It's certainly not mentioned within the main exhibit/species accounts, and as far as I know there have been no records of the species surviving more than a few hours in captivity, so I strongly suspect the reference within the guidebook section in question must pertain to an individual that died immediately upon arrival!
Perhaps... but on the other hand if there were any poorly documented (or not English-documented) successful attempts at keeping them alive, Japan would be the place you'd expect that to be the case!
I really like that tank-by-tank species list format they have. It reminds me of the handheld ID sheets that many zoos have for walk-through aviaries or butterfly houses, with visuals included with each name. I've never seen that format utilized for an aquarium; it would certainly be more helpful than the obnoxious e-signage aquariums are increasingly relying on these days. A solid example of how technology doesn't necessarily make things better or more efficient
@TeaLovingDave I didn't catch where you obtained the guidebook; it would be interesting to know given how unusual a piece it is in your collection.
I do know that Sunshine city aquarium has kept commerson dolphins in the past but I didn't know that they had larger species of dolphins. The aquarium also used to have small land animals such as lemurs, armadillos, tamanduas, and fennecs before they left the collection. I always have thought that the land animals were at the aquariun since the begining.
One of my semi-regular sources of zoo guidebooks and related items is Dr Klaus Schüling, an academic publisher and antiquarian book dealer in Germany who operates a German-language zoo discussion forum; along with his "regular" inventory of old zoo guidebooks, maps and annual reports available year-round, he also holds an auction twice a year comprising a mixture of material set aside for that purpose, more unusual items which have been sold/donated to him, the estates of deceased collectors and selected items from his standard inventory. These are physical auctions, but online bidding is also possible, and he also sometimes holds online-only auctions on special occasions; in this particular case, I picked up the Sunshine Aquarium guidebook during his July 2020 auction.
Thanks for TLD for @ me, but unfortunately this is a facility I haven't been to. Still I might be able to provide some thoughts and contrast between the modern one.
As sunshine aquarium was found in October 1978, this guidebook show the aquarium still in its early stage. (If wikipedia is correct) The aquarium was renovated in 2010, and reopened (and dropped the "international" from its name) in 2011, so I assume the aquarium back then would be a bit more different.
The main attraction now would be the rooftop, which holds the infamous sea lion donut tank, as well as flying penguin tank. I'm not sure what would be the main attraction back then, but from Wikipedia the sea otters and axolotls are main drawing points in the 1980s (which is interesting because I didn't see any of those 2 species in the guidebook! Maybe they'll be in the late 80s?)
It's certainly not mentioned within the main exhibit/species accounts, and as far as I know there have been no records of the species surviving more than a few hours in captivity, so I strongly suspect the reference within the guidebook section in question must pertain to an individual that died immediately upon arrival!
Day 37: National Zoological Park Delhi (1983) - Asiatic Lion
Page count: 34 (including inner front and rear covers) Photographs: 17 colour images, 14 black-and-white images. Illustrations/diagrams: 4 sketches of animals held in collection Layout: Introduction, followed by exhibit-by-exhibit walkthrough account of collection. Map: N/A
Another fun little (very little, at smaller than A5) oddity from Asia this time - in point of fact, this is the first guidebook from an Asian country to enter my collection, which I stumbled across for less than a pound in a charity shop several years ago. Definitely a good purchase, and a massive stroke of luck! This is not a collection I know all that much about, barring the information found within this guidebook, and I suspect the same will be true of many members of this forum; as such this item represents an interesting and valuable resource both as an item of zoo history and a means of discovering more about a seldom-discussed zoological collection.
The general format of this guidebook follows a similar pattern to many of the items I have already discussed within this thread - especially those published in the 1960s and 1970s at smaller UK collections - through the presentation of a general introduction to the collection, going into detail about the history and development of the zoo, followed by various important points of information for visitors (admission hours, rules of admission and so forth), before moving into an exhibit-by-exhibit discussion of the species present within the collection at the time of publication; there is no map included within the guidebook itself - or possibly, if one was present as an insert, it has long-since been lost - but each exhibit mentioned within the walkthrough discussion is numbered, with the text explicitly stating that each number corresponds to their location on the collection map. One imagines it is possible, given the small and lightweight format of this guidebook, that the intention was for it to be used by the visitor to the collection in place of exhibit signage, being referred to as they made their way around the zoo.
