Heritage et AL

The recent arrival of the new elephant Anjalee at Auckland Zoo provides an excuse to take a nostalgic look back at one of the Zoo’s previous much-loved elephants: Jamuna. Ref: Ron Clark, Elephant ride, February 1956, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 1207-783. Many locals have fond memories of having had a ride on Jamuna as a child. During her lifetime, Jamuna is estimated to have given rides to three-quarters of a million people. 

We’re very pleased to announce that we've recently had a new collection of photographs from Sir George Grey Special Collections added to Heritage Images . The intriguingly named ‘Riverhead Dump’ collection has a very interesting story behind it.  Ref: Unidentified harbour, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 1055-60.

The first public zoo in NZ was opened by the Wellington City Council in 1906, near Newtown Park. The initial occupant was a solitary lion but by the mid 1920s, the zoo housed over 600 animals. The inaugral zoo in Auckland was opened by a local council again and was located at Western Springs in 1922. The animals came from John Boyd's private zoos around the country, which had recently closed down at the time. Ref: 35-R1804, entrance to Wellington Zoo. Tourist Series 2354, no date, Sir George Grey Special Collections Compared with today's standards, conditions in both zoos were pretty awful. Auckland Zoo was prone to flooding and had exceedingly tenacious rats who quickly returned whenever they were evicted - not surprisingly, since the zoo was opposite the city dump! Ref: 1-W655, looking NW from the grounds of Auckland Zoo towards Point Chevalier, 1925, Sir George Grey Special Collections Take a virtual tour around Auckland zoo through the heritage collections at Au...