Elephants on the Cassons - Scanned pic early 90's

Thank you for this "journey back in time". I was in London Zoo in the mid of the 80s for the first time, but did not have in mind how steep the the moat was. Was there many accidents elephants pushing eachother into it?

well before my time but yes there was at least one incident in the 60s of an elephant going in the moat (pushed by other elephants) that resulted in a fatality.

@zoomaniac
In 1967, London Zoo's African elephant “Dicksie” leaned forward to take food from a visitor and, whilst she was balancing rather precariously on the edge of the moat, one of the other elephants pushed her. "Dicksie" fell into the moat and, very sadly, died of injuries received.

If you look closely, and on other photos concerning the Casson, you’ll notice that the top 6 or so layer of bricks are of a different colour, and curve inwards. This feature wasn’t present when the Casson first opened! Public feeding also stopped after Dicksie’s death.

Looking at old photos of this building, and its predecessor, Dicksie’s death was an accident waiting to happen, imo. It demonstrates the horrifying shortcomings of this exhibit. Upon its opening, the elephants outdoor area didn’t even have a pool-the keepers had to excavate one themselves!