Dudley Zoo, Dudley
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Dudley Zoological Gardens is a zoo located within the grounds of Dudley Castle in the town of Dudley, in the
Black Country The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its ro ...
region of the West Midlands, England. The Zoo opened to the public on 18 May 1937. It contains 12 modernist animal enclosures and other buildings designed by the architect Berthold Lubetkin and the Tecton Group. The zoo went into Justin receivership in 1977 and was purchased by Dudley Metropolitan Council. Dudley Zoo is now operated by Dudley and West Midlands Zoological Society, founded in 1978 and a
registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...
. The gardens also hosts multiple events.


History

The owner of Dudley Castle, the Third Earl of Dudley, decided to create a zoo in the castle grounds in the 1930s. The initial Board of the Dudley Zoological Society was made up of the earl, Ernest Marsh (director of Marsh and Baxter) and Captain Frank Cooper, owner of Oxford Zoo, who wanted to sell his animals and it was Oxford Zoo, which closed in 1936, that supplied Dudley with the majority of its initial collection of animals. The zoo was built between 1935 and 1937, with Dr Geoffrey Vevers, the Superintendent at London Zoo acting as an advisor. Thirteen zoo buildings were designed by Berthold Lubetkin and engineering was carried out by Ove Arup. The steepness of much of the terrain and the presence of caverns produced by limestone mining in previous centuries presented the architects and builders with a number of difficulties. Further constraints were presented by the castle being a scheduled monument, its structure and immediate surroundings being protected by a government department, the Office of Works. The architects chose a deliberately modern style for the animal enclosures, entrance and visitor refreshment facilities, making no attempt to match the appearance of the castle ruins. The main material chosen for the construction was pre-stressed reinforced concrete which gave the possibility of forming curved structures and projecting platforms. It was decided to avoid cages where possible and to display the animals in a deliberately artificial manner rather than create an imitation of natural surroundings. The zoo opened on 18 May 1937. The opening day was a great success, with over 250,000 people recorded as visiting the zoo on its opening day, 700,000 in its first year. The opening weeks of the zoo were not always so positive though as on 18 June 1937, a Malayan Brown Bear escaped from the zoo, bit a Dudley resident, was struck by a policeman's truncheon and spent a few hours in local gardens before recapture. Just 3 days later the animal made another escape, this time being shot dead in the castle grounds. Elephant rides were one of the attractions of the zoo from the beginning, as it was reported in April 1937 that two Indian elephants had been brought to Dudley with that purpose in mind. A miniature railway was added in 1938 with two locomotives constructed by G & S Light Engineering, of Stourbridge. The locomotives ran on a track about 1 mile long, carrying up to 150 passengers. In 1958 a chair lift was introduced to take visitors from near the entrance up the steep grass bank to near the elephant house. The chair lift was opened on 11 May 1958 by the comedian Richard Hearne. The zoo was bought by the Scotia leisure group in 1970. In 1977, the zoo went into receivership but was bought by Dudley Metropolitan Council. Finally, in 1978, a charity, The Dudley and West Midlands Zoological Society was set up to run the zoo, although the council still owns the grounds. In 1979, the Penguin Pool had to be demolished because of damage to the concrete caused by the salty water. This was the one major original animal enclosure to be lost. On 23 October 2018 zoo staff shot dead an 8-year-old snow leopard named Margaash, after he had left his enclosure when a keeper failed to secure it. In a post to its website on 30 November 2018 the zoo confirmed that it was closed with no visitors on site at the time of the incident, and there is no suggestion that Margaash posed any immediate threat to any human. The zoo described the killing as "
euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...
". Protests followed as outraged locals strongly disagreed with the killing of Margaash, describing it as "needless killing".


