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North Brighton Zoo North Brighton "Mini" Zoo, historical review

Discussion in 'New Zealand' started by Chlidonias, 3 Jul 2008.

  1. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    this is a historical review of the North Brighton Zoo, ubiquitously known as "the Mini Zoo" for its miniscule size. It was the first zoo of any kind in Christchurch. The owner was Bill Grey, born 15 October 1914, died 25 October 2003 at the age of 89. The zoo closed upon Grey's retirement in August 1996. Although it was a tiny zoo that certainly fitted the description of a "roadside zoo", it was only half an hour's walk from my house and as a young lad I visited every weekend. Today I would be the first to say it should be closed down, but back then it helped fuel my enthusiasm for animals and zoos (not that it really needed fueling as such, but I had no way of getting to Orana Park or Willowbank and so there was no place else for me to see exotic animals).

    The site where the zoo stood in eastern Christchurch was first occupied by a small aquarium called the North Brighton Mini-aquarium (or possibly the North Beach Aquarium), owned by Jack Taylor whom Bill Grey met in the early 1940s. The aquarium had been opened by Taylor in the 1920s and was run by himself, his wife and their four sons until they sold it to Grey in 1958 when they moved to Auckland. Grey formed a fish-club and beginning importation and exportation of tropical fish. I'm not sure when the zoo part started up, but the aquarium remained at the site until the zoo's closure. It was a VERY small aquarium building, about the size of a garage with individual tanks about 60-90cm in length housing common aquarium fish, axolotls, seahorses and snake-necked turtles. At the end of the aquarium was the crocodile enclosure. Two saltwater crocs had been imported from Australia by Taylor in 1954. They measured about 35cm long at the time and one of them, Charlie (on death determined to actually have been a female), lived in the cramped quarters for forty-one years, dying in August 1995 at 2.8 metres long, just a year before the zoo closed down. The crocodile tank really was tiny; from memory it was little longer than the length of the animal so must have been about 3 metres square, half of which was a shallow pool. However there was also an outside area accessed via a ramp (although in Christchurch the outdoor area could usually only be used for about half the year because of the weather).

    The zoo part of the establishment was equally tiny, probably well under half an acre. At the time it was built the surrounding area was mostly scrub and sand-dunes but as the suburbs expanded the zoo became surrounded by houses, which began to result in complaints from neighbours about the noise from big cats and monkeys. There were also protests from animal rights groups, notably SAFE ("Save Animals From Exploitation", who seem to protest against everything including keeping pets and farming livestock) and "Friends Of Caged Animals" (a group with a twenty-strong membership apparently formed specifically against the Mini Zoo). It certainly was a tiny zoo with tiny cages, but many of the animals were ex-circus that had nowhere else to go, and they were all well cared for. The zoo had monthly inspections from MaF officials (something that doesn't happen with zoos nowadays!) and there were rarely any problems.

    There was a very diverse collection crammed into the grounds in a variety of home-made cages, some passable, some very poor, almost all very small. Amongst the more popular inhabitants were four ex-circus big cats (a leopard, a black panther, a tigress and a lioness) whom Grey went in and played with every day; a pair of bobcats; and a wide range of monkeys (bonnet macaques, crab-eating macaques, pig-tailed macaques, rhesus macaques, black-capped capuchins, three De Brazza's monkeys imported from Taronga Zoo in about 1988 -- the only ones in NZ -- and, near the end of the zoo's life, a Geoffroy's spider monkey which must have been a spare male from Auckland). There was also a trio of caracals imported from Australia (presumably Taronga Zoo again) which were also the only ones in NZ. I think one may have died soon after arrival or been kept off-display because I only ever saw two. They never bred, not surprisingly given the small cage they inhabited, and they were gone (dead?) before the zoo closed down.

    The zoo housed quite a number of small-clawed otters. Despite the zoo's small size, the breeding record for the otters here was truly remarkable. Grey was the first person in NZ to breed them and for a very long time this was the ONLY zoo in NZ to be successful. By 1988 he had bred and reared 35 small-clawed otters. At this time most or all of the otters in NZ zoos had originally come from Grey's zoo. He also bred many of his monkeys which went on to other zoos. Other mammals were a massive feral pig which rarely did anything except sleep, red-necked wallabies, coatis, and towards the end, maras, meerkats and two servals. There was a substantial collection of parakeets as well as common mynahs (in a converted garden shed, from which they regularly escaped due to the lack of a safety porch), emus, kea and weka. In June 1990 three kea were stolen from the zoo by notorious animal-smuggler Freddie Angel.

    Entry fee for the zoo was $3 for adults and $1.50 for children. Little tins of chopped fuit and vegetables could be bought for 20 cents to feed to the animals, which of course resulted in all the monkeys scrambling to the front wire whenever anyone approached, in the hope of being fed.

