If you are into history... The Zoo produced a detailed history series for its staff as part of their birthday celebrations recently and have published a shorter, public version on the "History" page of their website.
Perth Zoo had free ranging baboons!


Though the speaker was a little slow (I’d recommend watching on 1.25 speed), this was fascinating viewing. I wouldn’t have minded seeing the five hour version!
Some interesting points from the video:
At 5.10 there’s a species list for the zoo on opening day. An impressive collection of around 160 animals of 80 species including tigers, bears, melanistic leopards and numerous ungulates.
At 8.41 there’s photos of the different entrances over the years, which have also changed location. It’s noted the current entrance location was designated in the 1980’s and will be moved again in 2030 to a point which is near the original 1898 entrance.
There were three main walking paths, which are shown at 14.32. These include the ‘Main Walk’, which would show you the highlights of the zoo, the ‘Western Walk’ and ‘Bears Road.’
A tale of two Teddy’s (30.19). Teddy the Common chimpanzee was the animal star of the 30’s and 40’s. In 1940, 30,000 children were invited to attend his birthday party. The original Teddy died in 1937 and was replaced by a younger chimpanzee, who had arrived at the zoo the previous year. He himself died four years later and was mourned by many, with regular visitors to his grave. He was described as the ‘Tricia’ of his era.
One of the bear pits is shown at 35.39. It’s noted to be innovative for its time due to the inclusion of logs which allowed the bear to climb to the top and survey the zoo; as well as receiving food from the visitors. I was also interested to see the bars at the base, which allowed the visitors to view the bears at eye level. It reminded me of the design of Auckland Zoo’s old chimpanzee exhibit, which was remodelled from a wolf pit. It was similarly noted these bear pits at Perth Zoo went on to hold canids.
At 39.02, there’s a view of the Big Cat House. It was inspired by London Zoo’s designs and included an adjoining outdoor cage. What’s really interesting is amongst the audience watching the big cats is a baboon. The Perth Zoo had free range monkeys, which were not tamarins or similar; but baboons!