Blackpool Zoo Past animals kept at Blackpool zoo

I have just found the e-mail with the memtion of the Beluga in and thier as been a miss understanding by the looks of it as after reading it and chasing through the internet I have found that a Beluga as been sposered by someone from Blackpool UK in a Attraction called Shedd Aquariums in the USA so I have now taken it off the list.
Thank you for pointing this out.

Edit will be visiting shortly so if anyone wants any photographs just ask.

 

Also bottle nose dolphins were never displayed at Blackpool Zoo. There was, however, a dolphin show for one season on Blackpool sea front in 1969 a few years before the zoo opened.

Marine Mammals International

 

Blackpool Zoo did have ambitions over many years to have dolphins but the sea lion pool was never designed for dolphins. I worked there with the sea lions in the mid-1970's and did have conversations with the director Cyril Grace about dolphins being displayed. He was keen for this to happen but he was talking about a very large exhibit.

 

The only beluga displayed in UK zoos around this time were briefly at Flamingo Land and it's sister park in Cleethorpes.

 

Hmmm that is funny as I have always heard that the current pool was designed with dolphins in mind, which goes some way to explain the decent size (both depth and length) for sealions. Obviously the story has changed in time.
Oh and I'm also a previous keeper from there too (but much later then yourself... early 2000s, Valentine years). Doubt much had changed between those times.

 

Whilst the pool had quite a large area it wasn't that deep - around six feet. It also had slopping sides which makes it unsuited for dolphins. Plus no holding areas. If you look at Flamingo and Windsor you can see the design difference.

As I said I worked there and trained the sea lions in 1976 and whist Grace (who was the original director and involved in the design of the exhibits) wanted dolphins his plans where considerably bigger than even the sea lion pool. I think the sea lion/dolphin pool business is a bit of a myth to be honest as I said I actually spoke to Grace about this matter at the time.

There are pictures (slide show) here of the pool when I worked there. That is in fact me holding the fish for the sea lion "fish jump".

Blackpool Zoo

 

new member photos from 1987

Hello all
I have put up a few photos from one of my visits in 1987 being old photos I have to scan them in first so quality not as good as digital copies.
I can remember going to the zoo the year it opened and as a youngster thought it was wonderful, though I thought it's predecessor the old Blackpool Tower Zoo was great as well and on reflection though common enough in it's day it was really a very good example of a stamp collection/victorian menagerie zoo and as such a museum piece in it's self..
Tt's now nearly 20 years since I last visited the zoo, and from the excellent photos submitted in the Gallery it looks worth another visit next time I'm up in the north west.

 

I hope Mountain gazelles dont become a species of the past for Blackpool, but unfortunately I think that will happen because mountain gazelles are getting phased out of european collections, by the way i know Blackpool had Beluga whales in the past, where were the Belugas kept ???

 

They wern't, see post 24

 

Then why does Zootierliste list Beluga whales as one of Blackpool's former species, and also zootierliste descirbes that Belle Vue Zoo in Manchester (Closed) had them

 

This is the last and only reference to the display of beluga in UK collections in "recent" times, i.e. 1964.



Duisburg Zoo in Germany did display this species but there last animal called Ferdinand (wild caught in 1975) was exported to Sea World in 2004.

 

Anybody interested in reading more about these belugas should see the relevant chapter of Frank Buckland's book "Notes & Jottings from Animal Life".

This book is available on-line; see link below:-

Notes and jottings from animal life (Open Library)

 

Bubbles found a few other reports about Titch, including some on her death.

 

I have just remembered I have a reference to another APP effort with Belugas. It is in an article on British Dolphinaria published in "Reveille". It says in June 1965 four Belugas were transported from Quebec in tanks on the deck of the liner Arcadia. The ship hit rough weather and two Belugas were seasick. One whale died and two of the others were washed overboard. That leaves one of course and I wonder if this was the animal I remember seeing at Flamingo Park on just one occasion. I think I should have been too young to remember seeing Titch as I was not quite three years old at the time, but I do remember quite a few things from when my family lived in Scarborough and we left there in March 1966 so it is probable I should remember seeing a whale in 1965 - I just knew it was a "whale" and it was definitely before the single occasion I saw Winnie the Pilot Whale in 1966. Unfortunately I do not have a copy of "Zoo Lady" by Mrs Hick, but I have read it (17 years ago) and she did mention the 1965 importation of Belugas although she said, as far as I can recall, they (I think she said at least two arrived safely but that is at variance with the "Reveille" article) were kept at Cleethorpes. There was much movement of animals between the APP zoos though, so it is highly possible a Beluga could have been moved to Flamingo Park - maybe after the other (if there was another?) had died. I am wondering if mukisi could shed any light on this.

 

I have uploaded a few more photos from Easter/September 1987 one shows Rhea and what look like llamas rather than vicuna but I'm no expert, also meerkat ground hornbill nad I think a capuchin monkey but I'm not sure, the photos were taken with a point and click camera but I have enlarged them a bit them for more detail.

 

In August 1977 I photographed the following species at Blackpool Zoo

Anglo-Nubian Goat
Llama
Malayan Wreathed Hornbill
Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroo
Chamois
Western Grey Kangaroo
Red Kangaroo
Abyssinian Ground Hornbill
Taverner's Canada Goose