St Albans zoo

[Crowthorne]

Just in case anyone here has Facebook, someone recently posted a photo of the closed St Albans Zoo that was located in Verulamium Park on the footprint of the current Wildlife Trust garden near the Verulamium Museum of Roman Life. The zoo closed in 1975 and housed native British species.

I'm sure I heard there was a book about this zoo but can't remember the title

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[FBBird]

Just in case anyone here has Facebook, someone recently posted a photo of the closed St Albans Zoo that was located in Verulamium Park on the footprint of the current Wildlife Trust garden near the Verulamium Museum of Roman Life. The zoo closed in 1975 and housed native British species.

I'm sure I heard there was a book about this zoo but can't remember the title

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Grahame Dangerfield wrote a book called 'The Unintended Zoo', probably in the late 1970s. He built up a substantial private collection of largely British Wildlife, which eventually became the Verulamium British Wildlife Zoo.

 

[Tim May]

Grahame Dangerfield wrote a book called 'The Unintended Zoo', probably in the late 1970s.

Grahame Dangerfield's The Unintended Zoo was actually published in 1965

 

[FBBird]

Grahame Dangerfield's The Unintended Zoo was actually published in 1965

I meant to write 'late 1960s'! In the early 70s he had The Wildlife Breeding Centre -- I've got a late 1974 price oust around somewhere. He seemed to be producing a lot of different owls, and things that aren't around today like Grey Foxes.
He may be still around, but not heard of him for a few years now -- wasn't there a radio programme a while back?

 

[Tim May]

He may be still around, but not heard of him for a few years now -- wasn't there a radio programme a while back?

I remember Grahame Dangerfield frequently presented animal programmes on television when I was a child and I read his book decades ago but I haven't heard anything about him for years.

However, following on from your comment about a radio programme, a google search shows he did a Radio 4 programme in 2013. See link below:-

BBC Radio 4 - Grahame Dangerfield: Back to the Serengeti, Episode 1

 

[Dassie rat]

I went to the St Alban's Zoo when I was very young. I thought the most interesting section was a nocturnal house with a few species of bat. I seem to remember seeing a long-eared bat and perhaps a pipistrelle and a noctule. This showed that British bats could be kept in captivity and I know people who have been very successful in keeping bats alive for some time. It's a pity that many zoos are less adventurous than Grahame Dangerfield when it comes to keeping bats. I have been on a few bat walks and it seems that many people are becoming more interested in bats.