ZOOS

See Also: ANIMALS; MUSEUMS The Natural History Museum

Battersea Park Children's Zoo

Location: Battersea Park, Albert Bridge Road, SW11 4NJ

Chessington World of Adventures

The zoo that became Chessington World of Adventures was founded in 1931. After the Second World War it was acquired by Pearson. In 1978 it became part of Pearson's Tussaud subsidiary. Attendances began to fall off. The Tussauds designer John Wardley was charged with coming with ideas that might reinvigorate it as an attraction. He devised the Chessington World of Adventures. This was launched in 1987.

Over Christmas 2008 Chessington World of Adventures gave its gorillas a supplementary seasonal treat - brussels sprouts. When the zoo reopened, after Christmas, it promptly withdrew the brassica.

Location: Leatherhead Road, Chessington, KT9 2NE

Website: www.chessington.com

The Exeter Exchange Menagerie

Byron compared the Exeter Exchange Menagerie hippopotamus to Lord Liverpool.

Location: 372 Strand, WC2R 0JJ (purple, turquoise)

Kew Gardens

There was a kangaroo enclosure near Queen Charlotte's Cottage.

Location: Royal Botanic Gardens, Richmond, TW9 3AQ

Website: www.kew.org

London Zoo

While serving as a colonial governor in Asia Sir Stamford Raffles built up a menagerie. His favourite evening repast was champagne and mangoes. These he would share with his pet sun bear. Upon his return to London, he tried to bring over the animals. However, the vessel that was transporting them was shipwrecked.

The Zoological Society of London was founded in 1826 by Raffles and the scientist Sir Humphry Davy. In part, their action was prompted as a 'British' response to the recent setting up of the Museum of Natural History in Paris. The following year Decimus Burton laid out the Zoological Gardens in Regent's Park. The architect drew up a plan for the zoo as a whole but only portions of it were ever to be constructed. In 1829 the Society received its royal charter. The following year the portion of the royal menagerie that was kept at Windsor Castle was transferred to its care and in 1834 the Tower of London section also made the move. In 1835 London Zoo acquired its first apes. Queen Victoria inspected them and was profoundly shocked that the orang-utan seemed human. Charles Darwin did likewise and concluded that people should no longer presume upon the superiority over animals. The Society's grounds were first opened to the general public in 1847.

The zoo contains a number of structures that have been listed, e.g. Berthold Lubetkin's Penguin Pool (1935). Its distinctive Snowdon Aviary (1964) was designed by the architect Cedric Price, the structural engineer Frank Newby, and the royal spouse Lord Snowdon.

From 1955 until his 1984 resignation as President, Solly Zuckerman was the single most influential figure at London Zoo. He was skilled at drumming up donations - the Clore Pavilion for Small Animals was paid for by the deal maker Sir Charles Clore, the Cotton Terraces (and the Snowdon Aviary) by the property developer Jack Cotton, and the Sobell Pavillions for Apes & Monkeys by the electrical goods manufacturer Sir Michael Sobell. In addition, Zuckerman, through his being an academic physiologist of high repute, was able to persuade charities that had interests in medical research - such as the Nuffield and the Wellcome - to pay for less public but equally necessary support facilities.

Leonard Goodwin was appointed as the Society's Director of the Nuffield Laboratories for Comparative Zoology in 1964. As an indirect consequence of his work as a protozoological researcher, Mr Goodwin had been responsible for the Syrian hamster becoming a common household pet.¹

Location: The Regent's Park, NW1 4RY (orange, purple)

See Also: ARCHITECTURE; EXHIBITING GALLERIES Hayward Gallery, Archigram; JUMBO; PHILANTHROPY; THE SANDMAN & THE ZUCKERMAN

Website: www.zsl.org

^{1. T}here is a modern saw that men love women, women love children, children love hamsters, and hamsters love to sleep.

The Royal Menagerie

Exotic animals were one of the standard coins of diplomatic exchange during the late medieval period. As a result, London has had displays of non-native animals since at least the 13^thC. The city's first zoo was the royal menagerie. This was housed in the Tower of London.

King James I (1566-1625), during the early years of his reign, was given to staging fights between different animals in the menagerie. However, during one of these combats, a child was killed by one of the combatants. The monarch stopped holding the contests.

In 1830 the section of the Royal Menagerie at Windsor Castle was transferred to the care of the Zoological Society of London, as was the portion that was kept at the Tower in 1834.

Location: The Tower of London, EC3N 4AB (purple, orange)

See Also: BEARS Bear Pits; BEARS The Tower Polar Bear; BIRDS St James's Park, Birdcage Walk; FOREIGN RELATIONS; FOREIGN RELATIONS

St James's Park

King James I was given some camels by the King of Spain. These were kept in St James's Park before being stabled at Theobalds.

Location: Horse Guards Road, SW1A 2BJ (purple, red)

Website: www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/st-james-park

David Backhouse 2024