A zoo's most famous animal

There have been many famous animals at London Zoo; ‘Guy’ the gorilla, ‘Ming’ and ‘Chi-Chi’ the giant pandas, ‘Brumas’ the polar bear ..........

The most famous of them all was probably the African elephant ‘Jumbo’ who arrived at the zoo in 1865 (from the Jardin des Plante Menagerie, Paris, in exchange for an Indian rhinoceros) and was sold to Barnum in 1882.

It has been alleged that the money raised by the sale of Jumbo, and the increased gate receipts from the crowds of visitors who wanted to see Jumbo before he went to America, was sufficient to finance the construction of the new Reptile House, later converted a Bird House, and now known as the Blackburn Pavilion
 
Tim May said:
The most famous of them all was probably the African elephant ‘Jumbo’ who arrived at the zoo in 1865 (from the Jardin des Plante Menagerie, Paris, in exchange for an Indian rhinoceros) and was sold to Barnum in 1882.
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Yes, I think he probably was- I don't know of any other animal that has lent his name to a species in general.

Interestingly I still sometimes hear younger people at zoos with Gorillas referring to 'Guy the Gorilla' even though he wasn't alive in their lifetime.
 
Pertinax said:
Yes, I think he probably was- I don't know of any other animal that has lent his name to a species in general.

Interestingly I still sometimes hear younger people at zoos with Gorillas referring to 'Guy the Gorilla' even though he wasn't alive in their lifetime.
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Yes indeed his memory lives on, how marvellous.
 
Not sure of his name but didn't Chester have the tallest Giraffe in captivity in europe? I can't remember the name but surely he is famous.
 
Cheetah fan said:
Not sure of his name but didn't Chester have the tallest Giraffe in captivity in europe? I can't remember the name but surely he is famous.
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If it is the current one then it'll be Thorn, he is massive!, gotta be 1 and a half of the ladies he lives with :O
 
He is a big lad! He was close to us on Saturday and I was amazed by how big he is, but I wouldn't claim to know whether that's just normal giraffe size 'cos I don't get up close to many!
 
Cheetah fan said:
Not sure of his name but didn't Chester have the tallest Giraffe in captivity in europe? I can't remember the name but surely he is famous.
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They did indeed he died in 1970 I believe and his name was George,he was also a pure wild caught Masai Giraffe.
 
I remember George's claim to fame but did anybody go round all the Zoos in Europe measuring their adult bull Giraffes to the exact centimetre? I know nearly all Giraffe houses have those 'height scales' built in somewhere but I wouldn't have thought they were exact enough to go by.

So is this perhaps a spurious claim?
 
Fair comment. I also think there are degrees of fame among all the animals that have been mentioned on this thread. It very much depends how old you are, where you live and your local zoo as to which animals one regards as famous.

I think there are also two levels of zoo animal fame; a national level, and a 'regional' level. Very few animals appear on the national level.
 
I suppose Igor and Anoushka, Colchester's Amur Tigers, are famous too, after many appearances on Zoo Days...
 
Cheetah fan said:
Not sure of his name but didn't Chester have the tallest Giraffe in captivity in europe? I can't remember the name but surely he is famous.
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zoogiraffe said:
They did indeed he died in 1970 I believe and his name was George,he was also a pure wild caught Masai Giraffe.
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the claim was that George was actually the tallest giraffe ever held in captivity, not just Europe. He was a Masai bull from Kenya who arrived at the zoo on 8 January 1959 at an estimated 18 months of age. When he was about seven he almost touched the ceiling of the 20ft high Giraffe House. He died 22 July 1969. I believe George's record may still stand (?)
 
Chlidonias said:
the claim was that George was actually the tallest giraffe ever held in captivity, not just Europe. He was a Masai bull from Kenya who arrived at the zoo on 8 January 1959 at an estimated 18 months of age. When he was about seven he almost touched the ceiling of the 20ft high Giraffe House. He died 22 July 1969. I believe George's record may still stand (?)
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From the, Guinness book of animal facts and feats, yes
 
Simba, of Colchester zoo who was cliamed to be the largest lion ever held in captivity, his weight was claimed to be 826 lbs or 375kgs. I had seen this lion back in around 1972 and he was indeed massive
 
MARK said:
From the, Guinness book of animal facts and feats, yes
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yep that's where I got it from of course. I haven't been able to find any more recent taller records though. I've also found three different heights given for George on the internet: 5m, 5.87m and 5.88m - all of which are quite a bit shorter than 20ft. Take your pick.
 
Chlidonias said:
yep that's where I got it from of course. I haven't been able to find any more recent taller records though. I've also found three different heights given for George on the internet: 5m, 5.87m and 5.88m - all of which are quite a bit shorter than 20ft. Take your pick.
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I understand, I think I go with the Guinness book, thats my pick :D
 
Wasn't the late Bulu, mentioned above, also the first British born Orang to be reared?
Another London Zoo animal who lives on in memory is Dixie the African elephant, who died after fallng in the moat. A lovely animal and the first African Elephant I saw.
 
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