I think these are all of Melbourne Zoo. Thing is, I can remember some of the enclosures. Australia?s first zoos revealed in old black and white photographs | Daily Mail Online
Interesting photos, I would date them circa 1950's. Some of the captions are pretty inaccurate of course- Orangutans misidentified as Chimps, and the 'huge bear roaring for visitors' is simply begging for food with open mouth.
most are earlier than the 1950s. The hippos are the zoo's first two, William and Rosamund, arriving in 1913 (the photo is from c.1920); and the orangutan is Mollie who was at the zoo from 1901 to 1923. The keeper washing the elephants is from 1949. A few of the others look pre-1920 and some others look like they're from the 1960s or '70s.
I wouldn't know how to date the animals so was going from the clothes of the keepers in some of the photos. I can see looking again that there is more variation of dates. Thanks for the more detailed history.
I did wonder if the man feeding the hippos (and in another photo with the boxes of monkeys) was le Souef, but I couldn't find any identifying him and couldn't find any photos of le Souef to match with him. Especially the hippo photo reminded me, though, of the photos you see of Edward Hallstrom at Taronga feeding rhinos or giraffes or whatever.
Yes, they do indeed- and who else well-dressed would be dealing with animals in that experienced-looking way- almost certainly the Director I would say.
The only photos I can find of Dudley le Souef show him with a beard, and he appears to be a bit thicker-set than the guy in the first photo. That doesn't mean it's not him, though. Hix