As can be seen in the example images provided above and below, the species/exhibit accounts are reasonably detailed for the most part, considering how brief the guidebook is overall, with a paragraph or two devoted to the majority of the species displayed within the collection and full taxonomic names cited. However, in certain points the guidebook follows a more generalist approach, with the contents of an entire house or exhibit complex dismissed within a short paragraph where the inhabitants are mentioned only in passing or not at all; for instance, within the images I have presented here one can see that the primate collection at the zoo is indicated to be relatively speciose, yet is dismissed with fewer than thirty words in total. As such, despite the methodical exhibit-by-exhibit approach this guidebook unfortunately cannot be used as a reliable indicator of the overall species inventory at the time of publication. Nonetheless, a number of interesting and unusual species - to the eyes of a modern-day Western zoo enthusiast, in any case - are cited within these accounts, such as Indian Wild Ass, Mugger Crocodile, Golden Jackal, Indian Desert Fox, Ganges Gharial, Indian Wolf and Chinkara. It is worth noting that the species collection represented a worldwide focus, rather than one purely focused on south Asian taxa, with numerous African, Australasian and New World species noted to be within the collection.
The accounts are also well-illustrated throughout, with a wide variety of photographs - both in colour and black-and-white - depicting some of the species present within the collection, alongside a smaller number of loosely-sketched animal illustrations; with a double-page photographic montage occupying the central pages of the guidebook. Although photographs giving a wider impression of the collection and its environs are very limited, the few which are present - the photograph of the Purana Qila fortress adjacent to the zoo located in the introductory passage, and a black-and-white photograph on the final page of the guidebook showing an overview of the zoo from above - are very appealing to the eye.
Overall then, despite the brevity of this guidebook, it is a very interesting and well-illustrated item from a collection which I should like to know a lot more about; I am very fortunate and pleased to have been able to obtain what little knowledge and insight I *do* possess through having obtained this guidebook. I would be interested in the feedback and thoughts of @Chlidonias and @Giant Eland , as the only active Zoochatters I know of who *have* visited this collection; otherwise, I am happy to answer any and all questions people may have regarding this guidebook!
I have not visited Delhi, or the collection in question, since I was too young to remember, so I cannot contribute much in terms of memory. However, I still have a lot of interesting observations regarding this guidebook, which I will try to type up soon. In the meanwhile, would it be too much to ask for a list of only the exotic species held in the collection at the time? This would help me in multiple ways.
Overall then, despite the brevity of this guidebook, it is a very interesting and well-illustrated item from a collection which I should like to know a lot more about; I am very fortunate and pleased to have been able to obtain what little knowledge and insight I *do* possess through having obtained this guidebook. I would be interested in the feedback and thoughts of @Chlidonias and @Giant Eland , as the only active Zoochatters I know of who *have* visited this collection; otherwise, I am happy to answer any and all questions people may have regarding this guidebook!
Fun read this. I visited this Zoo in 2009. I had forgotten there was a fort (more like ruins) outside of the grounds, but now you mention it I do remember walking through them after our visit.
They did not sell a guidebook at the time, I gave the map I had to @snowleopard if I remember correctly? I remember quite a bit of our visit, a pretty extensive asian collection with decent enough exhibits and relatively few Asian oddities.
There was only one building, a small round bunker that countained the zoo’s smaller reptiles. I remember a king cobra being very aggressive and smashing it’s head into the glass, scaring the living daylights out of my (now) wife.
The true oddities I remember were an outside pen for a couple of rather large Gharials, a small herd of Chinkara (about 7 animals) and a group of gray goral. There was a grassy, very overgrown and abandoned looking exhibit with a sign for four-horned antelope, but despite me coming back a couple of times, I saw none.
Like I said earlier, I cannot comment much about my own visit to the zoo, but over the past month or so I have been researching the collection a bit, so this guidebook made for an interesting historical look at the collection. The most striking thing about the Delhi Zoo of 1983 vs. its current state is the abundance of exotic species. In recent years, there has been a decline in exotic species in all Indian zoos, and Delhi has been affected as well. Some of the species listed in the scans, such as peccary or black rhinoceros, have not been held in India for decades now. As you can see from Chlidonias’ list above, in recent years the zoo is down to a handful of exotic mammals although, according to the zoo’s site and the Central Zoo Authority inventory at least as of March 2020, the African buffalo have been phased out and they seemed to have gotten a male bush elephant from somewhere.
