Bristol Zoo Gardens appeals for your memories

Bristol Zoo Gardens is this week launching a project to capture peoples’ memories of the Zoo from years gone by.

The appeal is being led by the Zoo’s learning department, ahead of the Zoo’s 175th anniversary in 2011. The aim is to create an oral history archive to preserve peoples’ memories of the Zoo for future generations.

Bristol Zoo is the fifth oldest Zoo in the world and first opened its doors to the public in 1836. Since then it has been home to thousands of animals of all shapes and sizes.

In the early days, the Zoo’s animal collection was boosted by gifts including a lioness from Queen Victoria, and the Maharajah of Mysore sent over Zebi – the largest Asian elephant in captivity, who has since made it into the Guinness Book of Animal Records.

The Zoo also found international fame in 1934 when Adam, the first chimpanzee to be conceived and born in captivity in Europe, was born. Many people have particularly fond memories of the Zoo’s more recent inhabitants, such as the Asian elephants, Rosie and Wendy.

Another well known character was Alfred the gorilla, who arrived at the Zoo in September 1930 and died in March 1948. Alfred was, at the time, the only gorilla in captivity in the country and was a very popular Bristol citizen. Now his body stands in the Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery.

Simon Garrett, Head of Learning, said: “Bristol Zoo is such an integral part of the city’s past that we do not want to lose vital information and memories. There are already countless stories and events from the early days of the Zoo that have been lost for ever, and we want to preserve as much of the Zoo’s magic as possible for the future. Looking to the past is also a vital tool in determining how we can make the Zoo better for the future.

“Now we are trying to capture people’s memories and experiences to give future generations the chance to have a glimpse of Bristol Zoo from years gone by, and let everyone know how important the Zoo is for Bristolians past, present and future.”

The Zoo has set up a dedicated email address (history [at] bristolzoo [dot] org [dot] uk) where anyone can send in their memories, photos or any other archival material. Alternatively, you can write to the Zoo by post.

Don Packham worked at the Zoo for 50 years, first as a penguin keeper and later as head keeper from 1977 to 1998. He was at the Zoo when it opened the world’s first nocturnal house in 1953.

Now retired and living in Portishead, Don has plenty of colourful memories of his time at the Zoo. He said: “I started work in 1948, on the same day as the very first penguins arrived at the Zoo. One of my fondest memories is the hatching of the very first king penguin, as well as breeding the first okapi, which was of huge significance and a great achievement.

“Another lasting memory was when 35 rhesus monkeys escaped after someone snuck into the Zoo one night and put a ladder up again the wall of their enclosure. It took me three weeks to recapture them from all over Clifton – we got them all back eventually though.”

Mr Packham added: “The biggest change I saw over the years was the reduction in the number of large mammals at the Zoo, after having been in charge of bears, elephants, giraffes, zebras and various primate species, a reflection of the ever-changing and improving standards of husbandry and animal welfare, and the Zoo’s subsequent move towards conservation.”

In more recent years, the Zoo has developed its educational and scientific roles, including the opening of a new Conservation Education Centre in 1999. Full-time education, science and research officers are now employed and great emphasis is placed on activities which help both to inform our visitors and conserve wildlife.

John Partridge is the current Senior Curator of Animals and has been at the Zoo for 35 years. He said: “The Zoo has seen a lot of changes over the years, particularly in creating new immersion-style animal exhibits and developing its educational and scientific roles, with greater emphasis on conserving wildlife in their natural habitats.”

He added: “I’ve had the pleasure of working with some the Zoo’s most well known and loved animals over the years, such as the gorillas Samson and Delilah who produced the first baby gorilla to be successfully reared in the UK and Wendy the elephant. I’ve also helped to plan and develop some big changes at the Zoo, such as the opening of the current nocturnal house – Twilight World – in 1996, and, in 1999, Seal and Penguin Coasts. Change never stops and I am currently involved in developing plans for the Zoo’s future.”

Bristol Zoo has also played a vital role in breeding numerous threatened species including gorillas, Asiatic lions, aye ayes and, in 1999, the UK’s first successful breeding of critically-endangered Livingstone's fruit bats.Zoo staff have also successfully bred and reintroduced two of the UK’s native species - the Barberry carpet moth and the water vole.

