Memorials to individual animals in zoos

Lincoln Park Zoo has a statue honoring Adelor, the zoo's longtime African Lion. He came to the zoo in 1995 from a private game reserve in Africa and was euthanized in 2012 when he was 18 years old. Adelor sired five offspring over the years. One of the zoo's donors commissioned the statue of him, which sits at the zoo's east entrance.

More on the statue - including photos - can be found here: “Adelor” the Lion by Koh -Varilla Guild seen at Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago

 

Thank you for sharing @PAKMan !

It seems that Adelor lived to a fairly decent old age for an African lion.

Unfortunately I can't find any shots of the sculpture at Lincoln Park zoo in the Zoochat gallery though.

 

I'm going to try and make it to the zoo in the next few weeks (they're closed for the winter but they have a few members-only days, and I'm a member). If I'm able to go I'll see if I can take a photo.

 

Excellent @PAKMan that would be awesome!

Enjoy your visit when you go and don't forget to take a picture of the sculpture for this thread.

 

A couple more memorials to zoo animals.

Apparently this statue at the Bronx zoo is in memory to "Bessie" who was an Indian rhino who lived a remarkably long life at the zoo, from 1923 to 1962 :


This statue at Staten Island Zoo in the USA is in memory of "Jalopy" a female Galapagos giant tortoise that lived there from 1937 to 1983:

Statue in memory to "Dub Dub" the harbour seal at Point Defiance Zoo, USA:




Photo credits to @tigris115, @zoo_enthusiast, @snowleopard.

 

This isn't really a "memorial" as such but as it is something that you don't really tend to see in most zoos with the smaller mammals and shares details with the public on an individuals life I thought I'd share it here.

Notice about the passing of "Maia" the tree shrew at the Brookfield zoo:


Photo credits to @MeiLover.

 

A statue in memory of "Nosey" the African elephant who was resident at Fresno Chaffee zoo from 1949 to 1993 :



Photo credit to @betsy.

 

Information / memorial sign to "Smokey" the black bear at the Smithsonian zoo , USA:



Colombus zoo memorial to "baby ellie" an infant elephant:



Photo credit to @Breckenridge and @Moebelle.

 

Memorial display to the female gorilla "Colo" who lived at the Colombus zoo from 1956 to 2017:



Photo credits to @Moebelle and @Milwaukee Man.

 

Another memorial to a zoo animal is the statue of Berlin Zoo's famous hippopotamus "Knautschke".

He was born on 29th May 1943 and was one of the few animals in Berlin Zoo to survive the Second World War.

I saw "Knautschke" several times in the 1980s on my first few visits to Berlin but, sadly, he died on 20th June 1988 (after being severely injured in a fight with his son).

See links below:

Statue of hippopotamus "Knautschke"; Berlin Zoo; 7th September 2011 - ZooChat

Plaque for hippopotamus "Knautschke"; Berlin Zoo; 7th September 2011 - ZooChat

 

@Tim May Thank you for your comment !

I've read about this hippo before somewhere on this forum and it is quite an incredible story, what a character this animal was and how resilient too.

Interesting to hear that you saw him in the flesh while he was alive too.

I think the statue that you mentioned looks great and is a fitting tribute to this animal:

 

Here are my pictures of the busts of Ngagi as well as Mbongo at San Diego Zoo. They were thought to be mountain gorillas at the time but were really Eastern lowland gorillas. They were both five years old when they arrived at the zoo in 1931. Their busts are placed in a prominent position to one side of the zoo's entrance:





All photos taken by geomorph.

 

These are brilliant and very expressive sculptures , thank you for sharing @geomorph !

 

Doesn't Ken Allen also have a plaque dedicated for him?

 

That sounds familiar but I have no photo of it, I imagine it would be near the current orangutan exhibit.

 

Monkeyworld has a statue of founder Jim Cronin (died 2007) with Charlie the chimp (died 2009). I know I've taken a photo of it but can't find it (anything pre 2010 isn't likely to be on my computer). Perhaps somebody else has a photo?

 

Yes, that would definitely be interesting to see, hopefully someone might have a photograph of it and will share it on the thread.

 

In addition to the Jalopy statue at Staten Island, which is now in a different location, there's an entire wall about her in the reptile building:

Staten Island Zoo - Remembering Jalopy the Galapagos tortoise by TinoPup posted 23 Jan 2021 at 9:31 PM

Staten Island Zoo - Remembering Jalopy by TinoPup posted 23 Jan 2021 at 9:31 PM

Staten Island Zoo - Remembering Jalopy by TinoPup posted 23 Jan 2021 at 9:31 PM

Staten Island Zoo - Remembering Jalopy by TinoPup posted 23 Jan 2021 at 9:31 PM

 

A painting in memory of "Chuckles" the Amazonian river dolphin at Pittsburgh zoo, USA:



Photo credit to @jusko88.

 

Thanks for sharing and sorry @TinoPup ! I didn't see this comment before.

Wow, that is a memorial and a half to this tortoise, looks like there is a lot of information on display about this individual and her lifestory and the wider story of her species too.