    In August 1996 Bill Grey retired and regretfully closed the zoo down. By this time Charlie the crocodile had died, as had the tigress of old age. The leopard and panther I think had gone to another collection (I don't know where) - and what I was told at the time may have been a euphemism for "died" - and their cage had been turned over to Susie the lioness (and Susie's cage and the tigress' old cage had been combined into a larger cage for the servals). The bobcats were still there but the caracals were not. There were about twenty monkeys of seven species. After closure most of the birds, fish and reptiles were sold off privately. Most of the monkeys and otters went to Pouakai and Franklin Zoos. The blue-tongued skinks, the rhesus macaques, and some of the otters and capuchins may have gone to the Moana Zoo. I had been told that the two bobcats went to Moana Zoo as well, but that seems to not have been the case so I'm not sure what happened to them.The servals and lioness went to Orana Park. The two servals, ironically, ended up in a smaller cage at Orana than they had been in at the Mini Zoo and were only on display for a relatively short period then were removed to an even-smaller off-display cage in which they remained until their deaths in 2011. Susie the lioness was originally given to the Mini Zoo by a circus in 1979, and was 23 years old when she went to Orana Park. She died the following year in June 1997 of kidney failure.

    Bill Grey died on 25 October 2003 at the age of 89. One of his many newspaper obituaries remarked that "His family included lions, monkeys and a crocodile with an assortment of Japanese man fish, eels, Australian meerkats [sic], water lilies and whistling frogs."

    There are photos in the gallery, which rather speak for themselves on the condition of the cages. The camera was one of the dodgy little point-and-shoot jobs that were current then, hence the poor quality and odd colouring!

    Susie the lioness: North Brighton Zoo, Christchurch - Photo Gallery

    bobcats: North Brighton Zoo, Christchurch - Photo Gallery

    caracal: North Brighton Zoo, Christchurch - Photo Gallery

    feral pig: North Brighton Zoo, Christchurch - Photo Gallery

    pig-tailed macaques: North Brighton Zoo, Christchurch - Photo Gallery

    De Brazza's monkeys: North Brighton Zoo, Christchurch - Photo Gallery

    small-clawed otter: North Brighton Zoo, Christchurch - Photo Gallery

    kea: North Brighton Zoo, Christchurch - Photo Gallery

    Charlie the crocodile: North Brighton Zoo, Christchurch - Photo Gallery
     
    Last edited: 19 Jul 2017
  2. NZ Jeremy

    NZ Jeremy Well-Known Member

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    Very interesting... Chlidonias...

    NZ has quite a rich zoo history doesn't it..? Especially when considering the current amount of institutions and closed ones...

    A book of New Zealand zoo history would be a good undertaking...
     
  3. Steve Robinson

    Steve Robinson Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Susie was born at the Ballarat Lion Safari Park in Victoria.
     
  4. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    was that one of the Bullen's lion parks? Do you know the history of Susie at all? All the newspaper articles I have say she was "given" to Bill Grey by "a circus" but I don't know if that's actually true or if she was sold to the zoo. She would have been only about six years when he got her.

    I also have no idea where the tigress or leopards came from (apparently they were all also ex-circus animals; all of them were very tame and the leopard used to lick my fingers through the wire -- probably not the most intelligent of activities to partake in, but I was young and had fingers to spare!)
     
  5. Steve Robinson

    Steve Robinson Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Susie

    The Ballarat park was initially owned by the Ashton family who, after getting tired of being ripped off by a succession of dodgy managers, sold it to one of your countrymen - Christopher Cambridge. He was a rock music promoter who had no knowledge of animals and quickly got himself into trouble with the RSPCA and the park eventually closed.

    Susie, and her sister Sonya, were imported into NZ in about 1973 or 4 as little cubs. They initially spent some time at my property south of Auckland and I remember that they were both particularly placid animals which is just as well. The family who owned them had little knowledge of exotic animals and Susie actually escaped in the town of Lawrence in the South Island. She was such a calm girl that she was led back to her cage!

    I had not visited the Brighton Zoo and have not seen any photos of it until you posted these. I would suspect that she would have had a very painful, rheumaticy old age after having been kept for so many years in such a damp environment. She didn't deserve that.
     
  6. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    she did tend to move in quite a lazy sort of fashion, and certainly preferred to be on the wooden shelf rather than on the cold concrete, so you're probably right. Its sort of hard to believe, looking at the photo now, that she could even fit through the little door to her sleeping quarters! Bill obviously loved all his animals dearly but he was rather constrained by the zoo's size and very limited budget.
     
