Poole Aquarium and Serpentarium

DesertRhino150

DesertRhino150

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
I was just noting down the zoos I have visited to upload to the 'My zoo list' thread, when I remembered a collection I have visited at least twice many years ago. After over an hour searching the internet, I found the name of the place- Poole Aquarium and Serpentarium but have not been able to find any information on the place further than its name and where it is located.

I certainly seem to remember seeing sharks of some description (I think reef sharks), an alligator snapping turtle and I think there was an enclosure housing an American alligator and a Nile crocodile. Of course, I was very young on both my visits, and so can remember very little else. I was wondering if anyone else has heard of or visited the place recently, and if it would be worth revisiting when I am down in that area again.
 
DesertRhino150 said:
I was wondering if anyone else has heard of or visited the place recently, and if it would be worth revisiting when I am down in that area again.
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Sadly it closed down several years ago. It had a prime location, right on the harbour front, and with a lot of money having been spent on developing that harbour-front I guess the rents must have become exorbitant. Poole also had a zoo, once - a fairly small place, not unlike places in other coastal resorts such as Exmouth and Bognor Regis.
 
sooty mangabey said:
Sadly it closed down several years ago. It had a prime location, right on the harbour front, and with a lot of money having been spent on developing that harbour-front I guess the rents must have become exorbitant. Poole also had a zoo, once - a fairly small place, not unlike places in other coastal resorts such as Exmouth and Bognor Regis.
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That's a real shame. It seemed a nice enough place when I went, but I guess sometimes when development happens in these sorts of areas a small animal collection in prime location is bound to suffer.
Also, I am very interested in this zoo that was in Poole- do you remember any of the species they had there?
 
Poole Aquarium - I remember a Lemon shark. I seem to remember a large lemon shark held behind the scenes about ten years later in Weymouth Sea Life Park, I think it had come from Poole aquarium, can anyone confirm or deny this? - as my memory is hazy.

Poole Park - very enclosed, flat, square piece of land within the park that you couldn't see out of (enclosures and fencing round the edges). I remember one of the first exhibits being a small raised concrete exhibit for several short-clawed otters. There were macaques and capuchins, possibly in overhead walkways in a small primate complex, and a cage at the edge of the site with lynx. I don't remember much else, as it resembled other, similarly-sized 'pet's corner' attractions at other coastal resorts around that time, if a little larger than most.
 
johnstoni said:
Poole Aquarium - I remember a Lemon shark. I seem to remember a large lemon shark held behind the scenes about ten years later in Weymouth Sea Life Park, I think it had come from Poole aquarium, can anyone confirm or deny this? - as my memory is hazy.
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You are quite correct they used to have 2 Lemon Shark and 2 Grey Nurse Sharks in the very first exhibit,that you saw after you paid to go in,you could also view them from above water later on in the place.Also I do believe that when the place closed the last Lemon Shark did go to Weymouth Sea Life Park I do know that it never went on show there,not sure if died or if it was sent somewhere else.
 
Unlike modern Sea Life Centres , I remember the Poole Aquarium being in a tall old building with the exhibits on several floors , certainly not wheel-chair friendly . Do seem to remember the collection having some interesting species . Also remember visits to Poole Park Zoo , there were some interesting primates such as mangabeys though not towards the end .
 
I definately remember the place being on several different levels (the top level I believe had a small model railway exhibition too), and I can now definately recall there both being several sets of stairs- I think the alligator snapping turtle was on the bottom floor near to the stairs, and I can also remember the above-water viewing for the sharks.

Thanks all for getting back with this very interesting information regarding these collection :)
 
Purely by co-incidence I was looking through International Zoo News Volume 50 number 1 (issue 322) January/February 2003 yesterday.

On page 63 is news from Southport Zoo and Conservation Trust. Arrivals news includes, "2 Kenyan sand boa from Leeds Tropical World, and several species of reptile and amphibian following the closure of Poole Aquarium in Dorset."

Unfortunately there is no furthur information regarding the species involved.
 
DesertRhino150 said:
I definately remember the place being on several different levels (the top level I believe had a small model railway exhibition too)
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Indeed there was a model railway exhibition on the top floor of the building.

The Poole Aquarium did have a very interesting collection with some unusual species; it was one of the very few places where I’ve ever see an elephant trunk snake.
 
Up until it closed, Southport Zoo used to sell postcards of the Serpentarium as they bought the remainder of the stock from the Serpentarium's gift shop too.

As well as the "Serpentarium", it was also known as the "Aquarium Complex" and the "Natural World" at different times.

I remember the Serpentarium was certainly labyrinthine. I recall that its literature stated that it was only "one of six collections licensed to keep venomous reptiles". I also remember that on the top floor just beyond the crocodiles was a booth where you could have your photograph taken with a python, and the snake section itself had a likeness of the world's longest recorded reticulate python painted on the ceiling.
 
