was built in 1869 and was demolished just before World War II. The original intention was for it to be replaced with a Lubetkin (Tecton) structure although, because of the war, this never materialised. Given the problems caused by the Lubetkin’s listed Penguin Pool perhaps this is just as well.
I have many childhood memories from the late 1950s / early 1960s of the elephant exhibit, with the concrete sunshade, which was situated roughly where the Clore Pavilion is now. The (off-exhibit) indoor elephant accommodation for this enclosure was, indeed, underground.
Incidentally, I wholeheartedly agree; the bull sea-lion’s barking was the most evocative zoo sound and is sorely missed; it is a great shame that there are no longer any pinnipeds in the zoo.
I have many childhood memories from the late 1950s / early 1960s of the elephant exhibit, with the concrete sunshade, which was situated roughly where the Clore Pavilion is now. The (off-exhibit) indoor elephant accommodation for this enclosure was, indeed, underground.
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Thanks Tim. In those days you could still feed them across the moat. The Elephants I remember from that era were Dicksie (African) and Rusty (Asian) but there was probably at least one more.
I think Dixie/Dicksi [variously spelt] lived with several Asiatic females over the years, think I can remember seeing her with three at once. Not sure whether she overlapped with the ill-fated PolePole, who was a management & PR nightmare.
I think Dixie/Dicksi [variously spelt] lived with several Asiatic females over the years, think I can remember seeing her with three at once. Not sure whether she overlapped with the ill-fated PolePole, who was a management & PR nightmare.
I seem to remember 'Lakshmi' was acquired from Rotterdam but I'm not sure if she was in the old enclosure prior to the Casson Pavilion being built. And I am not sure if the older 'Rusty' made it into the Casson either.
There was also a suggestion 'Lakshmi' may have given 'Diksie' a shove when she fell though it was never proven, she may have just stretched out a bit too far one time.
I seem to remember 'Lakshmi' was acquired from Rotterdam but I'm not sure if she was in the old enclosure prior to the Casson Pavilion being built. And I am not sure if the older 'Rusty' made it into the Casson either.
There was also a suggestion 'Lakshmi' may have given 'Diksie' a shove when she fell though it was never proven, she may have just stretched out a bit too far one time.
Lakshmi arrived at London Zoo in 1953, so she would have been in the old enclosure before the Casson Pavilion was built. She was sent to Rotterdam in 1980; I am not sure if she came from there in the first place.
‘Rusty’ lived until 1969, so she too would have been one of the original elephants in the Casson Pavilion.
Yes, I too have heard that it was ‘Lakshmi’ who pushed ‘Diksie’ into the ditch, but I don’t know for sure that she was responsible. The ZSL Annual Report for 1967 states that ‘Diksie’ was “nudged by another elephant and overbalanced into the moat” without identifying the elephant concerned.
