In the early 1980s the zoo obtained land across the street and moved many animals over, including the zebras and ostriches, but back in the 1970s this was their paddock.
Thanks so much for these old photos from Copenhagen, Baldur! Copenhagen being my "home zoo", they are so interesting to me!
Well - "home zoo".....
I live in Sweden but visited the zoo probably three times in the 1960s, with my parents. Late in the 1970s I moved to the very south of Sweden - "Skane" - to go to university and started visiting the zoo again. Not that often, perhaps once every two or three years or so - it is only in recent years that I have become really interested again. Now I am a regular visitor.
Anyway, I have a special memory connected with the enclosure in this very picture. The first time I "re-visited" the zoo in the late 1970s, I was joined by some newfound friends from the university and it turned out that it was not a very good idea at all to let the visitors come in close contact with the animals - like the man in the picture. One of my friends got pretty badly bitten by an ostrich....
PS
I am pretty sure that the zoo´s extension to "the other side of the street" took place much earlier. I seem to recall it being done already when I visited in the 1960s, but I am not sure.
Toddy would be the best one to set this straight, the forum's expert on Copenhagen Zoo, but I'm sure that I read somewhere that 'Sondermarken' opened as an extension to the zoo in 1983. However I think that prior to that, the land across the street was a park for flowers and families, as Frederiksberg Park and Palace are today.
Toddy would be the best one to set this straight, the forum's expert on Copenhagen Zoo, but I'm sure that I read somewhere that 'Sondermarken' opened as an extension to the zoo in 1983. However I think that prior to that, the land across the street was a park for flowers and families, as Frederiksberg Park and Palace are today.
It's not that I don't believe you, Dan, but somehow the year 1983 is stuck in my head. I would have suggested that it was a spelling error on the website (can and does happen) but then I remembered that the famous Okapis which arrived in the late 1950s had their first (and so far only, to my knowledge) enclosure in the Sondemarken part. So, could it be that just the rhinos, zebras and ostriches only moved over in 1983, as I think I saw that date in a caption to a photo of the rhinoceroses in an old zoo newsletter. But as we are on this subject, I'd like to know what was kept in the Sondemarken part prior to the 1980s other than the Okapis.
It's not that I don't believe you, Dan, but somehow the year 1983 is stuck in my head. I would have suggested that it was a spelling error on the website (can and does happen) but then I remembered that the famous Okapis which arrived in the late 1950s had their first (and so far only, to my knowledge) enclosure in the Sondemarken part. So, could it be that just the rhinos, zebras and ostriches only moved over in 1983, as I think I saw that date in a caption to a photo of the rhinoceroses in an old zoo newsletter. But as we are on this subject, I'd like to know what was kept in the Sondemarken part prior to the 1980s other than the Okapis.
Yes, that sounds very likely that the rhinos etc were moved to Sondermarken in the beginning of the 1980s. That would fit in well with my old memories.
Can´t answer your question, but I´ve been meaning to e-mail the zoo, asking them to put their old maps on the website. During the 150 year-jubilee, there were lots of old maps (and photos) posted all over the park. They were extremely interesting to watch of course.
Looks like I can't even have a two month absense before the Danish forum is bombarded with zoo history questions. I have looked through my own private library of Copenhagen Zoo (which is getting quite extensive) and found some dates of the Søndermarken extension for you. Please note that these dates are not complete and do not cover everything that happened.
1950 - Copenhagen Zoo is granted the extention in Søndermarken.
1953 - The new extension area opens to the public and is connected to the Frederiksberg Gardens side with a tunnel (still in use today). The new enclosures on the other side were mainly for hoofstock and held European bison, Pere David's deer, red-necked wallabies and cranes. There were also pony rides, a playground and a restaurant.
1957 - More enclosures for deer are constructed and chital deer and blackbucks move in. The new okapi enclosure was also finished this year and is still standing today. A new set of cages for gibbons, chimpanzees and gorillas are also constructed (the gibbons moved again in 1968. the chimps in the 70's and the gorillas in 1984).
1960 - A new antelope house is constructed in Søndermarken.
1969 - The przewalski wild horses recieve a new exhibit in Søndermarken.
1984 - It is decided that Søndermarken will become the new Africa theme and the exhibits for white rhinoceros and sable antelopes opens this year. The new Children's Zoo also opens in a corner of the Søndermarken part this year as a celebration of the zoos 125th anniversary.
1980's - The new savannah opens with zebras, waterbucks, elands and ostriches.
1998 - The ring-tailed lemurs replace green vervet monkeys in their current exhibit.
2001 - The new Giraffe House opens and the impalas move from their enclosure to his new savannah. Red-necked wallabies move into the former impala enclosure (also in Søndermarken).
2003 - The Isolated Islands theme is added as the third theme in the Søndermarken part. The animals at the time of the opening are giant tortoises from Galapagos (new exhibt), ring-tailed lemurs from Madagascar, keas from New Zealand (former grey parrot exhibit) and red-necked wallabies from Australia.
2004 - A new enclosure for sable antelopes is built next to the savannah as well as The African Aviaries for caracals, congo peafowls, pygmy geese, red-and-yellow barbets, weavers, grey parrots and abyssinian ground hornbills.
2006 - The new exhibit for tasmanian devils opens in April 2006 as part of the Isolated Islands. The devils are a gift from Tasmania to the royal family of Denmark. Also, the exhibit for white rhinoceros and blue wildebeest is renovated and doubled in size. This is part one of the new "grand savannah" that will be finished in 2007.
2007 - The "Grand Savannah" opens in the summer of 2007 and connects all the former three savannahs into one featuring, white rhinos, blue wildebeests, reticulated giraffes, impalas, grant's zebras, sable antelopes, blesboks and ostriches. The final part of the Grand Savannah, the Hippo House, opens in October 2007 and connects to the main savannah.
I hope this helps
HOWEVER, the picture above is not taken in the Søndermarken extension (like you mentioned Baldur). The zebras and ostriches had not moved there yet. What you can see is part of the current pampas enclosure and the exhibit for giant anteaters behind it. The tree in this picture is still standing.
