The Zoo Animals’ Story
The Zoo Animals Story. From the Menagerie to Conservation.
The Zoo Animals story is a long one.
If you’ve ever wondered how animals from far away places came to be in British zoos, then the answer is that they were plundered.
From 1826 and for the next hundred years after that, the ZSL, the Zoological Society of London, referred to the animals that they put on display at Regent’s Park in London as “The Menagerie”.
A menagerie is defined as a collection of captive animals, frequently exotic, kept for display; or the place where such a collection is kept.
The luxury curiosity that is defined as the Menagerie of the 19th century had already been in existence for 700 hundred years before that. The menagerie then morphed into the Zoo which was a symbol of the might of the British Empire in the 20th century.
Zoo animals in 19th century London, and specifically those at The ZSL at Regent’s Park originally came from the Tower of London Menagerie.
The Tower menagerie had been in existence for 600 years from the 1100s up to the early 1800s. Its animals came from the private menageries that held exotic animals that had been seized or obtained from abroad by British royalty, including Henry 1st and William 4th, and plucked from their habitats by the British nobility and the upper classes. These menageries were for private, not public, viewing.
When the British Empire expanded, even more exotic animals poured into Britain via the docks of London and other big ports. Foreign trips made by the elites delivered huge quantities of animals to Britain’s shores. A lucrative trade exploded and animal dealers and menagerie owners like Jamrach and Cross were taking full advantage. In the earlier part of the 19th century some of these animals ended up at the ZSL Zoological Gardens at Regent’s Park, either having been sold or donated in order that the ZSL could amass their displays, and now these displays were for public viewing.
Victorian naturalists such as Edward Gerrard and Rowland Ward were at the epicentre of the dealing network in London and were also key players in the supply of live animals to the ZSL.
After centuries of exploitation, and now finally in the 21st century, we are seeing the transformation of attitudes and approaches that are delivering benefits for Animal Conservation today.
The ZSL in the 21st century proudly operates two conservation zoos, at its zoological gardens in London and at Whipsnade.
Animals from everywhere are sent to Regent's Park
Between 1827-1830 while the setting up of the ZSL ‘s menagerie was underway, initially the provision of animals came from people in the upper classes who had donated them after travelling the world to obtain them or ordering them from other travellers.
Initially, Mr Joshua Brookes from the Anatomical School in Blenheim Street first donated a Griffon Vulture and a White-Headed Eagle while Captain Pearl donated a female deer from Sangor. However, the ZSL had to outsource the keeping and management of these animals to the Tower Menagerie and the private Exeter ‘Change until the Regents Park site was ready.
Some animals were also kept at the ZSL Museum site in Bruton Street (which later moved to Leicester Square and later had its collection disbanded), including a cheeky “Wanderoo” Monkey who stole a visiting Bishop’s wig and refused to give it back. Before the Gardens were opened it is recorded that over 200 living animals were installed including Llamas, a Leopard, some Kangaroos, a Russian Bear, Emus, Cranes, Gulls and Gannets, and a celebrated Giraffe that had come from the Middle East.
Once the Gardens were open in 1828 the visitor would pass by the main entrance where one would see a Bear Pit with three bears and a Llama House. Imagine!
At the South Entrance there were three Leopards, a Jaguar, a Lion Cub, two striped Hyaena cubs, a pair of Ocelots, a Civet Cat, a couple of Genets and some Porcupines. What a sight!
There were many other specimens dotted around the parks, including a Monkey House, a Duck Park and Eagles including Osprey and Bald Eagles and a Camel House.
In the 1830’s at the start of the ZSL’s journey, the Royal Menagerie stock from Windsor was donated. It is said that the King then became a patron of the ZSL.
I do not think it’s too far of a stretch of the imagination to think about how onerous it must have been for the Menagerie at Windsor to be maintained. Perhaps the Royals decided to rid themselves of the responsibility by donating their animals to the ZSL’s menagerie. It probably wasn’t even a question of money. It’s more likely to be a question of the increasing level of upkeep and skill and experience needed to look after all the animals.