I suspect there are multiple reasons for this decline: one is the CZA mandate for Indian zoos to phase out exotic species in favour of Indian species, such that in no zoo is more than 10% of species held exotic. I am personally not sure why such a rule is in place, but amongst the many odd and often outdated rules regarding zoos put in place by the Authority, it is not surprising. Secondly, I’d imagine that poor management also played a major part in this decline. I say this because a lot of the species that died out were not not necessarily phased out due to lack of interest - the zoo’s Masterplan, drafted in 2012, indicates that the zoo still wanted to display species such as eland, zebra and red lechwe, despite the fact that these species had disappeared from the collection already, or were dying out. It appears that if Indian zoos had managed the breeding and distribution of many of these exotic species a bit more professionally, they could still be in the country today.
Another thing I noticed was that several of the ‘oddities’ that you noticed in the collection, are not really oddities even today. It is hard to get up-to-date numbers for any species thanks to the CZA being rather slow to publish yearly inventories, but as of March 2020, some 55 zoos held Golden Jackal, 63 zoos held Muggers, 42 zoos held Gharial and 23 zoos held Indian Wolf, and 23 held Chinkara. I feel that the fact they are oddities in Western zoos comes from the difficulties in trading with Indian zoos, both the fact that their husbandry is questionable and the paperwork involved, but there would certainly be zoos of fair quality willing to trade these species.
The desert-related species you mention are however indeed not too common in Indian zoos, despite the fact that there is a breeding program for Khur in place. I also notice you didn’t mention Hoolock Gibbon, did the zoo not hold the species? I believe that Northeastern fauna such as Clouded Leopard and Binturong were also once more common in zoos on the plains and Peninsular states, but have declined since.
Finally, I thought it would be interesting to link the online brochure for the zoo available on their site. It is nowhere near as comprehensive, but still useful for comparison. Here is the link: https://nzpnewdelhi.gov.in/system/p...000/003/original/publication_3.pdf?1617020907
First things first; I am really rather pleased at the level of interest this particular guidebook has prompted! I'm taking today off from posting a new guidebook, both to let the ongoing conversation/discussion breathe a little longer and to give people the chance to post any thoughts and remarks on prior guidebooks. I've been updating the index at the start of this thread if anyone needs a refresher on which guidebooks have been highlighted so far, with links to the individual posts.
Excellent; that map definitely helps to form an overall image of what the collection would have been like at the time the guidebook was published, per some of the similarities present to the numbering in the guidebook and a little educated guesswork!
In the meanwhile, would it be too much to ask for a list of only the exotic species held in the collection at the time? This would help me in multiple ways.
Certainly as noted, some of the entries are very generalised and don't cite precise taxa, so some of these may include exotic species beyond those directly mentioned; I'll list those exhibits at the end:
Green Peafowl
Eland
Fallow Deer
Sika Deer
Black Rhinoceros
Macaw
Red Kangaroo
Chimpanzee
Orangutan
Jaguar
Defassa Waterbuck
African Wild Buffalo
Geoffroy's Spider Monkey
Collared Peccary
Puma
Guanaco
Emu
African Lion
Wildebeest
Zebra
Ostrich
Lechwe
Hippopotamus
Great-horned Owl
----
Water Birds - this entry states "large numbers of birds such as cranes, storks, herons, egrets, cormorants, swans are the permanant residents of this pond and breed freely"; as some some of these may have been non-native.
Primates - this entry states "the park represents a good collection of monkeys and apes from different parts of the world which includes baboons, macaques, gueons, langurs and apes including chimpanzee and orang-utan" - several of these will presumably be native Indian species, but obviously many were not.
Parrots - this entry states that "different species of macaws from South America, cockatoos from Australia and parrots from Africa and India are displayed in the park".
