ZSL London Zoo Animals kept at london zoo in the past

I just happened across this old London Zoo photo (dated 1927) on pinterest, which I thought was quite neat.
 

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i have an old london zoo guide book from one of my first visits to be honest the only thing i really remebered from going again a couple of years ago was the old elephant house
the animals listed in this guide are :

lowland anoa , pudu,giraffe,okapi,-guessing malayan tapir,meerkats , oryx-guessing arabian ,sacred ibis,owls,peafowl , marmosets and tamarins ,prevosts squirrel, aye aye,oriental short clawed otter,saki monkeys ,mongoose,lorises ,bushbabies ,douroucouli,striped zorilla,fennec fox ,bats ,bettongs,echidna ,leadbeaters possum,turkey vulture,hyacinth macaw,harrier hawks,red fronted macaw.cockatoos,red crowned cranes,flamingos , pelicans,penguins,robber crabs,jellyfish,giant anteaters,bali starlings,sand cats ,tigers,asian lions ,maned wolves-says in book they are recent arrivals, turacos,lilac breasted roller,stone curlew,black necked aracari,socorro dove

thats where the book stops apologies if some of the list is wrong hope this useful to some of you i would date the book around 1995-1999 its got a sleepy fennec fox on ther back cover in case any of you have this at home
 
A species not mentioned yet and from which London was the first keeper is the Scaly-naped amazon ( Amazona mercenaria ). !882 the first specimen came to London and also in the 1960-ties a bird of this species seemed to have been kept.
This species is very rare in captivity and now-a-days only Loro Parque has this species.
 
Does anyone know what happened to the brown bears that London zoo had?

Someone told me they tried to escape over the mountains is that right?
 
London Zoo got in 1860 two Shoebills. Does anybody know from where the birds came from and how long they have lived at the Zoo ?

There are no detailed Data in the book"London Zoo from old photographs"
 
Bib Fortuna said:
London Zoo got in 1860 two Shoebills. Does anybody know from where the birds came from and how long they have lived at the Zoo
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The two shoebills acquired by London Zoo in 1860 were almost certainly the first to reach Europe alive.

They were obtained on the White Nile; of six specimens shipped from Khartoum only two survived to reach London.

The shoebills were brought to London by John Pretherick who contributed an article on them to the “Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London“(1860); according to this article he collected shoebill eggs, hatched them under hens and reared the shoebill chicks on live fish and, occasionally, chopped offal.

I don’t know how long they lived at the zoo; further investigation is needed.
 
A favourite of mine, available for about £16.
41SX4FRZMWL._SX342_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
 
vogelcommando said:
And old book about animals kept at the London Zoo - very intresting ! :
v. 1 (1831) - The gardens and menagerie of the Zoological Society delineated : - Biodiversity Heritage Library
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I agree; this is an interesting two-volume work.

The author, Edward Turner Bennett, was Secretary of the Zoological Society of London from 1833 until 1836.

E. T. Bennett also wrote “The Tower Menagerie” (1829) which is well worth reading too.
 
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MichaelC said:
A favourite of mine, available for about £16.
41SX4FRZMWL._SX342_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
Click to expand...

I agree; the various editions of the “List of the Vertebrated Animals” are particular favourites of mine too.

Between 1862 and 1896, the ZSL published nine different editions of the "List of the Vertebrated Animals”; these were issued in the following years:-

· 1862
· 1863
· 1865
· 1867
· 1872
· 1877
· 1879
· 1883
· 1896

Then a special three volume centenary edition was published in 1929.

I know that reprints of some of these books can now be purchased over the internet but I’ve not seen any of the recently republished editions myself (although I am fortunate to have many of the original volumes).
 
Has the Kori bustard never been kept at Regent's park? @Tim May ;) , no record of them on ZTL, i THINK the last UK held kori bustards were at Whipsnade in the early 90's?
 
Scratch that!!
A Southern kori bustard was kept at the turn of the last century ca 1899.
.0.1.2 Northern kori bustard ca 1961

But i don't see any record for Whipsnade?
 
anidude said:
i have an old london zoo guide book from one of my first visits to be honest the only thing i really remebered from going again a couple of years ago was the old elephant house
the animals listed in this guide are :

lowland anoa , pudu,giraffe,okapi,-guessing malayan tapir,meerkats , oryx-guessing arabian ,sacred ibis,owls,peafowl , marmosets and tamarins ,prevosts squirrel, aye aye,oriental short clawed otter,saki monkeys ,mongoose,lorises ,bushbabies ,douroucouli,striped zorilla,fennec fox ,bats ,bettongs,echidna ,leadbeaters possum,turkey vulture,hyacinth macaw,harrier hawks,red fronted macaw.cockatoos,red crowned cranes,flamingos , pelicans,penguins,robber crabs,jellyfish,giant anteaters,bali starlings,sand cats ,tigers,asian lions ,maned wolves-says in book they are recent arrivals, turacos,lilac breasted roller,stone curlew,black necked aracari,socorro dove

thats where the book stops apologies if some of the list is wrong hope this useful to some of you i would date the book around 1995-1999 its got a sleepy fennec fox on ther back cover in case any of you have this at home
Click to expand...

The guide can probably be dated if you tell us what is on the front cover.
 
I remember the northern white rhinoceros in 1985 and 1986. I couldn't tell which one was northern and which was southern so I photographed neither. Many people have pointed out since that I should have photographed both.
 
Bib Fortuna said:
London Zoo got in 1860 two Shoebills. Does anybody know from where the birds came from and how long they have lived at the Zoo?
Click to expand...

Tim May said:
The two shoebills acquired by London Zoo in 1860 were almost certainly the first to reach Europe alive………
They were obtained on the White Nile…….
The shoebills were brought to London by John Pretherick who contributed an article on them to the “Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London“(1860)…….
I don’t know how long they lived at the zoo; further investigation is needed.
Click to expand...


It has taken me a while but, after searching through the ZSL Daily Occurrences Books for 1860 and 1861, I can now answer your question more thoroughly.

The two shoebills arrived on 13th March 1860. One only lived for about a month, dying on 12th April 1860; the other lived for almost a year, dying on 12th March 1861.

NB The word "shoebill" is not used in these books; they are referred to by the generic name "Balaeniceps".
 
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