Riverbanks zoo in the 1970s
- Thread starter Gilgamesh
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biggest_dreamer
Well-Known Member
This was a full two decades before my time, but your old photo uploads from the zoo have absolutely captivated me and led me down some rabbit holes of my own trying to learn more about its history. I’ve assembled a YouTube playlist of older family video footage I’ve found, but there’s unfortunately few recordings from before the 2000s.
Still, the thought of what I consider to be my “home” zoo once having had such a massive species lineup, particularly in the Conservation Outpost, is so fascinating. It’s unreal imagining species such as big cats, hyenas, jackals, and aardvarks cramped into those small areas. If you ever come across any additional photos, videos, or even just lists of previously held species, I’m all ears.
Still, the thought of what I consider to be my “home” zoo once having had such a massive species lineup, particularly in the Conservation Outpost, is so fascinating. It’s unreal imagining species such as big cats, hyenas, jackals, and aardvarks cramped into those small areas. If you ever come across any additional photos, videos, or even just lists of previously held species, I’m all ears.
I have literally hundreds I havent uploaded yet plus have seen in the past. I have some old video fotoage too from the 1970s as well but is only fragments and on a dvd packed up somewhere. The hyenas,jackals, big cats and aardvarks didnt last past the 70s because the director didnt know much about mammals and just got what he could. Amur leopards and snow leopards were there til the late 80s through and clouded leopards til i think 2000? There were two tunnels at one point actually the old one was were the gorillas are now you can see footage of it here,
biggest_dreamer
Well-Known Member
I don't have any memories of the second tunnel, but my recollections from before 2000 or so are going to be spotty at best. I'd seen you mention it on a photo comment before, though. I've also seen that video before, and while I of course noticed how the majority of those species are no longer kept in the tunnel, I didn't actually make the connection that this was the second tunnel in the video at the time. It makes perfect sense now.
Another thing I loved about that video was seeing the guanaco/capybara/Baird's tapir/rhea enclosure, which I'd never seen mentioned anywhere before. Do you know where that was located? My best guess was where the babirusa are kept now, but that might just be my brain associating the Baird's tapir with the Malayan that was kept there until recently.
On that note, do you know of any other larger species that would've been kept outside that no longer are? The other ones I'm aware of are the well known elephants, polar bear (plus neighbor arctic fox), and hippos; spotted hyenas kept in one of the grottos before the grizzly/otter renovation a while back; spectacled bears also in a grotto; Nubian ibex kept with the baboons; bongo which I have only found record of by visiting the zoo's website from the early 2000s using archive.org; and De Brazza's monkeys as part of the initial gorilla expansion. I know rhinos had been kept prior to their recent reintroduction, but I don't recall off hand which African species it was.
Another thing I loved about that video was seeing the guanaco/capybara/Baird's tapir/rhea enclosure, which I'd never seen mentioned anywhere before. Do you know where that was located? My best guess was where the babirusa are kept now, but that might just be my brain associating the Baird's tapir with the Malayan that was kept there until recently.
On that note, do you know of any other larger species that would've been kept outside that no longer are? The other ones I'm aware of are the well known elephants, polar bear (plus neighbor arctic fox), and hippos; spotted hyenas kept in one of the grottos before the grizzly/otter renovation a while back; spectacled bears also in a grotto; Nubian ibex kept with the baboons; bongo which I have only found record of by visiting the zoo's website from the early 2000s using archive.org; and De Brazza's monkeys as part of the initial gorilla expansion. I know rhinos had been kept prior to their recent reintroduction, but I don't recall off hand which African species it was.
I assume you mean outside of the tunnels, honestly too many to name but what I can recall are,
Polar Bears
Arctic Fox
Cheetah
Maned Wolf
Spectacled Bear
Kodiak Bear
Black bear off exhibit
Both white and black rhinos but the white rhinos are back
warthog and bongo
brocket deer bairds tapir giant anteater rhea capybara and guanaco all together
llama
lotssssss of antelope like eland wildebeest springbok kudu waterbuck among others
mandrill where the diana monkeys are now
malayan tapirs were present on opening day also angolan giraffe and sable antelope were planned but never arrived
plus more Im not even aware of
large species in the tunnels were amur leopards and snow leopards. a single bengal tiger, puma, jaguar aardvark, black backed jackal and bay duiker to name a few.
I actually own a masterplan of the zoo from the early 70s and late 60s, they were planning on building asian elephant exhibits, a insect house and a great ape house among tohers but never was actually realized.
Also you are correct thats exactly where it was when it opened 1974, also there was a malayan tapir exhibit next to it opening day, the tapirs either got moved or died in the early 80s and the exhibit sat vacant for many years.