Small Animals - this entry states "rabbits, skunk, anteaters and a variety of monkeys are held in this section"
Walk-in Aviary - this entry states this is "a special enclosure where among tropical vegetation interesting species of birds could be seen."
Small Birds- this entry states that "love birds, budgerigars, munias, bulbuls are on view in this section"
Nocturnal Animal House - this entry states this exhibit, under construction at the time, "will house some species of animals which are nocturnal in habits such as owls, bats, loris, bushbaby, kinkajous, hedgehog, porcupine etc"
I suspect there are multiple reasons for this decline: one is the CZA mandate for Indian zoos to phase out exotic species in favour of Indian species, such that in no zoo is more than 10% of species held exotic. I am personally not sure why such a rule is in place, but amongst the many odd and often outdated rules regarding zoos put in place by the Authority, it is not surprising.
Another thing I noticed was that several of the ‘oddities’ that you noticed in the collection, are not really oddities even today. It is hard to get up-to-date numbers for any species thanks to the CZA being rather slow to publish yearly inventories, but as of March 2020, some 55 zoos held Golden Jackal, 63 zoos held Muggers, 42 zoos held Gharial and 23 zoos held Indian Wolf, and 23 held Chinkara. I feel that the fact they are oddities in Western zoos comes from the difficulties in trading with Indian zoos, both the fact that their husbandry is questionable and the paperwork involved, but there would certainly be zoos of fair quality willing to trade these species.
Given the fact that the majority of Western collections have little to no interest in keeping Indian native species - one of the biggest reasons why the species I cited are such oddities, along with the factors you cite - I actually think that a strong focus on Indian species mandated by CZA is a *good* thing overall, as it means that those species which require a captive reservoir are well-served even without overseas involvement. This lack of interest from European collections is a real pity overall, but particularly where Mugger and Gharial are concerned; I know of one or two places which actively turned down the chance to obtain new blood from Madras Crocodile Bank when said collection approached them.
It quite possibly did, and merely subsumed the gibbons within the overall "primates" category per my above observations. We may never know, I suppose, but I certainly see no reason it would not have held them.
Day 36: National Zoological Park Delhi (1983) - Asiatic Lion
Page count: 34 (including inner front and rear covers) Photographs: 17 colour images, 14 black-and-white images. Illustrations/diagrams: 4 sketches of animals held in collection Layout: Introduction, followed by exhibit-by-exhibit walkthrough account of collection. Map: N/A
Another fun little (very little, at smaller than A5) oddity from Asia this time - in point of fact, this is the first guidebook from an Asian country to enter my collection, which I stumbled across for less than a pound in a charity shop several years ago. Definitely a good purchase, and a massive stroke of luck! This is not a collection I know all that much about, barring the information found within this guidebook, and I suspect the same will be true of many members of this forum; as such this item represents an interesting and valuable resource both as an item of zoo history and a means of discovering more about a seldom-discussed zoological collection.
The general format of this guidebook follows a similar pattern to many of the items I have already discussed within this thread - especially those published in the 1960s and 1970s at smaller UK collections - through the presentation of a general introduction to the collection, going into detail about the history and development of the zoo, followed by various important points of information for visitors (admission hours, rules of admission and so forth), before moving into an exhibit-by-exhibit discussion of the species present within the collection at the time of publication; there is no map included within the guidebook itself - or possibly, if one was present as an insert, it has long-since been lost - but each exhibit mentioned within the walkthrough discussion is numbered, with the text explicitly stating that each number corresponds to their location on the collection map. One imagines it is possible, given the small and lightweight format of this guidebook, that the intention was for it to be used by the visitor to the collection in place of exhibit signage, being referred to as they made their way around the zoo.
As can be seen in the example images provided above and below, the species/exhibit accounts are reasonably detailed for the most part, considering how brief the guidebook is overall, with a paragraph or two devoted to the majority of the species displayed within the collection and full taxonomic names cited. However, in certain points the guidebook follows a more generalist approach, with the contents of an entire house or exhibit complex dismissed within a short paragraph where the inhabitants are mentioned only in passing or not at all; for instance, within the images I have presented here one can see that the primate collection at the zoo is indicated to be relatively speciose, yet is dismissed with fewer than thirty words in total. As such, despite the methodical exhibit-by-exhibit approach this guidebook unfortunately cannot be used as a reliable indicator of the overall species inventory at the time of publication. Nonetheless, a number of interesting and unusual species - to the eyes of a modern-day Western zoo enthusiast, in any case - are cited within these accounts, such as Indian Wild Ass, Mugger Crocodile, Golden Jackal, Indian Desert Fox, Ganges Gharial, Indian Wolf and Chinkara. It is worth noting that the species collection represented a worldwide focus, rather than one purely focused on south Asian taxa, with numerous African, Australasian and New World species noted to be within the collection.
