When I was a lot younger, I grew up on the Dorling Kindersley 'Eyewitness' books and their associated television series. Now I have found my stash of the books hidden in my house and several videos of the old TV series, I am curious as to where some of the animals photographed or filmed were from.
The one picture in the books that really captured my attention was of a Doria's tree kangaroo (here: Vorschau). Although they are not listed on Zootierliste, I have heard the species was kept at both Twycross and Blackpool Zoos - I was wondering if anyone recognised the enclosure in the picture.
I will admit to being more interested in the animals in the television series, with many different species being filmed in a studio in the UK. I was curious if anyone knew the origins of the following animals:
- The gorilla from the 'Ape' episode; it is a youngster and can clearly be seen wearing a collar (at 0:27 seconds into this video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVKpYmDXbhc); there are also a baby chimpanzee and baby siamang included in this episode, again I am unsure of where they came from
- The two elephants from the 'Elephant' episode; a young African calf and a fully-grown female Asian elephant that is, at one point, put in full finery and ridden - part of me almost wonders if this is Anne the ex-circus elephant (can be seen from 2:50 to 4:05 in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q97d2Q7AkFQ)
- The tiger, lion and black leopard from the 'Cat' episode - their trainers can be seen in part of the making-of episode (around 12:00 minutes in in this clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si81S8yu_6A)
- The striped hyena from the 'Monster' episode - again the trainer can be seen in the making-of section (from 2:05 to 2:55 here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwCnxScc0sc)
- The squirrel monkey from the 'Jungle' episode - the making-of episode says (at around 8:45 here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q97d2Q7AkFQ) that they were provided by a primate sanctuary in Sussex
- The king penguin from the 'Arctic and Antarctic' episode - the making-of for this episode states that the penguin was unable to be moved to the studio and so instead they went and built a studio in the grounds of the penguin's home; an exterior shot of the building and filming of the penguin can be seen from 1:30 to 2:12 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30aot0bayes
- The brown bear from the 'Bear' episode - I must admit I didn't see this episode when it came out, but when looking through clips I found this shot obviously taken in a studio (from 0:00 to 0:12 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUCk17-ZW7A); although it is referred to as a grizzly bear, I am not sure how correct this is
To put these into a time context, the series was made between 1995 and 1997. Hoping at least someone knows where these animals are from.
The one picture in the books that really captured my attention was of a Doria's tree kangaroo (here: Vorschau). Although they are not listed on Zootierliste, I have heard the species was kept at both Twycross and Blackpool Zoos - I was wondering if anyone recognised the enclosure in the picture.
I will admit to being more interested in the animals in the television series, with many different species being filmed in a studio in the UK. I was curious if anyone knew the origins of the following animals:
- The gorilla from the 'Ape' episode; it is a youngster and can clearly be seen wearing a collar (at 0:27 seconds into this video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVKpYmDXbhc); there are also a baby chimpanzee and baby siamang included in this episode, again I am unsure of where they came from
- The two elephants from the 'Elephant' episode; a young African calf and a fully-grown female Asian elephant that is, at one point, put in full finery and ridden - part of me almost wonders if this is Anne the ex-circus elephant (can be seen from 2:50 to 4:05 in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q97d2Q7AkFQ)
- The tiger, lion and black leopard from the 'Cat' episode - their trainers can be seen in part of the making-of episode (around 12:00 minutes in in this clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si81S8yu_6A)
- The striped hyena from the 'Monster' episode - again the trainer can be seen in the making-of section (from 2:05 to 2:55 here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwCnxScc0sc)
- The squirrel monkey from the 'Jungle' episode - the making-of episode says (at around 8:45 here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q97d2Q7AkFQ) that they were provided by a primate sanctuary in Sussex
- The king penguin from the 'Arctic and Antarctic' episode - the making-of for this episode states that the penguin was unable to be moved to the studio and so instead they went and built a studio in the grounds of the penguin's home; an exterior shot of the building and filming of the penguin can be seen from 1:30 to 2:12 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30aot0bayes
- The brown bear from the 'Bear' episode - I must admit I didn't see this episode when it came out, but when looking through clips I found this shot obviously taken in a studio (from 0:00 to 0:12 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUCk17-ZW7A); although it is referred to as a grizzly bear, I am not sure how correct this is
To put these into a time context, the series was made between 1995 and 1997. Hoping at least someone knows where these animals are from.
