Bonnie Griffin
Active Member
Hello Zoo Chat!
My name is Bonnie Griffin, I currently live in Los Angeles but was previously curator for natural history at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery (taking care of Alfred the Gorilla) and before that, a senior education officer at Bristol Zoo. I now work at the Natural History Museum LA and am a freelance artist, researching and creating exhibitions based on animal histories and the intersection of people and animals.
Working in the museum and zoo, I was often able to research the history of animals still held in the collection including Ann and Henry the orang utans, the thylacine from the Tasmania Zoo, Victoria the Lioness and Jackson the Rhino.
I am currently researching Bolivar the elephant ~1870 - 1908, specifically Forepaugh's circus elephant Bolivar who retired at the Philadelphia Zoo (although in unpicking him from other circus elephants also called Bolivar at the time, I have some research on these too!)
I'm particularly interested in elephant husbandry and in zoo archives!
You can catch me on Twitter @Bonniebeasties Bonnie Griffin (@BonnieBeasties) | Twitter
Looking forward to meeting with you all!
My name is Bonnie Griffin, I currently live in Los Angeles but was previously curator for natural history at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery (taking care of Alfred the Gorilla) and before that, a senior education officer at Bristol Zoo. I now work at the Natural History Museum LA and am a freelance artist, researching and creating exhibitions based on animal histories and the intersection of people and animals.
Working in the museum and zoo, I was often able to research the history of animals still held in the collection including Ann and Henry the orang utans, the thylacine from the Tasmania Zoo, Victoria the Lioness and Jackson the Rhino.
I am currently researching Bolivar the elephant ~1870 - 1908, specifically Forepaugh's circus elephant Bolivar who retired at the Philadelphia Zoo (although in unpicking him from other circus elephants also called Bolivar at the time, I have some research on these too!)
I'm particularly interested in elephant husbandry and in zoo archives!
You can catch me on Twitter @Bonniebeasties Bonnie Griffin (@BonnieBeasties) | Twitter
Looking forward to meeting with you all!
your research sounds very interesting, hope to hear more if you are happy to share with us all here 
! Would be very interested in any tips you might have for zoo history searches...