The accounts are also well-illustrated throughout, with a wide variety of photographs - both in colour and black-and-white - depicting some of the species present within the collection, alongside a smaller number of loosely-sketched animal illustrations; with a double-page photographic montage occupying the central pages of the guidebook. Although photographs giving a wider impression of the collection and its environs are very limited, the few which are present - the photograph of the Purana Qila fortress adjacent to the zoo located in the introductory passage, and a black-and-white photograph on the final page of the guidebook showing an overview of the zoo from above - are very appealing to the eye.
Overall then, despite the brevity of this guidebook, it is a very interesting and well-illustrated item from a collection which I should like to know a lot more about; I am very fortunate and pleased to have been able to obtain what little knowledge and insight I *do* possess through having obtained this guidebook. I would be interested in the feedback and thoughts of @Chlidonias and @Giant Eland , as the only active Zoochatters I know of who *have* visited this collection; otherwise, I am happy to answer any and all questions people may have regarding this guidebook!
I visited this zoo in March 2013. I was in India on business so did not bring a camera, and didn't take any notes, so am happy to have read the review @Chlidonias wrote to assist in bringing back memories. This is a large zoo with spacious enclosures. It is evident that at some time a lot of money was spent on this zoo to produce a showcase. However it felt stagnant and in decline with closed buildings, such as the nocturnal house, and a failure to keep maintenance up. One enclosure that stick in my mind was the leopard, one of the largest leopard enclosures I have seen. But it was practically bare, no rocks or branches for the cats to climb on. I was also disappointed by the collection, overall quite bland given the zoos status. I'd have liked see more Indian rarities, especially small mammals and birds.
When I was there they had Indian Eagle Owl labelled as "Great Horned Owl Bubo bubo" so the birds listed in your guide book may have also been this native species.
Page count: 48 Photographs: 62 black-and-white photographs Illustrations/diagrams: N/A Layout: Introduction, followed by walkthrough account of collection. Map: Located in central pages of guidebook
Quite a significant one today; the first guidebook published by Tierpark Berlin, only two years after the collection opened in 1955, and as such representing a valuable primary resource showing the Tierpark in its earliest days, and giving an interesting insight into how it had already developed even at this early stage. As with all of the Cold War guidebooks from the Tierpark, this edition was written by the director, Heinrich Dathe. Given its significance, it is perhaps of little surprise to those reading this thread that this was one of the first editions I sought out when I initially decided I wanted to obtain a comprehensive collection of Tierpark Berlin guidebooks; fortunately, it is not all that uncommon - certainly easier to track down than some of the editions which immediately followed - and as such I was able to obtain it fairly easily.
The guidebook opens, unsurprisingly, with an introduction briefly detailing the events which led to Tierpark Berlin opening - in short, the collection was very much intended as a competitor to the older and more established zoo in West Berlin, to forestall as best as possible the constant flow of people from East Berlin visiting the collection, spending their money in the capitalist west, and sometimes taking the opportunity to defect; the complete division of east and west, with the construction of the Berlin Wall and the lethal measures taken to prevent the inhabitants of East Berlin crossing into the west, was still some years away at this point. As I have mentioned in the past, perhaps the best English-language account of this time period, and the early days of the Tierpark, can be found in The Zookeepers War by J. W. Mohnhaupt, a translation of his original book Der Zoo der Anderen - as such, this is most certainly a book I recommend to any zoo enthusiast interested in the subject at hand.