To email your memories about the Zoo, email history [at] bristolzoo [dot] org [dot] uk or write to Simon Garrett, the learning department, Bristol Zoo Gardens, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 3HA.

For information about Bristol Zoo Gardens, please visit the website at www.bristolzoo.org.uk.

Ends

Please credit pictures to Bristol Zoo Gardens (all photos copyright Bristol Zoo)
For media enquiries, please contact Bristol Zoo Press Office:
Lucy Parkinson, T : 0117 974 7306, email: lparkinson@bristolzoo.org.uk
Vanessa Hollier, T: 0117 974 7309, email: vhollier@bristolzoo.org.uk

Notes to the Editor:

The History of Bristol Zoo Gardens

• Bristol Zoo Gardens was founded in 1835 by a group of eminent local citizens and opened to the public in 1836.
• It is the fifth oldest Zoo in the world, and the oldest one that is not in a capital city.
• There were 220 shareholders who subscribed the capital to enable the land to be bought and the Zoo to be built.
• Some of the descendants of these original shareholders are still connected with the Zoo to this day, but their only benefit is free admission.
• In Victorian times the Zoo Gardens became a focus for social and recreational occasions for the citizens of Bristol, as well as a place of serious natural history study. There were flower shows, bands played, there were boat trips on the lake as well as tennis, croquet and archery.
• Zebi, the Zoo's famous elephant, was here from 1868 to 1909. She was quite a character, renowned for removing and eating straw hats! Rajah, who gave rides to children for many years, replaced her.
• The Zoo entered a difficult period during and after the First World War. However an extensive building programme in the 1920s and 1930s saw a great improvement.Some of these buildings still survive - the Aquarium and the Pavilion buildings being examples.
• During the Second World War some of the flowerbeds were turned over to vegetable growing and many of the animals had to be evacuated to safer areas. After the bombing of Filton, the Bristol Aeroplane Company took over the Pavilion for their staff.
• The 1950s and 1960s were some of the most successful years in the Zoo's history. People had more money in their pockets and there was little competition in terms of visitor attractions and attendance soared.
• In 1953 the World's first nocturnal house was opened here. Sebastian, the polar bear cub and Roger the black rhino were born in 1958 and they proved to be a huge attraction, as were the white tigers that arrived in 1963. Rosie the elephant died in 1961. She had given 80,000 rides a year to children but she was quickly replaced with Wendy and Christina, the Asian and African elephants.
• In 1967, the Severn Bridge opened and attendance was the biggest ever (1,134,488 visitors).
• A programme of redevelopment in the early 1980s saw the opening of the Reptile House in 1981, the Monkey House in 1983 and the re-designed Aquarium in 1986. In 1987 the Zoo was honoured to host a conference of the Directors of all the World's major Zoos, the guest of honour being the Princess Royal, HRH Princess Anne.

Recent developments at Bristol Zoo:
1996 - Twilight World, Bug World, Main Entrance
1997 - Elephant House, Children's play area
1998 - Gorilla Island opened
1998 - Flamingo Pool, Activity Centre, Wallace Aviary
1999 - Conservation Education Centre, Seal & Penguin Coasts
2002 - Zona Brazil
2003 - Terrace Theatre, okapi exhibit
2004 – Enlarged enclosure for Livingstone’s fruit bats opened
2004/05 – Enlargement of the lion enclosure
2006 - Monkey Jungle and Lemur walkthrough
2008 - Butterfly Forest
2009 - Explorers' Creek and ZooRopia

Bristol Zoo Gardens

• Bristol Zoo Gardens is open from 9am every day except Christmas Day.
• The Zoo is an Education and Conservation Charity and relies on the income from visitors to support its work. The Zoo is involved with over 100 co-ordinated breeding programmes for threatened wildlife species.
• It employs 140 full and part-time staff to care for the animals and run a successful visitor attraction to support its conservation and education work.
• Bristol Zoo Gardens supports – through finance and skill sharing - over 10 projects in the UK and abroad that conserve and protect some of the world’s most endangered species.
• Bristol Zoo Gardens is a member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums. BIAZA represents more than 90 member collections and promotes the values of good zoos and aquariums.