This was also a key reason for many of the donations – the animals were being offloaded.
In 1829 His Majesty William IV donated a Giraffe to the ZSL’s menagerie that he had kept at Windsor. This Giraffe had just died, and it’s recorded in Henry Sherren’s book of The History of the ZSL printed in 1905 that Messrs Gould and Tomkins dissected the Giraffe at the ZSL and His Majesty presented it as a gift. The taxidermy performed on the animal ensured that it was preserved and could be seen by a much wider audience – previously, due to its Royal location – very few people had seen it.
Between 1833-1837 one of the foremost zoologists of the time, John Gould, held the post of Superintendent of the Ornithological department of the ZSL Museum in Bruton Street before he left to go to Australia to complete his great work on birds.
1836
A herd of Giraffes are walked through London
Animals were arriving at Britain’s ports on ships from all over the world and there are too many to list here, but in May 1836 the steamship “Manchester” arrived at Blackwall with an interesting freight that included a herd of Giraffes.
Fellows and naturalists of the ZSL were waiting at the quayside, obtained the Giraffes and then had the problem of getting them through London to the Regents Park.
The clipping describes the procession.
Acquisitions at the end of the 19th century
Jumbo the Elephant, a celebrity with the public, was sold to Barnum’s Circus in the USA in 1881 for £2,000 after it was considered that he had become dangerous. There was a big public backlash against the sale and the ZSL was accused of selling him like a slave, forcing him away from his habitat and the keeper that he loved. The sentiment is not wrong.
In 1891 the first Snow Leopard was acquired. He came from Bhotan and was considered to have completed the collection of big cats. Unfortunately, he lived for only a short time. I mean, how does one look after a wild Snow Leopard?
In 1903 Jingo the Great African Elephant whose behaviour had become difficult, was sold to Bostock in the USA for £200, just like Jumbo had been previously. Jingo was sent on a train to Liverpool and then boarded the ship “Georgic”. Tragically, he died at sea. I don’t know if Bostock paid the fee or whether they got a refund; either way, it’s cruel and sad.
Plundered from habitats to feed scientific knowledge
Overall, losses and deaths happened often. From the opening of the ZSL at Regents Park, London in 1828 right through to the turn of the next century at the menagerie., losses and deaths of animals were a part of every day life at the Zoo.
Learning about how to provide the correct habitats and health management did not come overnight.
Until the early 1900s the ZSL did not have a record of veterinary care on the site, and it was said that the keepers exploited and teased the animals by making them perform tricks for money.
How could the Zoological Society of London possibly recreate the habitat and living conditions of animals that had never been seen in Europe before?
How could they possibly make a good environment for a polar bear, for example?
Efforts were made under scientifically motivated post-mortems to find out the causes of some of the deaths. A polar bear that died suddenly at the menagerie in 1903 was dissected and found to have suffered an aortic aneurism. The Royal College of Surgeons already had comparable examples that it had collected over the preceding 70 years or so and these were presented to the ZSL Fellows at a meeting in 1904.
By the early 1900s the ZSL held a strong equine stock. There was a desire to “do something” with them, rather than allowing them to languish in “masterly inactivity”.
The Zebras were thought to be capable of being trained. Hon Walter Rothschild had a team of Zebras and was seen regularly to drive them through the streets of London, on one occasion driving them to Camden Town to the premises of Edward Gerrard at College Place.
Mr W. Simpson Cross, the dealer, was also frequently seen trotting out a team of Zebras through the Liverpool traffic, bridled like horses.
And in Paris, a team from the Jardin d’Acclimatisation were also seen trotting along the streets through the traffic.
The animals that had been plundered from their habitats and sent from exotic places across the world were in fact essential, but sad pawns in the development of scientific knowledge.
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