Beyond this introduction, the guidebook itself follows much the same pattern that all subsequent editions would replicate; a detailed walkthrough account of the collection, describing the exhibits and species one would encounter whilst making their way around the Tierpark along a suggested route, illustrated throughout by numerous photographs. One aspect which *is* entirely absent from this particular edition of the Tierpark Berlin guidebook are the illustrations and diagrams which would otherwise become ubiquitous throughout the Cold War guidebooks issued by the collection, and retained at much lower level into the 1990s and 2000s; along with the photographic cover art and the fact that this edition is staple-bound rather than - as is the case for all other guidebooks published by Tierpark Berlin - glue-bound, this is one of the few major differences which are apparent here when compared to those guidebooks which would follow. As I have mentioned several times previously, the consistent high-quality of the guidebooks published by Tierpark Berlin represents one of the key allures which they hold!
One of the most noteworthy aspects of the species collection at the time of publication which can be observed through reading this guidebook is the fact that - although several more unusual and exotic species *were* already present at the collection, many of the species held within the Tierpark in the earliest years represented easy-to-obtain native species such as deer, wild boar, brown bear - the Berlin city emblem - and wolves, along with a wide variety of domestic livestock, wildfowl, and commonplace exotics donated by other collections in East Germany - most notably Zoo Leipzig, where Heinrich Dathe was acting director from 1955 until 1957 alongside his duties at the Tierpark. As such, although the species list presented within the walkthrough account in this guidebook is doubtless incomplete, it *does* represent an illuminating record both of how relatively-limited the collection was at this point in time, and how far it had already come in the handful of short years since it first opened. Similarly to the guidebooks which would follow, each species mentioned within the text is accompanied by the full taxonomic name, which as I have noted in the past provides some assistance in the interpretation and comprehension of the German-language text for someone not entirely familiar with the language. Given the age of this guidebook, I was rather struck by how up-to-date the taxonomy of some species cited within the text is; for instance, the section discussing Grant's Zebra uses the taxonomic name Equus quagga to pertain to the plains zebra as a whole, nearly 50 years before this would be fully accepted. To this end I think it is worthwhile for me to here transcribe the various species cited within the text of this guidebook, in the rough order they are mentioned within the guidebook, but with mammals, domestic mammals, birds and reptiles divided:
It is worth noting, incidentally, that several of these species have been held continuously at Tierpark Berlin in the intervening decades; in some cases, such as the European Wisent, this extends to their continued presence in the same exhibit today as was the case in 1957. This leads to another interesting point about this guidebook, and by extension the early years of Tierpark Berlin; despite the vast number of changes which have taken place at the collection over the years, many aspects of the collection illustrated within the text and photographs presented within this guidebook are very much recognisable to the eyes of someone familiar with the present-day Tierpark. Other than the aforementioned Wisent exhibit, some of the other key exhibits and areas of this nature include the terraces and avenues surrounding Schloss Friedrichsfelde, the Lenne-Tempel and the surrounding waterbird exhibits, and the polar bear grotto; however one of the most striking and bittersweet in my opinion, given the fact I was fortunate enough to see it for myself when I first visited the collection in 2014 not long before it closed for good, is the segment highlighting the Snake Farm near the entrance to the Tierpark.
As can be seen in the below image, the guidebook concludes with a short segment relaying a variety of important visitor information, including entry prices, the price for various memberships and visitor privileges such as permits to take photographs, the rules and conditions for entry to the Tierpark, and instructions on how to reach the collection using the U-Bahn and S-Bahn networks; beyond here, a rather comprehensive index lists each of the species mentioned within the main body of text - which, given how lengthy and comprehensive the walkthrough of the account is, more or less serves as an alphabetical inventory of the collection at the time of publication, albeit one which is likely to be somewhat incomplete.
The map of the collection located within the central pages of the guidebook, although labelled only by images showing selected species held within given areas of the collection, is rather attractive and appealingly-designed; the use of colour to indicate those areas marked by the densest regions of woodland within the Tierpark conveys the general feel and atmosphere which the collection retains to this day very well, the suggested route throughout the collection detailed on the map corresponds directly to the one which the narrative of the guidebook as a whole follows, and (as would occur on-and-off throughout the Cold War years) those major structures and houses which are under construction for the future are also indicated on the map - in this case, the future Alfred-Brehm Haus is marked in the upper right corner of the map.
