Lectures

3rd November 2021: History of Zoos – From Royal Menageries to Global Conservation Centres

On Wednesday 3rd November Wye Historical Society welcomed Professor Richard Griffiths to speak on the History of Zoos – From Royal Menageries to Global Conservation Centres. The earliest zoos were largely managed by the royalty of the day as a mark of their status and mastery over the natural world. In Britain, the Tower Menagerie at the Tower of London was the home for gifts of animals from foreign powers to the Royal Family between 1235 and 1835. With the foundation of the Zoological Society of London by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1826, most of the animals from the Tower were moved to the new London Zoo in Regent's Park. At this time, knowledge of animal husbandry was basic, and the animals were often held in small and cramped conditions. In 1907 the German animal collector Carl Hagenbeck opened his zoo in Hamburg which revolutionised how animals were displayed using dioramas, where lions, zebra and birds were placed a savannah-type landscape, with their respective enclosures separated by discrete moats largely invisible to the public. By the 1930s, it was realised that tropical animals don't thrive in small, overheated houses and larger, more open-plan zoos started to emerge. This included Whipsnade Zoo and George Mottershead’s "zoo without bars" near Chester. The 1960s and 70s saw the rise of safari parks and dolphinaria. Circus entrepreneur Jimmy Chipperfield forged relationships with the owners of various stately homes, and the first drive-through lion reserve opened at Longleat in 1966. At their peak in the 1970s there were about 30 dolphinaria in Britain but changing ideas about animal welfare and the ethics of performing animals led to their demise.

Kent currently has several zoos and an interesting zoo history. Sir Garrard Tyrwhitt-Drake founded the Maidstone Zoo Park in 1934 in the grounds of Cobtree Manor. At the time this was the largest privately owned zoo in the country and very popular. He was a traditionalist and believed his lions were healthier and bred more readily in small cages. By 1959 the zoo was run-down and Tyrwhitt-Drake closed the gates and dispersed the collection. John Aspinall started his own private zoo at Howletts and pioneered new husbandry methods for various mammal species. He later purchased the estate at Port Lympne, and although often at odds with the zoological establishment, he achieved outstanding breeding records for gorillas, tigers and black rhinos. The Wildwood Trust at Herne Common was the brainchild of Ken West. Focusing on telling the story of the history of wildlife in Britain, Wildwood is now carrying out projects in collaboration with Kent Wildlife Trust.

In 1959 Gerald Durrell founded his ground-breaking zoo in Jersey, where the focus was on the breeding and conservation of endangered species. Despite financial struggles, it established itself as a model for other zoos to follow, and by the 1980s the larger charitable and scientific zoos around the world were starting to focus on broader global conservation issues. In such organisations, the zoo provides a central hub for a broad range of conservation activities that goes beyond the breeding and reintroduction of species back into the wild. Training aspiring conservationists, educating the public, empowering local people to look after their wildlife, protecting habitats, and influencing policy makers are all activities that the best zoos are now very actively pursuing. The modern zoo has a major role to play in influencing hearts and minds over the future of the planet.

Ellie Morris