Auckland Zoo Auckland Zoo History

Does an one actuly no when and where Doris came from?

 

Doris came from the Australian Reptile Park.

 

Oh ok thanks Tygo do you now if there were any others that came with her and How long she ahd been on her owen for cheers.

 

I don't know sorry.

 

Ok thnaks any way Tygo

Also would any body have any Info on the bear speces that lived at Auckalnd like names d.o.b genders e.c.t thanks

 

This article mostly focuses on Auckland Zoo's early history, and was presumably written to coincide with the zoo's 90th anniversary.

Story here: Changing times at Auckland Zoo | Stuff.co.nz
26/12/2012

 

The actual opening date for the Boyd (Royal Oak) Zoo was actually 2 November 1911 not February 1912. Not sure how the reporter got that one stuffed up because Lisa had given them the correct date.

RE: Doris apparently she is still in the same enclosure. The rest are in the other display area.

 

Doris is on the left side and the others are on the right side

 

Yes, apparently Doris and Georgia aren't playing nicely together - there have been injuries, and also egg-laying. If only there was a boy in there...

 

Auckland Zoo had many polar bears over the years. Their main breeding female was named Natasha and arrived in 1949. She gave birth to twins in 1957 which died as cubs and had another cub in 1960.

He was called CHIMO and lived until 1989. He was the only polar bear to survive to adulthood. Their last three bears were females named Joachim, Lisbeth and Ingrid. Joachim and Lisbeth were born in 1962 and died in 1995 and 1990 respectively. Ingrid was the zoo's last polar bear, she died in 1995, four weeks after Joachim.

 

The first Polar Bears were imported via London through animal dealer G.B. Chapman. Auckland Zoo ended up with four males and two females. A male bear was sent down to Wellington Zoo. One female escaped and had to be shot. The other female named Daisy was exported to Australia in 1934. The three remaining males subsequently died. One of the same skin disease that killed Brunus (and the others) later on in the 1950s. One died from a bone piercing the gut and I'll have to check my records on the cause of death of the last male. By 1936 no bears were left at the zoo. In the same year Auckland Zoo imported a two year old male named "Snowball". Six years on he died from a bone perforation of the gut. He was replaced in 1942 by a 12 year old male from Taronga Park Zoo in Sydney. That bear later died aged 20 years around 1949/50. Hope that helps fill in some gaps.

 

Thanks for that AskAlice, that's interesting info

Do you know any information on the dates of birth of Natasha, Brunus and Natuk? Do you know if Chimo had any cubs with the three females he was with (Joachim, Ingrid and Lisbeth)?

 

Can you tell when Chapman has delivered the first polar bear?

 

The first two bears arrived in late 1924

I'll need to check the archives I have and get the exact date. I do have a time line for Auckland Zoo that I've been working on for some time. It's on line.

I don't have a birthdate for the later bears because they were wild. Ingrid I think came from Taronga Park. I'll check my records on that too. Lots of documents to look at to find it.

 

Rajah the elephant

This may be of interest to you guys. I wrote this a few days ago.

It's only brief but you might be interested in the Cigarette in trunk myth. Because it was a myth. Never happened.

Australasian Zoo & Circus Animals Historical Journal: A Wild Child Revisited - Rajah the Auckland Museum elephant

 

Old footage taken at Auckland Zoo

The first is from around the late 1940s or 50s of Jamuna. Grainy but worth a watch

Jamuna AuckZoo - YouTube

The next Auckland Zoo 1955

Auckland Zoo, New Zealand c. 1955 - YouTube

 

Doesn't appear to be a video on that link, but the info, i.e. Devils at Auckland Zoo in 1985, might help with dating the two maps we have from that decade.

 

Polar Bears

'Tiger by the Tail' reports the '12 year old Brunus' died in 1962. This would place his year of birth (in the wild) at around 1950. Natuk was younger, but probably not by more than a couple of years. Natasha first bred in 1957 (female twins) so I'd place her year of birth at at least 1954, but probably no earlier than 1950. Sorry I can't be more accurate.

Joachim was actually a male and was born in 1962 . He and Lisbeth arrived as two year olds in 1964 and had 7cubs between 1970 and 1982, none of which survived. Chimo was born in 1960 and died in 1979 (as mentioned in another post) so he would never have met Ingrid who arrived in 1984. Ingrid was born in 1962 and at 22 years of age, too old to breed with Joachim by the time she arrived at Auckland Zoo.

I don't know if Chimo would have been exhibited with Joachim (due to male-male fighting) so I'm guessing he was consequently kept separate from Lisbeth (unless she shared exhbit time with the two males?).

I believe Chimo would have enjoyed/endured a large media presence and the zoo may have desried to breed from him with Lisbeth for that reason so maybe she showed more preference/inclination to mate with Joachim as he was the father of her 7 cubs?

 

I do have a copy of the Auckland Zoo Polar Bear registry I obtained from AK Zoo. I'll check all the dates of arrival and death dates. A Tiger by the Tail is a good reference but it's also full of errors.