Overall, then, this is an extremely good guidebook which - despite how relatively undeveloped and embryonic the Tierpark still was at this stage - conveys a wide range of information to the reader and represents a key primary resource both for the history of Tierpark Berlin and the wider socio-political context in which it developed. As noted above, this guidebook must have sold rather well when originally published and with a fairly-sizeable print run, as it is reasonably commonplace on the secondary market and tends to sell for relatively low prices; as such, it is most certainly one which I urge anyone interested in this collection, in the history of zoological collections in East Germany as a whole, or merely a penchant for old guidebooks to seek out!
It is worth noting, incidentally, that several of these species have been held continuously at Tierpark Berlin in the intervening decades; in some cases, such as the European Wisent, this extends to their continued presence in the same exhibit today as was the case in 1957.
Possibly, I'll have to check my 2018 photos; the overall exhibit complex (with the path bisecting the bison and wisent exhibits) has definitely remained unchanged throughout the decades however, barring a change in which subspecies of bison is present within.
Possibly, I'll have to check my 2018 photos; the overall exhibit complex (with the path bisecting the bison and wisent exhibits) has definitely remained unchanged throughout the decades however, barring a change in which subspecies of bison is present within.
You misunderstand there *was* a change some decades ago, from Plains Bison (B. bison bison) to Wood Bison (B. bison atherbascae) - in terms of ecological niche, a better comparison really!
Day 39: Bristol Zoo (1926) - The Bristol, Clifton & West of England Zoological Society Guide
Page count: 80 (including 26 full-page advertisements) Photographs: c.28 black-and-white photographs Illustrations/diagrams: N/A Layout: Introduction, followed by general walkthrough of species held, and discussion of tree varieties found throughout gardens. Map: Located in opening pages of guidebook
This rare and interesting item was originally intended for discussion in the next post; however, given the fact that the final closure date for Bristol Zoo was announced this morning I thought it was appropriate to play around with the schedule a little. This guidebook was a very lucky find on eBay a few months ago, where I managed to pick it up for only £10; according to the master list on the Bartlett Society website, there is only one other copy known to be present within the hands of a collector!
The guidebook opens with the above map of the collection; several key features which the modern-day visitor will be familiar with, such as the central lake, the bird house, the tree-lined avenue running along the northwestern side of the zoo, and the bear pit (later to become the aquarium), are clearly visible within, and as such the general outline of the zoo is fairly recognisable. However, as can be readily seen on the map, much of the site remains undeveloped and given over lawns and gardens - this being even more apparent than is the case now. Given the general tenor of the introduction and certain other passages within this guidebook - of which more later - it is very much apparent that at the time of publication the collection was viewed as being just as much a botanical garden as it was a zoological garden. The other aspect of this guidebook which is visible within the above image is the presence of a full-page advertisement on the opposite page to the map; a large proportion of the guidebook is occupied by advertisements of this sort, to the point that for much of the main body of the text each double-page spread comprises an advertisement alongside a single page of discussion about the zoo itself. As such, this guidebook provides an interesting and valuable look at the cultural and commercial history of Bristol at the time of publication - something which, as one might have gathered from my past musings on this subject, I find to be a point which works to the favour of older guidebooks rather than their detriment.
The main body of the text opens with the above introduction, which goes into a little detail about the background of the collection - which was already 91 years old at the time of publication - and the aforementioned joint focus on the zoological and botanical; in point of fact, the introduction devotes more words to the latter aspect than it does the former!
Beyond here, a walkthrough account of the species and exhibits visible within the collection is presented, providing a fairly large amount of general information about the species in question, their natural range and their habits; more importantly, the guidebook conveys a significant amount of more focused information about the particular individuals held within the collection. This is, as I have noted in the past, something which I think is important for zoological guidebooks to convey wherever possible - not only does this increase the value of the guidebook as a document of zoo history, but moreover it distinguishes the content of the guidebook from those issued by other zoological collections. One of the additional advantages of such information is that it is sometimes possible to more precisely date the publication of a guidebook - or indeed notice variant versions of the same guidebook, published on distinct occasions - through paying close attention to the information provided about given individuals; for instance, although the publication information within the opening pages of this guidebook state that this is the 1926 edition, details within the account of the elephant house (referring to "Rajah" the Indian Elephant in the present tense as a 29 year old individual visible within the house, but then a paragraph later referring to his death on April 20th 1926 and stating the house is empty) make it clear that either this edition was published some time after that date, or that the copy I own represents a re-print of the 1926 edition revised to reflect the death of the animal in question. On this general topic, and given the interest expressed by @MRJ about the publication of zoo guidebooks in decades past, the title page of the guidebook states that it was "printed by St. Stephen's Press and Published by the Bristol, Clifton and West of England Zoological Society".
