The 1st Zoo you visited

There was a small zoo and aquarium in a town called Hafnarfjordur in Iceland from 1968 to 1988. They became famous for catching Killer Whales for the world trade and many of their whales are still alive in oceanariums around the world. I remember they had Lions, Polar Bears, Chimpanzees and a few more exotics mixed up with domesticated and wild Icelandic animals. But the first 'real' zoo I visited was Aalborg Zoo in Denmark in 1986 or 1987. There I saw most of the animals we almost take for granted for the first time. It was that visit and one to Hagenbeck in Hamburg in 1991 with my dad which inspired my love for zoos.
 
For me, it was the Turtle Back Zoo in Northern New Jersey, USA. We took a class trip there when I was in elementary school. I just loved it there and couldn't wait to return.
 
Marwell, back in 1992. I was only a year and a half old, and was pushed around in a buggy with an embarassing bobble hat on. I have it on home video, and my parents reckon this is where I get my love of animals from. It's weird seeing Marwell look so different on the tape. I'm going to have to dig it out now and have another watch. :D

It was at Longleat however in 2000 on my 9th Birthday where I decided I wanted to work with animals in a zoo. :)
 
My first zoo visitwas Bristol where apparently I spent the whole day crying, except whenever we went past the (white?) Tigers :o
 
Twycross for me (I lived in the area for first 4 years of my life before moving to Perth, WA, I then visited Perth Zoo many times 1973-1978).
 
Though I'm not actually sure whether it was Marwell or Longleat first; I certainly have more early memories of the latter, such as seeing a giraffe calf I desperately wanted to stroke (you could walk in the same space as them back then), seeing hippos resting on the bank and getting a t-shirt with a cartoon elephant with 'Longleat' written in big letters at the bottom (might still have it...). Apparentley one of the sea lions jumped up onto the boat in one of those early memories, though I don't remember that. Earliest Marwell memory seems to be watching the road train come down the hill towards Encounter Village for some reason.
Either way, both hold very strong places in me to this day.
 
I would guess it would be Crandon Park Zoo in Florida, long ago, probably in the 1950s. Also Parrot Jungle. My grandparents spent winters in Florida in those days. I have a memory of seeing a manatee, some monkeys, parrots, and a huge tortoise.
 
My first was Bristol when I was about 18 months old. I can still remember the tigers sleeping in the old polar bear enclosure and also feeding Wendy the elephant a piece of bread whilst she was being walked. I also remember the okapis in the current cassowary enclosure.
 
Copenhagen Zoo, probably in 1962 or 1963. I would have been six or seven years old, my mother and an aunt of mine took me there. Living in Sweden, it was my first travel abroad and it involved a very exciting boat travel between Sweden and Danmark - a kind of passenger carrying "speed boat" called "The Flying Boat" that travelled much faster than an ordinary ferry. I was awestruck, excited and a bit afraid by the concept in advance! It turned out allright though and one of my memories (apart from the ones from the zoo) was that all the bicycles in Denmark at that time for some reason were painted black!

EDIT:
Remember, this was almost fifty years ago and, of course, so much different from today - when any spoilt Western middle class child expect its parents to take him or her for a spin across the globe every second year or so!

Oh, and damn the environmental effects of these travelling habits, of course................. nothing to worry about I am sure.................

:p
 
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