Chessington Zoo Chessington Zoo memories

[Tim May]

Moderator note: The following posts have been split from this thread: G'Day.

....Applied to Chessington Zoo and became keeper-in-charge of birds. Began studies of mammals and spent time on every section until, in 1962, I was made assistant-head keeper. Spent three years here...

I used to visit Chessington Zoo as a small child during this period. It would be very interesting to read some of your memories of Chessington Zoo in this era,

 

[Terry Thomas]

I used to visit Chessington Zoo as a small child during this period. It would be very interesting to read some of your memories of Chessington Zoo in this era,

At this time zoos were moving away from old style barred cages, and better open exhibits were being constructed. An example in Chessington was the construction of large new yards for lions and tigers, both of which had been displayed in fairly small barred cages. The zoo had quite a good collection of mammals and birds, but only a very small number of reptiles, in a small house. There was one snake that was wrongly identified, and we later found out that it was a boomslang. The bird house was not very big, but had quite an interesting collection. Several larger bird species were also displayed in larger yards. On of these held crowned cranes. The roof was a type of large fibre netting. One day several cranes took flight and managed to get through the netting, escaping into the Surrey countryside. We found them a couple of days later, just as someone was about to take a shot at them. They left that area and I do not know what happened to them. Another memory is that of an escape by a pelican, which flew into an electrical power station. To retrieve the bird I had to go into this station, accompanied by a couple of technicians. The power had to be turned off, and this caused a huge amount of southern parts of London to lose power! We were not too popular. This zoo was very popular, with large crowds of visitors daily. On one Bank holiday occasion we recorded 45,000 visitors. The place was packed. Even during days of heavy rain and snow etc., there were always a few brave souls wandering about.

 

[Tim May]

At this time zoos were moving away from old style barred cages, and better open exhibits were being constructed. An example in Chessington was the construction of large new yards for lions and tigers, both of which had been displayed in fairly small barred cages. The zoo had quite a good collection of mammals and birds, but only a very small number of reptiles, in a small house. There was one snake that was wrongly identified, and we later found out that it was a boomslang. The bird house was not very big, but had quite an interesting collection. Several larger bird species were also displayed in larger yards. On of these held crowned cranes. The roof was a type of large fibre netting. One day several cranes took flight and managed to get through the netting, escaping into the Surrey countryside. We found them a couple of days later, just as someone was about to take a shot at them. They left that area and I do not know what happened to them. Another memory is that of an escape by a pelican, which flew into an electrical power station. To retrieve the bird I had to go into this station, accompanied by a couple of technicians. The power had to be turned off, and this caused a huge amount of southern parts of London to lose power! We were not too popular. This zoo was very popular, with large crowds of visitors daily. On one Bank holiday occasion we recorded 45,000 visitors. The place was packed. Even during days of heavy rain and snow etc., there were always a few brave souls wandering about.

Many thanks for this. I remember the small Reptile House / Aquarium and the small barred lion and tiger cages. The information about the escaped crowned crane and pelican was new to me and very interesting.

My main childhood memories of Chessington during this period are the Asiatic elephant "Barbara", the small heavily barred bear cages, the hyaenas (both spotted and striped), the Ankole cattle x American bison hybrids, a giant anteater in the old Ape House…..

 

[Terry Thomas]

Many thanks for this. I remember the small Reptile House / Aquarium and the small barred lion and tiger cages. The information about the escaped crowned crane and pelican was new to me and very interesting.

My main childhood memories of Chessington during this period are the Asiatic elephant "Barbara", the small heavily barred bear cages, the hyaenas (both spotted and striped), the Ankole cattle x American bison hybrids, a giant anteater in the old Ape House…..

For a time I looked after Barbara. She almost knocked me out one morning, with her tail. The Ankole/ Bison X came about when the female bison managed to get into the ankole paddock one night. It was not planned! Sadly it did not survive, but I think they were put together again, after I had left, and other calves produced. Interesting to hear that the giant anteater was housed in the old ape house. It was normally housed near the monkey displays; another animal I looked after for a while. Yes, the old bear cages were not too good!

 

[Tim May]

The Ankole/ Bison X came about when the female bison managed to get into the ankole paddock one night. It was not planned! Sadly it did not survive, but I think they were put together again, after I had left, and other calves produced.

There were definitely several American bison X Ankole cattle hybrids born at Chessington but I only ever saw calves; did any reach maturity?

Interesting to hear that the giant anteater was housed in the old ape house. It was normally housed near the monkey displays; another animal I looked after for a while

I only saw the giant anteater in the old Ape House on one occasion so possibly it was only housed there temporarily. It was the first time I ever recall seeiing the species and I still have a very vivid memory of it after all these years.