Definitely London Zoo but earlier than the 1966 you suggest; this is the enclosure where the elephants lived before the Elephant and Rhino (Casson) Pavilion and that opened in 1965.
My guess would be for keepers to stand on in order to hand back anything like hats or glasses dropped into the moat, so they could reach up to the public. Any other ideas?
Its probably the historian in me, but I do enjoy looking at these old photographs...still awaiting the next volume of "London Zoo from old photographs" POST 1914!
I never knew this exhibit existed, so I'm interested to see/hear more! Was this just a stop-gap between the original ele/rhino accommodation and the Casson? Did it occupy it's predecessor's footprint? And, to those with long memories, did it have it's merits?
I never knew this exhibit existed, so I'm interested to see/hear more! Was this just a stop-gap between the original ele/rhino accommodation and the Casson? Did it occupy it's predecessor's footprint? And, to those with long memories, did it have it's merits?
This enclosure was roughly on the site of the Elephant House of 1869 which was demolished shortly before World War II. The original intention was for the old building to be replaced by a Lubetkin designed Elephant House but that never materialised because of the war.
The elephants in the exhibit pictured here had underground indoor accommodation; for further discussion of this elephant enclosure see the link below:-
Definitely London Zoo but earlier than the 1966 you suggest; this is the enclosure where the elephants lived before the Elephant and Rhino (Casson) Pavilion and that opened in 1965.
