Dudley Zoological Gardens Dudley Zoo killer Whale

[DanCaveBirmingham]

Hi Andrew,


Thank you so much for the reply. I appreciate both the time taken and the detail given, especially around the Keeper Contact magazine article, too. Really glad to know Cuddles legacy lives on and there’s a lot of interest in his life. Incredibly detail about the exact moment he passed, too – especially with media coverage at the time.


Great to know he kept bringing you back too – assuming you saw him multiple times? And when he (as you said, assumed to be a ‘her’) first in the UK? How was that? If you have the time, it would be great to talk further (and I would be very appreciative too) about what you remember of those visits, your own movements around the country and seeing Cuddles in different settings, and what you remember of reception to him at the time.


Thanks regardless! Dan

 

[Parrotsandrew]

Hello Dan,

I'm pleased my reply was of use! I'm not sure why he was thought to be female on arrival at Flamingo Park, presumably there was difficulty in sexing a young Killer Whale. He arrived a couple of weeks before my seventh birthday so I was obviously quite young, but I had seen the short-lived Beluga and Pilot Whale at Flamingo Park and so was concerned Cuddles would not live long! When we arrived at the park for our first visit following his arrival the cashier in the paybox said "The whale is in the outside pool," but when we got to "Ocean World" the outside pool was empty and my first thought was it's dead already. Fortunately he was in the inside pool. We used to visit Flamingo Park about every month so I did see him quite a few times up to April 1971 when we moved to Shrewsbury. From Shrewsbury we would alternate between Dudley and Chester zoos with a few other places thrown in too, but I did see him at Dudley quite a few times. I took only one photograph of him at Dudley and to my irritation it has disappeared, although I must have it somewhere. Similarly I have only one of him at Flamingo Park, not a great one, which I did post on this site. From memory he was a popular attraction at both zoos. I do remember watching him perform at Dudley and the seating appearing quite full.

Andrew

I'm hoping I've attached a cutting from "The Times", 8th February 1974.

 

[DanCaveBirmingham]

Andrew - Thank you so much for this wealth of colourful information. It’s good to know that Cuddles was well liked by those that saw him. Shame about the photos, I’ve lost so many good ones over the years moving around and it really is frustrating.


It also sounds like you saw Cuddles a lot at both Flamingo Park and at Dudley Zoo, which is fab. Did you see any of the shows he was in (or performances, that might be the better way to phrase it) or in the pool he was kept in?


Also sounds like you were a younger child to a teenager at the time, so can assume seeing a whale was extremely exciting. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in real life - dolphins, yes, but no whales - and from friends that have seen them they come back awestruck. I also read Philip Hoare’s The Leviathan recently and that gave me a sense of how special it all seems when seeing them up close. Wonder if he did stick out compared to other animals and exhibitions/areas when you saw him?


Thank you so much for the cutting, too, very helpful. I spent Saturday at Wolverhampton archives looking for all manner of press cuttings about him and found quite a lot - surprisingly, that in many cases Dolphin exhibition was advertised with more space than Cuddles. And that initially there wasn’t a lot of coverage until the supposed incident with Don Robison, the zoo’s director, and the pool. Seems strange there wasn’t more excitement from the media at the start – even though, from forums, it seems like it was rather exciting to go and see Cuddles!


If there is anything I find of interest/novel when I go through my notes from Saturday, I will add tomorrow.


Thank you so much,


Dan

 

[Parrotsandrew]

Dan,

I did see some shows at both zoos, but don't really remember too much about them. The missing Dudley photo was of him rising out of the water, to touch a ball I think. I presume you will have seen the photos of his arrival at Dudley that featured in the book "Dolphins, Kings of the Sea". They feature both Don Robinson and zoo vet David Taylor.

As my early years coincided with the dolphin boom of the 1960s into the 1970s I just considered it all normal when in fact it was really a quite brief period of zoo history, but to me, much as I liked Cuddles, there was nothing unusual about seeing cetaceans in zoos.

Andrew

 

[DanCaveBirmingham]

Hi Andrew,

Again, thanks. I did try searching for that book but have come up with nothing via internet searches. Do you have a link to it?

Seems like that covers the arrival better than the local paper did!

Dan

 

[Parrotsandrew]

Hello Dan,

I don't have an online link but I do have the book, probably purchased at Dudley Zoo! I'll scan the photos when I get chance.

Andrew

 

[DanCaveBirmingham]

Thank you Andrew!

 

[Parrotsandrew]

Here we go, Dan ("Dolphins; Kings of the Sea" circa 1972)...

 

[DanCaveBirmingham]

Andrew, thanks for this, incredible photos. Like looking into a different world with the contraption to lift him. Incredible to get a sense of the pool size, too.

 

[Parrotsandrew]

My pleasure, Dan. It certainly was a different world. It's a pity the pear-shaped part of the pool is out of shot.

 

[gentle lemur]

Hi Alan, I appreciate this message is many years after you first posted. I am currently writing an article for a local newspaper -- I'm a Birmingham-based journalist -- trying to pull together an oral history of Cuddles, 50 years after his death, trying to find out more about those who saw him and wondered if you might be interested in chatting. Long shot as I know you haven't posted on this thread in a long while!
Best,
Dan

I don't think I can add much to what I posted before. I only saw Cuddles for a few minutes during a short visit to Dudley Zoo, as I was breaking my journey from home to University. As you will have seen, my two photos are still in our Gallery: I didn't take any others, as film was expensive for a student - although today I wish I had more photos and better ones too of course.