Whipsnade Zoo

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  • Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell (ZSL Secretary 1903-1935) was inspired by a visit to the Bronx Zoological Park to create a park in Britain as a conservation centre. Hall Farm, a derelict farm on the Dunstable Downs, 30 miles (48 km) to the north of London was purchased by the Zoological Society of London in 1926 for £13,480 12s 10d, The site was fenced, roads built and trees planted. The first animals arrived at the park in 1928, including two Lady Amherst's pheasants, a golden pheasant and five red junglefowl. Others soon followed, including muntjac, llama, wombats and skunks. Whipsnade Park Zoo opened on Sunday 23 May 1931. It was the first open zoo in Europe to be easily accessible to the visiting public. The collection of animals was boosted in 1932 by the purchase of a collection from a defunct travelling menagerie and some of the larger animals walked to the zoo from Dunstable station. During the Second World War, the zoo acted as a refuge for animals evacuated from London Zoo. During 1940, 41 bombs fell on the park with little damage to the zoo structure. Some of the ponds in the park are the remains of bomb craters from this period.

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      Whipsnade Zoo

      Whipsnade Zoo

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      Whipsnade Zoo

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        Whipsnade Zoo

          279 Archival description results for Whipsnade Zoo

          Only results directly related
          Whitehead, G Kenneth
          SUP/6/1/1/118 · File · 1949
          Part of Superintendents

          Correspondence between G Kenneth Whitehead and George Soper Cansdale regarding the stock of Muntjac at London and Whipsnade Zoos
          Winston Churchill
          SEC/11/1/91 · File · 25 Mar 1952
          Part of ZSL Secretaries

          Letter from Sir Winston Churchill sending best wishes for Whipsnade 21st anniversary
          Working Party
          WHI/5/2 · File · 1966-1969; 1975-1976
          Part of ZSL Whipsnade Zoo

          Papers of the Whipsnade Development Working Party, including minutes of meetings and background papers
          ZSL Whipsnade Zoo
          WHI · Fonds · 1928-1981

          ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, formerly known as Whipsnade Wild Animal Park, is a zoo and safari park located at Whipsnade, near Dunstable in Bedfordshire, England. It is one of two zoos (the other being ZSL London Zoo in Regent's Park, London) that are owned by the Zoological Society of London. A disastrous fire in Whipsnade's Administration block in 1962 destroyed most of the archives held at Whipsnade (except for the Whipsnade Daily Occurrences). The files listed here were the ones kept in the Offices at Regent's Park, and were therefore not lost in the fire.

           Zoological Society of London