Showing 4415 results

Better known as Frank Buckland, he was an English surgeon, zoologist, author and natural historian. He was born in a noted family of naturalists. Frank was the first son of Canon William Buckland, a geologist and palaeontologist, and Mary Morland, a fossil collector.

He studied surgery under Caesar Hawkins at St George's Hospital. During this time he became acquainted with Abraham Dee Bartlett, Superintendent of London Zoo, who would send him dead animals at the zoo and he continued to keep many animals. Buckland was made a MRCS in 1851. He was appointed House Surgeon at St George's in 1852. He left St George's in 1853 and in August 1854 he joined the 2nd Life Guards as an assistant surgeon. This appointment left him time for his growing interest in natural history. Buckland gradually gave up medicine and surgery to devote himself to natural history and he was a pioneer of zoöphagy. He was one of the key members and founded of the acclimatisation society in Britain, an organisation that supported the introduction of new plants and animals as food sources which was influenced by his interest in eating and tasting a range of exotic animal meats.

Brumas was born on 29th November 1949. Her mother was named Ivy and her father Mischa. She was the first polar bear to be successfully reared in Britain and was an immediate attraction with the public. She caused such interest that, in 1950, the Zoo's annual attendance figures reached the 3 million mark (around 1 million more than usual at that time). Although Brumas was female, the press had reported that the bear was a 'he' and the error was not corrected at the time, so the public thought that the baby was male. Brumas was so popular that newsreels, books, postcards, toys, and other souvenirs celebrated her fame. She died on 17th March 1958.