ZSL London Zoo earliest known colour photograph

Fascinating. :) If only we had pictures like that of the Quagga and Thylacine at London.
 
Marwell Dalek said:
Fascinating. :) If only we had pictures like that of the Quagga and Thylacine at London.
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A good point, particularly as London had thylacines well after the date(if it is correct) of this first colour photo- the last one at ZSL was kept from 1926-31.
 
Marwell Dalek said:
Fascinating. :) If only we had pictures like that of the Quagga and Thylacine at London.
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I have seen a picture of a London Zoo Quagga, apparently it was the only photograph of one ever taken.

Also, here are a couple of short videos showing the London Thylacine:


 
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On the subject of photos I have tried to upload photos, but every time I click on the upload button I get directed to the forums.Anybody any advice please.
 
nayer said:
I think the London Zoo Quagga was the only one ever photographed, but more than one photo was taken (three are found here: Quagga - Equus quagga quagga - ARKive)
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I believe there were five photos in the series, the only ones taken.

I believe this particular Quagga is now in Edinburgh museum- I worked it out by the striping pattern on the neck.

From the photos and museum specimens its clear the Quagga had a very different coat pattern to other zebras- dark chestnut brown body and with very narrow white stripes on forequarters- like a Bongo's. Not black and white bands of equal width like other zebras..So I don't think the animals being bred in the 'Quagga Project' will ever come to resemble the markings of the original animal, despite being the same species.
 
Quaggas were probably a sub-species, like Grevy's are to a Plains Zebra. It always struck me as odd that they (quagga) became extinct whilst most of their cousins are doing ok :confused: Unless they weren't common in the first place.
 
Thanks Pertinax, I didn't know that their stripes were that distinctive.
@ Jacobea: sorry, do you mean like Grant's to a Plains Zebra? Quagga were once plentiful but were hunted to extinction (for meat and hides, among other reasons.)
 
nayer said:
@ Jacobea: sorry, do you mean like Grant's to a Plains Zebra? Quagga were once plentiful but were hunted to extinction (for meat and hides, among other reasons.)
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From what I know (which isn't very much :o), Plains Zebra are like, the "original" zebra, and Grant's are an offshoot/sub-species, so I've always thought that quaggas were the same-another quirky cousin :)

It still seems odd to me though that quaggas went extinct, but the others didn't (at least not to the same extent). Bad luck for the quagga, I guess.
 
Quagga has been proven by DNA to be simply a geographical race of the Plains zebras, like the Chapman's, Grants, Damara etc and no more, albeit with a unique colouration and markings. Hence the experimental breeding of Chapman-type zebras to try and recreate the Quagga. BUT in my view so far they are going along a different track- producing black and white zebras with less and less striping but not the genuine Quagga pattern.

Have a look at the 'Quagga Project' website.
 
I'll link this here in case anyone misses the "Zoo History Books" thread. I'm sorry it's bit off topic (:o) though you zoo history/London Zoo fans might enjoy it nonetheless.

Internet Archive: Details: The Zoological Society of London : a sketch of its foundation and development, and the story of its farm, museum, gardens, menagerie and library

The site's easy and free to download from, and no virusus, in case anyone does feel like having their own copy. I've used the site many times, and the book's pretty damn interesting-several plates, coloured and not, with plans and history going back 'til about the 1820s :)
 
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