  7. Nigel

    Nigel Well-Known Member

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    New Brighton mini zoo

    I remember visiting it when I went to Christchurch for the first time ( 1979 )
    I still remember the crocodile , but I was disappointed that the enclosures were pretty small
     
  8. Sam

    Sam Well-Known Member

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    Wow!:) What an amazing range of animals for such a small zoo. It's such a shame the zoo didn't have better financial support so it could provide it's animals with a better standard of living. Thanks Chlidonias for an interesting insight into this zoo I had previously never heard of!:)
     
  9. Kurger

    Kurger Member

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    thought you might like to know what I have heard, I was told in an encounter by an old keeper at Franklin zoo that a few of their animals came from this zoo such as the otters the primates such as spider monkey as you said and the capuchins and macaques which only pig tails remain and serval but he might of come after he was at Orana. Cant remember any more sorry. hope this helps but don't quote me on this it was afew years since I was told this and the keeper may of been wrong don't think they have any good records of this but who knows they might.
     
  10. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    the birds and reptiles were mostly sold off to private persons (I know the blue-tongue skinks were bought by Jackie Grant who owned the Moana Zoo) and it appears that almost all the exotic animals went to Mark Vette's Rescue Zoo (now Franklin Zoo) and Pouakai Zoo. Most of those exotics were primates and otters. The bobcats went to Pouakai, the lioness and servals went to Orana Park. Both the servals are still at Orana -- I wasn't aware that Franklin has a serval although they do have bobcats (obtained from Pouakai, not directly from the North Brighton Zoo)
     
  11. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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  12. Tygo

    Tygo Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Franklin zoos serval Sam has passed away.
     
  13. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    that he has. He was 20 years old and died in March 2008. I should have remembered that because I wrote it in another thread in that year :D
     
  14. Tygo

    Tygo Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Does anyone know of any animals from the zoo which are still alive
     
  15. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    the zoo closed 14 years ago and almost all the animals were already adult or even in old age (like Susie the lioness), so most would now be dead. I know the two servals are still alive at Orana (unless one or both have died very recently - in any case they'll be on their last legs), one of the bobcats is still holding on at Pouakai (the three others in NZ are directly or indirectly offspring of the original pair), and a very few of the macaques are still at Pouakai and Franklin. I'm not sure about any others.
     
  16. Tygo

    Tygo Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Yes there is two servals at orana they are Sheba a female and Zulu a male.
     
  17. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    I've been in contact with the grandson of Jack Taylor (the man who originally started the New Brighton Aquarium before the zoo opened), and he has sent me some corrections to the historical parts of the original post in the thread, which of course was based entirely on newspaper articles so would have some errors and misinterpretations in it.

    It seems Jack Taylor didn't work at the freezing works himself (this was probably a misinterpretation on the journalist's part), and the quote about the aquarium having been there for 100 years is way off. It was in fact opened by Jack Taylor in the 1920s and was run by Jack, his wife and their four sons until the late 1950s. The name of the establishment may have been the North Beach Aquarium rather than the North Brighton Mini-aquarium. They sold the Aquarium to Bill Grey in 1958 when they moved to Auckland.

    I'm told that Bill Grey definitely didn't import the crocodiles himself. They came across from Sydney to Wellington on a ship called the Wanganella in 1954, and were picked up by John Taylor (one of Jack's sons).

    More information to follow in due course :)
     
  18. Stacey24

    Stacey24 New Member

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    Childhood memories

    Wow! I haven't been able to find information on this zoo before. I lived right next door as a kid (163a Beach Rd), and used to visit often, and it sparked my interest in developing a career with animals. The zoo closed when I was 8 and I never remembered what is was called! We didn't mind the noise from the lioness and monkeys (I think the other big cats must have been gone by then), it was not as bad as when the zoo closed and we had to put up with noise of the developers. The spider monkey was my favourite animal there, and i remember being sad about the croc enclosure because the croc always looked so sad and was far too big for it, and I remember the lioness cage looking so barren and concrete floors (although this is the memories of a 7 year old). But the monkeys always looked happy to me! (I seem to remember a group of monkeys with a reasonably large cage in comparison...). As much as I wished as a child that it hadn't closed, I definately agree that today I would support its closure.
     
  19. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    I'm glad you enjoyed this thread. The crocodile cage certainly was too small unfortunately, and your memory doesn't deceive you as to the lioness cage being just bare concrete. The big monkey cage you remember would be this one for pig-tailed macaques, the largest cage at the zoo: http://www.zoochat.com/99/north-brighton-zoo-christchurch-30523/
     
  20. MMuirson

    MMuirson New Member

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    I'm fascinated with your article and knowledge of the Mini Zoo here in Christchurch Chlidonias! Did you know there's a (closed) Facebook site called 'Christchurch North New Brighton Mini Zoo (Beach Road)? My friend is the administrator. I'm sure they'd love to have you as a member!