which zoo is this?

T

TARZAN

Well-Known Member
While watching old British Pathe news films regarding zoos I have come across a colour film, I would think filmed late sixties early seventies, of a group of school children visiting a zoo featuring giraffes, zebras, chimps and bears. Unfortunately the zoo featured is not named. The title of this film is children at the zoo. Could anyone elaborate, as i do not know which zoo this is.
 
Thank you for your reply Jack, it is certainly not London Zoo, the title of the film is CHILDREN AT THE ZOO, page8, number 168 of the PatheNews,Zoos section,
 
The link to Pathe News greatly appreciated. Searched for zoos and found some amazing old footage - very interesting
 
Thanks 'Tarzan' !

Could you post a URL link up to the clip and I'll try and find out for you.

Incidentally, I see you're from South Shields and came across a great clip of a 1930s muslim parade up there:
SOUTH SHIELDS - British Pathe

Yes, the Zoo collection is very good. London Zoo may be doing some work with it themselves soon.

Jack
 
Is this the one?

CHILDREN AT THE ZOO - British Pathe

Don't quote me on it, but I think it could possibly be Chester. They were quite proud of being the 'zoo without bars' back then if I remember correctly. The Sealion pool rings a bell. If only they'd have shown a paddock with prairie dogs in I'd have known for certain! That's my biggest memory from visiting Chester as a kid!

PS: looked a horrible day. Anyone else wishing the camel had spat on the boys?
 
RowanGreen said:
Don't quote me on it, but I think it could possibly be Chester.
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Definitely Chester, if people don't recognise the old north east entrance, the sandstone and looped railings give it away moments later.

Fascinating to see the camels on their old paddock (where the okapi are now), the chimp islands before their new indoor house and the barriers were raised, and the old bear pits by the sea lions (you just catch a wider glimpse of the enclosures before the end clapper in the first sea lion sequence).

From the fashions I'd say this was early 1970s. The clapper says "Thames", presumably for "Thames Television", so it's later than 1968 and earlier than when those bear pits were filled in, which was in the winter of 1979/80.
 
As far as I can see SMR is right in all particulars.
It looks like a rotten winter day for a school trip (if that is what it was) and the clapper board says 'This Week' which was a current affairs programme if I remember rightly.

Alan
 
gentle lemur said:
...the clapper board says 'This Week' which was a current affairs programme if I remember rightly.
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According to Wikipedia (yes, I know), 'This Week' ran until 1978, so we can narrow the possible dates down yet further.

A lovely day for a visit, no crowds! And what a smart, tidy zoo it looks, free from ramshackle wooden fences. Having said that, my heart always skips a beat whenever I'm reminded of the ape islands without any barriers whatsoever (only the moat).
 
Thank you all for your help with this matter,forgive my ignorance but I didn't visit Chester for some reason until 1994 and as an annual visitor since the place was unrecognisable on the film, although conscience of the fact that it appeared to be a good zoo. I would certainly recommend all zoo enthusiasts take the trouble and time to watch these fascinating British Pathe films,bringing back memories to me as a child in the sixties at L ONDON the sight of the old lion house, the new elephant house and indeed Chi Chi the giant panda, also the sight of baby Joe the gorilla with Miss Badham. Again many thanks and happy zoo visiting to you all.
 
A-ha!

Well done guys, I'll update the canister notes alongside the clip to say Chester, so that future generations and puzzled zoologists will know!

If you happen to come across any other ambiguous zoo clips or videos with sparse notes in the British Pathe archive then do let us know, it's always good to build up our knowledge of the archive.

I'm sure some people in Chester would be interested to see this clip now.

Thanks,
Jack

British Pathe Film Archive - Pathe News
 
I went to Chester a lot as a child in the eighties and it's definitely recognisable. I guess from a present day point of view you can see the giraffe house and the camels are where the okapi are now - look behind the camel and you will see the Tropical House in the background and I think the chimpanzee island is recognisable too.

I guess the zebra shot is the cattle house where I think one of the Visayan warty pig enclosures is now.

I keep trying to pause it at the end to see the wide shot of the bear enclosures which I don't remember - there was the pit at the site of the condor aviary and the old polar bear enclosure when I was a regular visitor.

It makes me feel quite nostalgic.

I agree, it is quite shocking to see what seems like a fully open chimpanzee enclosure!

I agree that the Pathe videos are great, I spent ages looking at the London Zoo films in particular.
 
Most enjoyable film , brought back lots of memories .

Am I right in thinking that the only enclosure shown that no longer exists is the Bears , the other have been much modified but are still on the same sites .
 
Shirokuma said:
I agree, it is quite shocking to see what seems like a fully open chimpanzee enclosure!
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Remember that those islands (and yes, they were fully open, only the moat separating the apes from visitors) were also home to orangs and gorillas in addition to the chimps.
Bele said:
Am I right in thinking that the only enclosure shown that no longer exists is the Bears , the other have been much modified but are still on the same sites.
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That is correct, but if you want to be really pedantic about it, the old bear pits still exist, they were just filled in. The rear walls can still be seen in the undergrowth opposite the Chinese aviaries.
 
SMR said:
Remember that those islands (and yes, they were fully open, only the moat separating the apes from visitors) were also home to orangs and gorillas in addition to the chimps.
Click to expand...

I would think the least dangerous were Jason and Gogal, the gorillas, at least when they were young. But those adult male chimpanzees would be a very different story- looking back, it was a very risky setup.
 
Pertinax said:
But those adult male chimpanzees would be a very different story- looking back, it was a very risky setup.
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Aside from today's enclosure having the psychological security of a wall and overhang, in many areas the chimps are no further away than they ever were. I'd have expected more issues to arise between species, who were themselves only separated by narrow strips of water.
 
The thing that struck me was how open the zoo looked, with very few trees and no shrubbery. I had quite forgotten that. I must say that I like it much more as it is now.

Alan
 
Shirokuma said:
I keep trying to pause it at the end to see the wide shot of the bear enclosures which I don't remember - there was the pit at the site of the condor aviary and the old polar bear enclosure when I was a regular visitor.
Click to expand...

They were demolised round about 1979-1980 so it was probably before you started visiting.
 
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