ZSL London Zoo Animals kept at london zoo in the past

Dassie rat said:
Thanks, Tim. Until I looked at the 1911 zoo guide, I thought that the animals listed in Bold were species at the zoo when the guide was written. Listing an animal that hasn't been kept at the zoo for @ 26 years seems dishonest. I have a guide for the Bronx Zoo that listed the indri before it didn't arrive.
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Well, zoo guides were, even in the 19th century, not always carefully revised, not even in London. The Thylacine, who died in 1930, can be found in the zoo guide until 1932, including a photo; in the 1933 edition he is still in the register.
I advise you to read the Bronx-zoo Guide 1915-the"Gorilla edition :

" The Gorilla. ....The agents of the New York zoological Socitey are constantly on the watch for an opportunity to procure and send hither a good specimen of this wonderful creature.; and whenever one arrives, all persons interested are advised to see it immedialtely, before it dies of sullness, lack of exercise, and indigestion".

I bet you won't find such information in any zoo guide today.;)

It's a shame that there was no zoo guide in 1906. I would have liked to know whether this would have been the Ota Benga edition, and whether William T. Hornaday would have discussed Ota Benga in the zoo guide:

"In the next cage you will find a wonderful, male specimen of Homo sapiens pymaeus-The African Pygmy, "Ota Benga." Age, 23 years. Height, 4 feet 11 inches.Weight, 103 pounds. Brought from the
Kasai River, Congo Free State, South Central Africa, by Dr. Samuel P. Verner Benga had been purchased from African slave traders by the missionary Samuel Phillips Verner, a businessman searching for African people for the exhibition. Verner brought him to the United States, where he was sold the New York Zoological park. We are very proud to be able to show you this extremely rare creature, the missing link between humans and animals, as the only zoological garden in the world. Our specimen is called Ota Benga and is generally very sociable.Before he was put on exhibition at the monkey house, he was allowed to roam the grounds of the zoo. In response to the situation, as well as verbal and physical prods from the crowds, he became more mischievous and somewhat violent, so that's why he is now living in the Monkey House."
 
Bib Fortuna said:
zoo guides were, even in the 19th century, not always carefully revised, not even in London. The Thylacine, who died in 1930, can be found in the zoo guide until 1932, including a photo; in the 1933 edition he is still in the register.
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Minor correction - the last Thylacine at London died in 1931, not 1930.
 
Bib Fortuna said:
"In the next cage you will find a wonderful, male specimen of Homo sapiens pymaeus-The African Pygmy, "Ota Benga." Age, 23 years. Height, 4 feet 11 inches.Weight, 103 pounds. Brought from the
Kasai River, Congo Free State, South Central Africa, by Dr. Samuel P. Verner Benga had been purchased from African slave traders by the missionary Samuel Phillips Verner, a businessman searching for African people for the exhibition. Verner brought him to the United States, where he was sold the New York Zoological park. We are very proud to be able to show you this extremely rare creature, the missing link between humans and animals, as the only zoological garden in the world. Our specimen is called Ota Benga and is generally very sociable.Before he was put on exhibition at the monkey house, he was allowed to roam the grounds of the zoo. In response to the situation, as well as verbal and physical prods from the crowds, he became more mischievous and somewhat violent, so that's why he is now living in the Monkey House."
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This might just be the scariest paragraph I've ever read. The way they don't even refer to him as a full person
 
Dylan said:
This might just be the scariest paragraph I've ever read. The way they don't even refer to him as a full person
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@Dylan the quote is not a real quote, it was a parody written by @Bib Fortuna in the style of an early zoo guidebook entry
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Minor correction - the last Thylacine at London died in 1931, not 1930.
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Yes you are right. To be precise - on August 9th 1931. But it is fascinating that these animals can still be found in zoo guides - it gives them such a real background.

Crowthorne said:
@Dylan the quote is not a real quote, it was a parody written by @Bib Fortuna in the style of an early zoo guidebook entry
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That's correct. Ota Benga was never in a Zoo guide, but there was really a sign at his cage in the Monkey House. I used the text of it in my little parody.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Probably best you make it clear which parts this pertains to :p as I doubt it pertains to all of the text you wrote!
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Only the fist part was taken from the"exhibit sign":

"Ota Benga." Age, 23 years. Height, 4 feet 11 inches.Weight, 103 pounds. Brought from the
Kasai River, Congo Free State, South Central Africa, by Dr. Samuel P. Verner Benga

The rest is from myself.
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
@Tim May , @Dassie rat I found this short documentary video online about the ZSL library photographic archive, thought you might like watching:

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Thank you for posting this.
For the benefit of those not familiar with the ZSL Library, the person talking about old zoo photos is John Edwards, author of the excellent book "London Zoo from Old Photographs"
 
I was looking for details about a species of giant Southern African stick insect,
Bactrododema tiaratum, that I had seen in a wildlife documentary when I found that London Zoo kept them in the 1960s. What makes this slightly more interesting was that although the insects seemed to do well (they could be kept at room temperature and fed on bramble), the colony never reached fruition because the entire colony was stolen from the insect house.

Both of these references mention the stealing of the London Zoo colony:
Phasmid Care Sheet - Phasmid Study Group
https://www.researchgate.net/public...the_description_of_a_new_Bactrododema_species
 
Quite interesting (and frustrating) history. I have some fondness for this species as I had a pinned individual that my dad brought from South Africa many years ago. It's large and stricking and should not be difficult to be imported again to start new breeding colonies, but I guess that almost all zoos will prefair to get already stabilished popular stick insect species very much easier to get.
 
Dassie rat said:
Thanks, Tim

The London Zoo Library should have a full set of zoo guides. Several years ago, Frank Wheeler said he had a full set of guides, except one. So did the library. Each had the guide the other was missing. When Frank died, his books were given to the library.
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This is not as i understand it,Henry Scherren in his 1905 history of the ZSL refers to the first guide book in 1829 being in "several" editions of which probably the last,being the 7th, appeared in October of that year. Certainly the library has not got all seven editions,indeed,as i remember it..they dont have ANY of them.
 
About 'human zoos' it would be better to know how was the context in their time, because we have no context. It is possible that the humans on exhibit in the London Zoo in the 2010s, which were obviously a marketing gimmick with some basic education message, for people in 2100 will be taken completely seriously and scary.

About South African phasmids - such insects are usually first bred by hobbyists, and only some and much later are given to zoos. One could check, maybe they are already bred in South Africa or indeed in Europe.
 
Just found another very rare species for which London is the sole keeper sofar in Europe. On Aug. 15 1922 an unknown Skink was given to the zoo and this animal became the Type-specimen of a new species which E.G. Boulenger discribed later the same year as Chalcides armitagei - the Armitage's cylindrial skink.
I know of only one other public collection which is keeping this species ( will write about this later :) ).
 
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