Aberdeen zoo (now closed)

E

epickoala123

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
Has anyone here have any knowledge,memories, or photos of the now closed aberdeen zoo? All Info appreciated:)
 
There was an excellent history of Aberdeen Zoo forming a chapter in one of Clin Keeling's books.

:) (I'll declare an interest since it was one wot I wrote!)
 
I have so far found out the following about the zoo;
Species: chimpanzee(1.0 called Humphrey), a wolf(that escaped), puma, lion, tiger, Scottish wildcat, Red necked wallaby, Dingo, Red fox, Eurasian badger, Red deer, Asian short clawed otter. Gray seal
Animals bred in 1967(thanks for the info rob)
0.1 red necked wallaby
3.4 dingo
4.3 red fox
3 badger
1.0 Asian short claws otter (first birth in Europe)
0.2 red deer

There gave been three guidebooks that were realised

My mums opinion of the park: it was awful, none of the animals looked happy, they used to dress up Humphrey in a dress
 
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Aberdeen zoo

When it closed,many animals came to the private zoo where I worked . The one I remember was the biggest cassowary I have ever seen. I cant remember whether it was single or double wattled
 
epickoala123 said:
There gave been three guidebooks that were realised

My mums opinion of the park: it was awful, none of the animals looked happy, they used to dress up Humphrey in a dress
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Remarkably - despite living 350 miles away - I visited twice and acquired two guidebooks.

Disagree with your mum's opinion. Felt it was neat (if a bit small) and very educative. And certainly didn't see a chimp in a dress!
 
SHAVINGTONZOO said:
Remarkably - despite living 350 miles away - I visited twice and acquired two guidebooks.

Disagree with your mum's opinion. Felt it was neat (if a bit small) and very educative. And certainly didn't see a chimp in a dress!
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Did you aquire the guidebooks from the zoo itself?
 
I visited the site of the zoo a couple of years ago. It is now a pets corner in Hazelhead Park. Several of the zoo buildings remain in use for animals today.
 
Aberdeen Zoo

Mukisi -- are you at liberty to tell us which private collectiopn you worked at? It wasn't Martin Bourne's by any chance, was it?
 
It was my 'local' when I was very young - I recall wild boar and crocodillies (of some sort!)
 
Aberdeen zoo

Re your 2013 enquiry re Aberdeen zoo -I started my zoo career there in c 1970 as a keeper. It was a small collection but did have two chimps - Heather and Humphrey who were looked after by our head keeper John Buchan. John was very knowledgeable about animals and handled them as a surrogate in a very appropriate "animal" manner. The zoo (as I remember) was the first ? to breed fruit bats. The manager was George Lesley. It was an interesting and at times surreal intro to the zoo world which I was involved in professionally until 1997!
 
epickoala123 said:
Has anyone here have any knowledge,memories, or photos of the now closed aberdeen zoo? All Info appreciated:)
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Been there a few times as a child as lived near Huntly? When it closed down we were given two goats and rabbit (complete with hutch) we called the goats Charlie and Snowy but no one in the family can remember the rabbits name! That’s when I googled it and came across this forum?! Happy days x
 
There is a book called "Marmosets in Mastrick, A Brief History of Aberdeen Zoo" Written by Robert J Leslie, son of one of the directors of the zoo.

Contact him at aberdeenzoo1966@gmail.com and will send you a copy for £10 plus £2p&p. Its an interesting read. I found out about it after it was reviewed in the IZES magazine.
 
cliffxdavis said:
There is a book called "Marmosets in Mastrick, A Brief History of Aberdeen Zoo" Written by Robert J Leslie, son of one of the directors of the zoo.

Contact him at aberdeenzoo1966@gmail.com and will send you a copy for £10 plus £2p&p. Its an interesting read. I found out about it after it was reviewed in the IZES magazine.
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It's an excellent book and deservedly received a very strong review in an issue of Zoo Grapevine & International Zoo News magazine. I recently saw a Facebook post from the author stating that the book had sold almost 700 copies and that's a remarkable achievement considering that the topic of the publication is an obscure zoo that closed down in Scotland more than 45 years ago. I would highly recommend buying a copy as I greatly enjoyed the book.
 
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