As a former employee of Poole Aquarium & Serpentarium I found it interesting that people are still discussing, & have fond memories of the establishment. While reading this thread I feel that I should clarify some facts:
The establishment closed in September 2002. With regards to the two Lemon Sharks, they went to Germany in 1992, as they had grown too large for their aquarium. In exchange we received 3 juvenile Black-Tip Reef Sharks. We have never had Grey Nurse /Sand Tiger sharks, but we did have a seven foot Tawny Nurse Shark which went to London Aquarium in 1998.
 
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Paradoxurus said:
I also remember that on the top floor just beyond the crocodiles was a booth where you could have your photograph taken with a python, and the snake section itself had a likeness of the world's longest recorded reticulate python painted on the ceiling.
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I had my picture taken with that snake, an old quickly developed job. No idea where the photo is now as I was about 7 at the time!
I remember the shark tank at the beginning, if memeory serves me right it contained 3 black tip reef sharks and a nurse shark when we visited. It also had a decent crocodilian exhibit next to the python picture area, the first place I saw a crocodilian actually move! :D
I also remember a lot of taxidermied individuals around the place, I have photo's of me with a stuffed pike and crocodile, if I can locate a scanner I'll upload them! :)

EDIT:- I've just read the post by zoogoneticus after typing this and I'm surprised I remember so much!
@zoogoneticus What other stuffed animals were on display? Can you remember? Thanks in advance? :)
 
It is surprising what an impact the establishment had on many of its visitors. Considering how long the Aquarium has been closed I still frequently encounter people with very vivid memories of what was there. The exhibits changed at various times. However, the main taxidermy specimens included: a 6 foot American Alligator, a Garpike (by the Piranha tank), a 5 foot Tarpon (above the first stair well), Crocodilian skulls (by Piranhas),a salt water Crayfish & other native crustaceans. I'm glad Brum saw some movement in the main crocdilian exhibit as many visitors incorrectly thought they were models!
 
zoogoneticus said:
It is surprising what an impact the establishment had on many of its visitors. Considering how long the Aquarium has been closed I still frequently encounter people with very vivid memories of what was there. The exhibits changed at various times. However, the main taxidermy specimens included: a 6 foot American Alligator, a Garpike (by the Piranha tank), a 5 foot Tarpon (above the first stair well), Crocodilian skulls (by Piranhas),a salt water Crayfish & other native crustaceans. I'm glad Brum saw some movement in the main crocdilian exhibit as many visitors incorrectly thought they were models!
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I loved the place when we visited, Dorset/The West Country used to have a fair few seaside aquariums which were nothing spectacular, just local fish caught in Fishermens nets. So when we went here we were pleasantly surprised by the extent of the collection. I'm glad that I'm not the only person who remembers it... :)
 
I also fondly remember poole aquarium, I have 2 photos of me with a python there! It was very labyrinthine, making it disabled-friendly would have been a challenge, and it was on at leats 4 floors. I was working in a+e recently in poole and popped down to the harbour to see what the building had become and it is just and art gallery now. I remember seeing black tiped reef sharks, nurse sharks and lots of crocodiles there. Does anyone know why it closed?
 
Another interesting thing I have found - a very old VHS (made in 1982) that I have just re-watched about dinosaurs features live footage from Poole Aquarium (they are thanked in the credits) showing an Asian water dragon, a boa constrictor, the mixed alligators and crocodiles and a species of monitor lizard that looks a lot like a Bengal monitor. I'll see if I can find the show available on Youtube and screenshot the lizard for identification.
 
I managed to find and take screenshots of the monitor lizard from the programme - does anyone else think it looks like a Bengal monitor?
 

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It is a Bengal monitor, looks like an old one.
If I'm not mistaken Graham Cox was a director of Poole Aquarium? He ran Seaquariums and Waterlife Research next to Heathrow Airport. I just found out that he died tragically in 2014. I worked for him at Seaquariums around 1986, learned a lot about fish there.
 
I live in Poole and used to visit here quite regularly; however I was only about 3 or 4 when I visited so I cannot remember it much. I do remember they had an octopus behind a magnified glass enclosure so it looked a lot larger than it actually was, and they had lots of crabs and lobsters. Its such a shame it has gone, but Poole is now a dying town and not many realise the state it is becoming. The famous Poole Pottery is a complete shambles and there used to be another museum in the Guildhall but it closed some years ago. The old zoo was situated in Poole Park, but it was a horrible place and it was home to bears and tigers in small cages. My mum lived opposite the park as a child and at night she could hear them upset roaring. Glad that place closed! But such a shame there is no longer an aquarium in Poole, despite it being home to the largest harbour in Europe and the second largest natural harbour in the World. Lots of places are closing and its because the council have put the rent up too high, probably with the prospect of one day building flats on the sites. I am getting really annoyed by it!
 
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