Closed Zoos

Bele said:
I agree that Belle Vue Manchester would be the most famous ex Zoo in the UK . It is a great regret of mine that I never managed to visit it .
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Visited it a few years before it closed. It was taken over by Entam - the leisure division of Trust House Forte. They closed it a few years later and I remember staff getting t-shirts made with the logo "Never Trust House Forte" on them. It was a large collection of some note.

It's a good example of what happens when commercial entertainment companies take over animal attractions. Etam also ran several dolphinariums at Knowsley and Woburn safari parks and at the fun fair sites at Portcawl and Rhyl in Wales. I am attempting to getting some photos and info up on this on my UK Dolpharia site. There are a couple of pictures of Knowsley on there at the moment.
 
Arizona Docent said:
Marineland was bought out by Sea World (San Diego) with the promise they would keep it open - they closed it immediately after purchase, presumably to eliminate competition with their own park.
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They also wanted the two killer whales ;) 'Corky ' the female is still alive and at San Diego Sea World.

It's a shame because I visited it a couple of years before it closed and it was nicely run and the animal displays where not too OTT and educational. The staff there were some of the first to train 'husbandry training' e.g. voluntary blood testing behaviours etc. This has become almost common place in many zoos and aquaria and across many species not just marine mammals.
 
Cat-Man said:
shocked at the amount of Dolphinariums
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Many of then only existed for a couple of years and a number were basically rather crude in construction. Only a few where actually purpose built with any view to for long-term commitment to do anything 'zoological', this being a low priorly.

Remember there was no Zoo Licensing Act which did not come into force until 1984 and also until 1972 the US Government allowed permits to capture and export of dolphins from Florida with out any preconditions as regards welfare standards of the counties they went too.

Regulations
 
fanaloka said:
Dear All,
Apparently during all this debate you forgot about the zoos which still exist !!! Yes, I know we are talking about "closed zoos" - so why am I writing about zoos which stll exist? The answer is very simple! The are many zoos which during their history had different locations, usually two, but in some cases even more. Below are few examples:
1. Mulhouse, France – very complicated history and not clear. First zoo opened in 1868 but soon 1871 because of French-Prussian war closed. Another zoo, at another site probably opened in 1878 or even 1893?
2. Riga, Latvia – first zoo existed since 1912 but in 1917 during the I World War was destroyed. New zoo, at another site opened in 1933;
3. Tallinn Zoo, Estonia – old zoo started 1939, moved to present site in 1983;
4. Lisbon, Portugal – the zoo had three different locations: 1884-1895, moved to another site 1894-1905 and at present site since 1905;
5. Frankfurt am Main, Germany – first zoo existed 1858 to 1874. In 1874 moved to present location;
6. Nuremberg, Germany – first zoo existed 1912-1939 in 1939 moved to present location;
7. Muenster, Germany – first zoo existed since 1875 until 1974 then in 1974 moved to new, present site;
8. Rotterdam, Netherlands – old zoo existed 1856-1940, moved to new, present site in 1940;
9. Miami, Florida, USA – Crandon Park Zoo existed since 1949 until 1980. Miami MetroZoo opened in 1981;
10. Novosibirsk, Russia – first zoo opened in 1947, the new zoo, on the new site opened in 2000 (very likely for a couple of years existed two zoos – but I am not sure);
11. Ostrava, Czech Republic – first zoo existed 1951-1960, in 1960 moved to present site;
12. Zamosc, Poland – old zoo, as small school zoo existed since 1919 until 1982, then moved to newly built, real zoo in 1982;

I am using there a word "moved" - but actually I am not sure if the zoo as such could be simply "moved". The animals yes - they can be moved from one place to another. But the entire zoo - NOT !!! So this is a good subject for all zoo-historians, are such zoos as Rotterdam or Frankfurt really more then 150 years old ????
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This is a fascinating point.It is similar to a debate that is very common among restorers and collectors of classic cars.If you take a classic car in terrible condition and begin replacing damaged components one-by-one, at what moment is it not the original car? Is retaining the original chassis nº sufficient? Is there some kind of spirit of identity in a zoo that ensures continuity even after a change of location? Can the traditions and lore of one zoo be transferred intact to a new location? Of course,zoos are never static and are always evolving, so that even in the case of a zoo with a very long history and no change of location, very little of the original fabric may survive today, but of course nobody questions the continuity.What do zoochatters think?
 
Fairyland Zoo in Black Hills, South Dakota, is another closed (?) zoo. I can't find much on it at all, aside from the postcards I have uploaded of the place.

http://www.zoochat.com/728/silas-webfoot-114720/
http://www.zoochat.com/728/romeo-114718/
http://www.zoochat.com/728/buck-bunny-114713/
http://www.zoochat.com/728/grubstake-charlie-114712/
http://www.zoochat.com/728/curley-hare-114711/
http://www.zoochat.com/728/casey-114710/
http://www.zoochat.com/728/beak-maverick-114709/

I.Q Zoo is another closed zoo in the US, specifically Hot Springs, Arkansas. Unlike Fairyland Zoo, I've been able to dig up quite a bit of info about the place and the people who were behind it.

