Newt
Well-Known Member
So, I've been doing alot of research on the history of zoos, and came across two pictures from 1902 featuring a pair of thylacines, held at the Bronx Zoo, NY. At the time, I wasn't aware thylacines were transported anywhere inside of the USA. It claims over 14 zoos obtained them worldwide, only 2 of which being found in the U.S, which includes:
1. The Bronx Zoo (New York)
A male thylacine featured in the Bronx Zoo. He was purchased for around $125 by William Hornaday, the director of the zoo at the time. The male arrived on December 17, 1902. It was only the 2nd zoo to obtain them in the US behind the National Zoo (DC). It died on August 15, 1908.
A second male was obtained on January 16, 1912. Reports claim it either came from the Beamuris Zoo or London Zoo, it still remains unkown. It only lived a few months due to stress and anxiety from being held in captivity, and died on November 20, 1912.
The 3rd thylacine was unsexed, and arrived on November 7, 1916. The animal had arrived in poor health and died seven days later.
The last thylacine was a female, she arrived on July 14, 1917. She was bought by Ellis from the Beamuris Zoo and resold to the Bronx Zoo. Unfortunetly, she had died September 13, 1919, marking the last thylacine to ever be held in the Bronx Zoo.
Althought not important, I found another interesting fact. The director of the Melbourne Zoo, in Australia, had said to Hornaday while viewing a thylacine;
"I advise you to take excellent care of that specimen; for when it is gone, you never will get another. The species soon will be extinct."
Hornaday replied, "The extermination of the thylacine would be a zoological calamity; but it is impending."
This was all recorded by Hornaday in his "Our Vanishing Wildlife" (1913) under a section called "Species of Large Animals Almost Extinct".
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2. The National Zoo (Washington D.C)
These were a pair of thylacines photographed at the National Zoo in 1903. Although it's recorded that the National Zoo had obtained a pregnant female whom gave birth, I couldn't find much information on who these individuals were, or when they'd arrived. One source claims this was infact the pregnant female, but no ID was given for the one in the back. Only details that were provided were that they were obtained after the Bronx Zoo had rejected the pregnant female. She was then shipped to the National Zoo. Seeing as this happened in 1902, I'm gonna assume this was also the time they arrived. No death dates were provided.
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There was no information regarding any other U.S zoos having the species, besides these two. Do any of you know of any other zoo or facility that housed these in the U.S for even the shortest time? I'm very curious to see if they were found anywhere else within the USA, and no documents or recordings were found or kept.
1. The Bronx Zoo (New York)
A male thylacine featured in the Bronx Zoo. He was purchased for around $125 by William Hornaday, the director of the zoo at the time. The male arrived on December 17, 1902. It was only the 2nd zoo to obtain them in the US behind the National Zoo (DC). It died on August 15, 1908.
A second male was obtained on January 16, 1912. Reports claim it either came from the Beamuris Zoo or London Zoo, it still remains unkown. It only lived a few months due to stress and anxiety from being held in captivity, and died on November 20, 1912.
The 3rd thylacine was unsexed, and arrived on November 7, 1916. The animal had arrived in poor health and died seven days later.
The last thylacine was a female, she arrived on July 14, 1917. She was bought by Ellis from the Beamuris Zoo and resold to the Bronx Zoo. Unfortunetly, she had died September 13, 1919, marking the last thylacine to ever be held in the Bronx Zoo.
Althought not important, I found another interesting fact. The director of the Melbourne Zoo, in Australia, had said to Hornaday while viewing a thylacine;
"I advise you to take excellent care of that specimen; for when it is gone, you never will get another. The species soon will be extinct."
Hornaday replied, "The extermination of the thylacine would be a zoological calamity; but it is impending."
This was all recorded by Hornaday in his "Our Vanishing Wildlife" (1913) under a section called "Species of Large Animals Almost Extinct".
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2. The National Zoo (Washington D.C)
These were a pair of thylacines photographed at the National Zoo in 1903. Although it's recorded that the National Zoo had obtained a pregnant female whom gave birth, I couldn't find much information on who these individuals were, or when they'd arrived. One source claims this was infact the pregnant female, but no ID was given for the one in the back. Only details that were provided were that they were obtained after the Bronx Zoo had rejected the pregnant female. She was then shipped to the National Zoo. Seeing as this happened in 1902, I'm gonna assume this was also the time they arrived. No death dates were provided.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There was no information regarding any other U.S zoos having the species, besides these two. Do any of you know of any other zoo or facility that housed these in the U.S for even the shortest time? I'm very curious to see if they were found anywhere else within the USA, and no documents or recordings were found or kept.
