Historic photographs of London Zoo

For now, just a few old postcards. I have a lot more but need to find out about copyright.

Scroll down to see what's here.

Conditions in the 1876 Lion house did not change much during its 100 years continuous

use. Today we take enrichment for granted but a rock or log was all there was in the

outdoor cages and the indoor ones were bare. Feeding and interaction with other

animals and the public (through the bars of course) was the only enrichment unless the

keepers trusted the animals enough to go in with them.

Brown Bear on the Mappin Terraces, so certainly taken after 1914, probably from the

1930s.

Polar bear from the same time. If you look behind it you can see some sort of serrated

metal strip. It appears to be attached to the raised wall which could be the deep end of

the pool, or perhaps is something to do with the lower height of the wall at the mid point

of the stairs. I will try to find out.