Memorials to individual animals in zoos

Brookfield has this statue on a bench in honor of Cookie the Major Mitchell’s cockatoo, who lived at the zoo for 82 years until his death in 2016.

 

Such a beautiful statue and species too and what a remarkable story ! 82 years ! wow !

I'm not suprised that Brookfield decided to honour the life of "Cookie" as it was definitely the most fitting gesture to this animal.

Are there any pictures of him in the gallery ?

 

@Sheather Also, do you know if the red panda sculpture at the Brookfield zoo is dedicated to the memory of one of these animals ?

 

@RatioTile is this the Shinto shrine tower that you referred to in this comment ?



Photo credit to @Giant Eland.

 

No, this is a full-size pagoda. That one was more like an obelisk with names on it IIRC.

 

Shedd Aquarium has a sign memorializing Granddad, an Australian Lungfish that lived at the aquarium from 1933-2017. Since the fish was wild-caught no one knows how old Granddad actually was when he died.

 

Perhaps the most unusual memorial to a zoo animal is the plaster cast of a short-lived hippopotamus calf that was born at London Zoo in 1871.

Frank Buckland made a plaster cast of the dead hippopotamus calf and this was displayed in the Hippopotamus House (adjacent to the Giraffe House) for nearly ninety years.

I recall seeing this plaster cast when I was a very young child. It was taken off exhibit when the hippopotamus wing of the Giraffe House was demolished in 1960 as part of the Cotton Terraces development.

It would be nice if it were put on show again.

 

Very interesting, never knew that.

 

Ah I see, would be interesting to see a picture of the obelisk, I was going to say actually that the pagoda if it was a shrine would be probably the most striking example of a memorial to zoo animals.

 

That is incredible ! love the name of the fish too !

What an incredible lifespan it had...that is amazing!

I also really like the idea of a memorial to an Australian lungfish as it is such an unusual species and this particular individual definitely had an interesting life history.

 

That is a very unusual memorial to a zoo animal indeed and I think it would be interesting to put it back on show again as part of the zoos history but perhaps it wouldn't do as well with modern audiences ?

Thanks for sharing @Crowthorne !

I didn't know this but I looked it up on google and you are quite right that it is on display there.

It actually does look quite disturbing (looks a bit like a medieval gargoyle) and I can understand why the staff weren't keen on it in some ways.

There is a picture of it here on this blog towards the bottom of the page :

M Shed. Free Museum in Bristol. Stunning Views of the City

 

I'm kind of fascinated by the story of "Grandad" the lungfish at the shedd aquarium as his story is so interesting.

He is also such an unusual example of the public mourning the loss of a zoo animal that isn't traditionally "charismatic" and they obviously were very fond of this particular fish (some people even got married in front of his aquarium !).

Was it how long lived this specimen was and the way he became a familiar fixture of the aquarium in visitors lives that made him so significant and people feel an affinity and fondness ?

A photo of "Grandad" in life:


This is a great tribute / memorial sign to his life at the aquarium IMO:

Video of "Grandad" in life:

Articles about his passing :

'Iconic' And 'Loveable': Remembering An Elderly Lungfish Named 'Granddad'

Shedd Aquarium Mourns Loss of World‘s Oldest Aquarium Fish | Shedd Aquarium

Lungfish Obituary

How Granddad Came to Shedd 80 Years Ago | Shedd Aquarium



Photo credits to @Milwaukee Man and @Breckenridge.

 

Toronto Zoo has a poignant memorial for Kartiko.

Some visitors threw food into the Orang exhibit and in the scramble for it, Kartiko fell backwards into the moat and was under for a few minutes. A former lifeguard was present and jumped into the water, pulling him out. The man's girlfriend attempted to resuscitate him but had difficulty until she put a rolled-up zoo map into his mouth to blow air through. He revived but died a few days later.

His statue and a plaque are beside a tree in a small courtyard outside the entrance and exits to his home.

 

Thank you for sharing @Mr Wrinkly.

Poor old Kartiko, that is a very moving story and memorial indeed, when did this happen ?

Didn't something similar happen with an elephant at the London zoo ?

 

August 5, 1998 when he was only 8 years old.

The statue on the bench was a few years later.

 

Really tragic story.

I think the memorial that the zoo installed is great though and is a fitting tribute to the short life of this orangutang.

 

I have a few that I know of but no pictures I’m afraid.
At Paignton zoo in the giraffe house there is a plaque in memory of the giraffes that died in a fire in the building, when I visited duchess the elephant had recently died and her indoor viewing platform had been left over and there was a collection of flowers and drawings and memories people had written down. I believe this was just temporary but I thought I’d include it regardless.

At Cape May County Zoo there is a flowerbed near the entrance with plaques remembering their original lion and more recently Rocky the tiger.

At Edinburgh in the budongo trail building, there are some plaques to remember former chimps as you go up the stairs.

And the entrance square by the elephants at Chester is called the Jubilee square after a deceased bull elephant called Jubilee I believe.

 

Thanks for sharing @Jude T ! Much appreciated !

I'm going to see if I can find some pictures of these in the zoochat gallery.

 

Here is the memorial for Numar at Cape May, nowadays Rocky sits next to him aswell but I couldn’t find any photos of his.