As noted, a fairly significant portion of this guidebook is taken up by a wide variety of advertisements for various goods and services available in the Bristol area; unlike some of the other older guidebooks I have covered within this thread, which tend to contain advertisements on a more nationwide level with only a handful of local adverts, the balance is very much reversed in this particular example. Moreover, rather than being restricted to the start and end of the guidebook - as is the case in the guidebooks published by London Zoo at the time of publication, probably the closest comparison to this item in terms of general format, content and layout - these advertisements are present throughout the main body of the text. Given the more localised nature of the adverts present, the wide range of products being advertised within, and the relevance this has to the wider subject of local socioeconomic history in the Bristol area, I feel it would be rather interesting to present here a comprehensive list of the advertisements within this guidebook; I have retained the exact wording and format of the text, but where required have added annotations in square brackets.
Billing, Jarrett, Read & Co., Ltd [bill-posting and poster writing]
A. Phillips, Ironmonger, Plumber & Decorator
Bertram Cleaves, General and Furnishing Ironmonger, Cutler and Tool Merchant
J. Snow & Co for Best Quality Coals
Rouch & Penny Electrical Engineers, Contrators and Manufacturing Electricians
Hornby's Dairies Limited
Maynards Ltd. London and Provincial Confectioners
George Davie for Afternoon Fancy Cakes and Gateaux
W. K. Disinfectant Fluid, Sole Proprietors - The Wood King Co., Ltd
L. Rogers & Sons, Bristol's Leading Nurserymen and Florists
Harris's Sports Depot
Polo Port, Imported and supplied by the Sole Proprietors, Bartlett & Hobbs
E. H. Baber & Co., Wine & Spirit Merchants
Weymouth's Manufacturing Furriers
One wonders how many of the products, companies and services mentioned still exist, nearly a century later; I can spot two or three - such as Maynards - where the name has survived, but the company has long-since been bought out by various multinationals, but it would be interesting to learn whether any of the local family companies remain extant.
One of the more unusual, but interesting, aspects of this guidebook is the presence of several pages highlighting the various species of tree located throughout the gardens of the collection, going into some detail about how to recognise them and discussing the origins and provenance of those species which are exotic to the United Kingdom and Europe; this again provides evidence of the greater focus on the botanical side of the collection at the time of publication. As I believe I have mentioned in the past, I have long-since thought that more should have been done with the wide, empty lawns and areas of vegetation at Bristol Zoo in the present day; in another world, where the financial impact of the pandemic had not forced the hand of the zoological society several decades sooner than intended, I believe that the collection could have very easily been re-focused around a similar model to Wilhelma in Stuttgart, with botanical exhibits coming to the forefront in the central portions of the zoo, and the remaining zoological structures being devoted in large part to the invertebrate, amphibian and reptilian offerings which Bristol Zoo does so well..... and which it very much seems will be largely abandoned when the "new" Bristol Zoo opens in a few years! As such, seeing a guidebook from a time when the gardens and botanical regions of Bristol Zoo were more than just an afterthought strikes me as somewhat bittersweet.
This, then, is a very interesting item from the years leading towards the centennial of Bristol Zoo; the exhibit standards at the time were doubtless far inferior to the standards we would now accept as a bare minimum, and the species displayed within the collection were not quite as unusual or noteworthy as those displayed at London Zoo around the same time, but nonetheless this guidebook provides a valuable record pertaining to one of the most historically-significant zoological collections in the world. Knowing that the bicentennial will never come, and that a collection which a mere decade ago was world-class in so many ways is soon to close forever, is a sad and anti-climatic coda to the story of Bristol Zoo, told through this guidebook and the dozens of other editions published over the decades and centuries.
