BBC1 Scotland is showing a documentary on the 14th of July to commemorate 100 years of the Edinburgh zoo. I don't know if it will be shown nationally, but i am sure it will be available through the i-player. BBC One - Animal Magic - 100 Years of Edinburgh Zoo
Was there any archive film(or photos) of the famous Orangutan 'Mickey' or either of his two partners?
Not that I recall - a couple of stills of an orang, but not named I don't think. I have it recorded, so can check again! They tended to concentrate on a few key areas, so we had sections on the Penguins (Including archive of the Kings walking along Princes street), a bit about the enclosure design of the original zoo, a bit on elephants and why the zoo doesn't keep them anymore, a bit on the chimps tea party and how changing attitudes to and in zoos led to the demise of that, a bit on panda insemination (!), a bit on the Director who walked a cheetah round (and out) the zoo.
Was he the one That had the television in his living space? I couldn't remember his name but I remember seeing him when I was a little girl.
The one with the television would have been 'Alexander', who lived at Edinburgh Zoo from 1967-1977 (he was around 28 years old when he passed away). It was claimed that after shows like Starsky and Hutch were shown to him, he would become aggressive and throw objects around his cage.
'Alex' came to Edinburgh from London zoo, where he was a spare unpartnered male they didn't really need. Unfortunately he did not get a mate at Edinburgh either and lived solitary during his life there. Mickey was there probably before T.V. was invented...