IQ Zoo - Encyclopedia of Arkansas
http://www.zoochat.com/602/rufus-raccoon-114730/
Monitor on Psychology - The IQ Zoo
Science: I.Q. Zoo - TIME
http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&sourc...943zCQ&usg=AFQjCNE9D-UxMUGDh7mh-t26Ndpj3CYd6w
[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Breland_Bailey]Marian Breland Bailey - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]
 
I remember Discovery Island! It was nothing like the advertised it. The guidebooks made it look like everything roamed free. Some birds like flamingos, peafowl, and waterfowl did roam free, but most animals were in cages. They were not too small but I remember being disappointed. I had almost forgotten about that!
 
Meaghan, do you remember Aqualand (I think that was the name) in the Black Hills? It was a seal show and I think they had dolphins as well.
 
The aquarium in the Black Hills, which had a couple of dolphins (I think they moved them south in the winter) was called Marine Life. I read that it closed in the 1990's and the dolphins were sent to China! Reptile Gardens and Bear Country USA are still open.
 
I went to Southport Zoo a few times when I was a kid, for a small zoo it was packed with animals, not all in bad enclosures although I remember writing a letter of complaint (I was about 10 years old) about the bear cage.

Another closed zoo in the North West of England is Haigh Hall Zoo. It was situated in a country park near Wigan and had a large number of animals including many birds, primates and small cats. Larger animals included zebras, bactrian camels, llamas and Brazilian tapir.
It closed in the early 1990s I think.
 
Remnants of the old Griffith Park Zoo in Los Angeles, that closed in 1965, are just a small fraction of exhibits once found there. And those old antiquated structures only remain in part. That was the zoo of my early childhood until the current Los Angeles Zoo opened in 1966.

Other facilities now closed, once a part of greater Los Angeles include Lion Country Safari, Japanese Deer Park, Buena Park Alligator Farm, Busch Gardens, and Marineland of the Pacific. I had the privilege of visiting all but Busch Gardens.
 
Urban exploration shots of Marineland of the Pacific:

Urban Exploration Resource: Display Location: Marineland of the Pacific

I don't believe this was posted, the Nay Aug Park Zoo/Genesis Wildlife Center in Scranton, PA.

Abandoned Zoo–Nay Aug Park Cheri Sundra's Blog
ShowMe Elephants: Nay Aug Park Zoo, Scranton, Pennyslvania

Abandoned aquarium in Qatur:

Qatar Guest: A slightly surreal trip to the Qatar National Museum

It seems a skiinig resort in Big Pines, CA had a zoo:

Kirsten Anderberg's CA History Site: Big Pines Ski Club/Lodge & Big Pines, CA.

Home movie of Crandon Zoo in Miami on the 1:52 mark:


Dierenpark Tilburg (Denmark)

[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dierenpark_Tilburg[/ame]

Lai Chi Kok Zoo (Hong Kong)

[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lai_Chi_Kok_Zoo[/ame]

Upper Clements Wildlife Park (Nova Scotia)

[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Clements_Park[/ame]

Knaresborough Zoo (North Yorkshire)

http://sites.google.com/site/nicknyoka/
http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/features/history/8254529.Memories_of_Knaresborough_Zoo/
http://circusnospin.blogspot.com/2011/03/noyka-and-simba.html
 
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Southampton Zoo in the UK-basically a holding pen for animals owned by the Chipperfield Circus empire that was open to the public.

Very cramped conditions on a mainly concreted site just outside the town centre-closed its doors during the 1980s.

It was pretty much driven out of business by the opening of the much larger Marwell a few miles away, the changing attitudes to the older style of 'postage stamp' collections, and the very anti-zoo sentiments of the local Loony Left City Council.

The site is now a wildlife study site on Southampton Common but I've never been-I think it was mostly aimed at school parties and I was a bit too old by that time!
 
My veterinarian girlfriend remembers the old Basildon Zoo (without much affection) - she took a thorn out of a lion's paw there around 1989. She didn't give an anaesthetic - the lion had his paw against the wire and was too old to move much, so Androcles-like she whipped it out there and then.
 
Without doubt the worst zoo I have ever visited was at Seaburn near Sunderland in the seventies. This dreadful establishment consisted of very small enclosures, a brown bear incarcerated in a cage which today would be deemed unsuitable for a raccoon, lions and tigers enclosed in various structures all of which were sub standard, the center piece being a duck pond which consisted of dirty green water with stale bread floating in it, a great zoo if you liked looking at rats and sheep's heads , I think this zoo thankfully closed its doors at the end of 1979, I remember seeing posters on the sea front of Seaburn during its final year advertising Maggie the monkey who had been born on election day of that year, fortunately there were no U turns and this "zoo" never reopened after its closure, the premises were demolished.
 
Did anybody mention that the Navajo Nation Zoo in Window Rock, Arizona is NOT closed? Don't know if it closed at one time, but it's open now. I had hoped to go to in on the way home home from New Mexico a few weeks ago, but ended up at Wildlife West near Albuquerque instead. I was there some years ago.
I believe the Sahati Camel farm is also still open - I went by it, I think early 2010, but unfortunately it was closed for the day.
 
Gosh.....Ive NEVER heard of a zoo at St Asaph before reading this thread! (excuse me joining in so late!!) My sister lives very near what is now the Tweedmil shopping outlet....its certainly not common knowledge there was ever a zoo there! the best i could find locally is possibly a travelling collection used to use the site as its base in the winter. I'd love to hear more about this!
 
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