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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      Hierarchical terms

      Whipsnade Zoo

      Whipsnade Zoo

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      Whipsnade Zoo

        Associated terms

        Whipsnade Zoo

          280 Archival description results for Whipsnade Zoo

          279 results directly related Exclude narrower terms
          Beach, A
          SUP/5/1/2/21 · File · 1946
          Part of Superintendents

          Letter regarding a poster for the Railways and a request for one or more posters to be exhibited at London and Whipsnade Zoos
          Beal, G
          SEC/13/1/6 · File · 1964
          Part of ZSL Secretaries

          Correspondence with Mrs G Beal regarding the subject of her late husband's ashes being scattered at Whipsnade
          Beale, Captain
          SUP/5/1/2/22 · File · 1946
          Part of Superintendents

          Correspondence between Geoffrey Marr Vevers and Captain Beale, Superintendent at Whipsnade Zoo, regarding the return of staff from military service, information about disabled men on the staff at Whipsnade in relation to the Disabled Person (Employment) Act 1944 Quota Scheme, the progress of a baby chimp called Uno, the purchase of wire netting, Whipsnade Committee's visit of inspection to Whipsnade Zoo, accommodation at Chapel Farm and notes on the Whipsnade chimpanzee
          Bedford, Duke of
          SUP/5/1/2/24 · File · 1946
          Part of Superintendents

          Correspondence between the Duke of Bedford and Geoffrey Marr Vevers regarding the importation of Kangaroos from Australia, Pere David Deer at Whipsnade, the transfer of Deer to New York Zoo, and New Zealand Brown Ducks in the Waders Aviary. Also a biography of the 11th Duke of Bedford
          British Museum (Natural History)
          SUP/5/1/2/36 · File · 1946
          Part of Superintendents

          Correspondence between British Museum (Natural History) and Geoffrey Marr Vevers regarding a report of a Black-Headed Gull to the Bird-Ringing Committee at the British Museum of Natural History, articles on Okapi by Reginald Innes Pocock, an account of the baby Dendrohyrax by Cecil Stanley Webb , Antarctic Seals, skins and skulls of small carnivores, the fox which the Zoological Society of London received from Tel Aviv Gardens, an exhibition of Tree Hyraxes, exhibits for Major Cottam, donations of specimens to the British Museum (Natural History), mongoose skins, Tangier Smith's location in Sze Chuan to locate the original Pandas, the release of Kodiak Bears at Whipsnade Zoo, publications by Doubleday on the Giant Panda, rings for a Golden Eagle from the Bird-Ringing Committee, the species of Monkey from Northern Nigeria, a Leopard from the Himalayas, measurements of the Kodiak Bears called Kam and Schatka at Whipsnade, and a donation of Hedgehogs to the USA
          Burnet, Tait and Lorne
          SEC/10/1/1 · File · 1936-1937
          Part of ZSL Secretaries

          Correspondence between Burnet, Tait and Lorne and Julian Sorell Huxley regarding proposed new elephant and rhinoceros houses and paddocks at the Zoological Society of London, and the proposed Tusker Elephant House at Whipsnade Zoo. Also minutes of the Whipsnade Committee 9th December 1936, and an extract from a memo on accommodation for catering staff at Whipsnade (known then as the House of Pleasant Bread)
          Buxton, Major A
          SUP/5/1/2/45 · File · 1946
          Part of Superintendents

          Correspondence between Major A Buxton and Geoffrey Marr Vevers regarding a visit to Whipsnade Zoo and the presentation of a Cheetah to the Zoological Society of London
          By-Laws
          SEC/9/2/24/4 · Item · 13 Jan 1931
          Part of ZSL Secretaries

          Memorandum by the Secretary of By-Laws of the Zoological Park Whipsnade and the Zoological Society of London