Pelicans at London Zoo ?

Can anyone confirm ? It was thought to be dated 1966 again can anyone confirm ?

Yes, definitely London Zoo.

This pelican pool, which was behind the old Monkey House, was swept away to make room for the Sobell Pavilions; I guess mid 1960s would be about right but much the same view could have been taken several decades earlier too!

That enclosure (didn't it start life being for Emus?) was very old, dating back to the 1830s.No great loss judging by this photo. I was seven when it was swept away, so I cannot remember it..

Certainly there used to be an enclosure for emus on this site in the early days of the zoo but, assuming this photo dates from the mid 1960s, pelicans had been kept here for at least a century by the time this photo was taken. And I have several postcards from the early 1900s which depict the pelican exhibit looking very similar to it does here.

I was going to say the same thing- there are earlier several p/c's depicting these pools(the enclosure appears split). Oddly I never remember seeing it/them in life though. Did they really survive until the 1960's or did they disappear earlier than that?

Yes, surprisingly, this pelican exhibit really did survive that long; I clearly remember seeing pelicans here. It lasted until this area of the zoo was redeveloped for the Sobell Pavilions.

Again many thanks Tim, and others. It is very hard to date all the photos as some appear much earlier than others, yet they are all of the same format and size etc.. and all were in the same batch given to me, with the same numbers on the reverse. I was told they could be 1966 but that was just a guess. ( I did not take the photos myself.)

How strange I have no memory of it. I was a regular visit to the old Monkey House which was the forerunner of the Sobells, but this area remains a blank for me.

I share your puzzlement. I remember the old Monkey House from my first visit to Regents Park, but I can't recall anything behind it.

Alan

Most of my happiest zoo memories (nearly all of Flamingo Park) and an unhappy one (at Regent's Park in 1965, I hope to soon have the technology to bring the photographic evidence to ZooChat) date from before my seventh birthday!