Animals

In 2003, in common with other urban zoos, Dudley parted with their two female African elephants so that they could benefit from more spacious surroundings. The remaining large animals include
giraffe The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa''. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, ''Giraffa camelopardalis ...
s, tigers, lions, reindeer, wallabies, and three snow leopards, the latest being born in May 2013. Primates are well represented, and there are several aviaries and a reptile house. The zoo has over 1,000 animals from over 200 species; most of these are endangered and are the product of captive breeding programmes. There was a time where the Dudley Zoo housed polar bears and Southern elephant seals. Cuddles, a male orca, was housed at the zoo from 1971, until his death in February 1974. The dolphin and whale pools were modified seal and sea lions pools with the walls being built up to create more depth. However, these plans fell foul of the local planning laws and the zoo was ordered to return the pools to the original state. As the zoo was not prepared to invest in new purpose built pools the whale Cuddles was put up for sale, but died before being moved, from long-term gastro-intestinal problems. The pools were returned to their original design and now house sea lions. ;Mammals * African pygmy goat * Arctic fox * Asian palm civet *
Asian small-clawed otter The Asian small-clawed otter (''Aonyx cinereus''), also known as the oriental small-clawed otter and the small-clawed otter, is an otter species native to South and Southeast Asia. It has short claws that do not extend beyond the pads of its web ...
* Asiatic lion * Bactrian camel * Barbary sheep *
Bearded emperor tamarin The bearded emperor tamarin (''Saguinus imperator subgrisescens'') is one of the two subspecies of the emperor tamarin. It is mostly found in the tropical forests of southwestern Brazil and eastern Peru. This omnivorous member of the Callitr ...
* Binturong * Black howler * Black lemur * Black-and-white ruffed lemur *
Bornean orangutan The Bornean orangutan (''Pongo pygmaeus'') is a species of orangutan endemic to the island of Borneo. Together with the Sumatran orangutan (''Pongo abelii'') and Tapanuli orangutan (''Pongo tapanuliensis''), it belongs to the only genus of great ...
* Bush dog *
Capybara The capybaraAlso called capivara (in Brazil), capiguara (in Bolivia), chigüire, chigüiro, or fercho (in Colombia and Venezuela), carpincho (in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) and ronsoco (in Peru). or greater capybara (''Hydrochoerus hydro ...
*
Carpathian lynx The Carpathian lynx (''Lynx lynx carpathicus'') is a subspecies of the Eurasian lynx found in the Carpathian Basin of Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Ukraine and Bulgaria. Description thumb The Carpathian lynx is quite large compared to other cat ...
* Celebes crested macaque *
Chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...
*
Collared lemur The collared brown lemur (''Eulemur collaris''), also known as the red-collared brown lemur or red-collared lemur, is a medium-sized strepsirrhine primate and one of twelve species of brown lemur in the family Lemuridae. It is only found in sou ...
*
Colombian spider monkey The Colombian spider monkey (''Ateles fusciceps rufiventris'') is a subspecies of the Black-headed spider monkey, a type of New World monkey, found in Colombia and Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic o ...
* Coppery titi * Cotton-top tamarin *
Eastern pygmy marmoset The eastern pygmy marmoset (''Cebuella niveiventris'') is a marmoset species, a very small New World monkey, found in the southwestern Amazon Rainforest in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, and Peru. It was formerly regarded as conspecific with the simil ...
* Egyptian fruit bat *
Ferret The ferret (''Mustela furo'') is a small, Domestication, domesticated species belonging to the family Mustelidae. The ferret is most likely a domesticated form of the wild European polecat (''Mustela putorius''), evidenced by their Hybrid (biol ...
* Gelada * Giant anteater *
Giraffe The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa''. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, ''Giraffa camelopardalis ...
* Golden-bellied capuchin * Goeldi's marmoset * Guinea pig * Lar gibbon *
Linnaeus's two-toed sloth Linnaeus's two-toed sloth (''Choloepus didactylus''), also known as the southern two-toed sloth, unau, or Linne's two-toed sloth is a species of sloth from South America, found in Venezuela, the Guyanas, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil north ...
*
Meerkat MeerKAT, originally the Karoo Array Telescope, is a radio telescope consisting of 64 antennas in the Meerkat National Park, in the Northern Cape of South Africa. In 2003, South Africa submitted an expression of interest to host the Square Kilom ...
* Parma wallaby * Patagonian mara * Red-necked wallaby * Red panda * Red ruffed lemur *
Ring-tailed lemur The ring-tailed lemur (''Lemur catta'') is a large strepsirrhine primate and the most recognized lemur due to its long, black and white ringed tail. It belongs to Lemuridae, one of five lemur families, and is the only member of the ''Lemur'' ge ...
* Reindeer * Seba's short-tailed bat * Snow leopard * South American sea lion * South American tapir *
Sumatran tiger The Sumatran tiger is a population of ''Panthera tigris sondaica'' on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is the only surviving tiger population in the Sunda Islands, where the Bali and Javan tigers are extinct. Sequences from complete mitochon ...
* White-faced saki * White-lipped peccary * Wolverine ;Birds * American flamingo * Baikal teal *
Bali myna The Bali myna (''Leucopsar rothschildi''), also known as Rothschild's mynah, Bali starling, or Bali mynah, locally known as jalak Bali, is a medium-sized (up to long), stocky myna, almost wholly white with a long, drooping crest, and black tip ...
*
Black-capped lory The black-capped lory (''Lorius lory'') also known as western black-capped lory or the tricolored lory, is a parrot found in New Guinea and adjacent smaller islands. It is a colourful and relatively robust lory (). There are seven subspecies, all ...
*
Black swan The black swan (''Cygnus atratus'') is a large waterbird, a species of swan which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. Within Australia, the black swan is nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent upon c ...
* Blue-and-yellow macaw * Burrowing owl *
Chattering lory The chattering lory (''Lorius garrulus'') is a forest-dwelling parrot endemic to North Maluku, Indonesia. It is considered vulnerable, the main threat being from trapping for the cage-bird trade. The race ''L. g. flavopalliatus'' is known as the ...
*
Chestnut teal The chestnut teal (''Anas castanea'') is a dabbling duck found in Australia. It is protected under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974. Taxonomy The chestnut teal was described by the English naturalist Thomas Campbell Eyton in 1838 under ...
* Chilean flamingo * Cinnamon teal *
Coconut lorikeet The coconut lorikeet (''Trichoglossus haematodus''), also known as the green-naped lorikeet, is a parrot in the family Psittaculidae. Seven species of lorikeets now recognised were once lumped together under ''Trichoglossus haematodus''. Taxonom ...
* Common eider * Common emerald dove * Crested partridge *
Demoiselle crane The demoiselle crane (''Grus virgo'') is a species of crane found in central Eurosiberia, ranging from the Black Sea to Mongolia and North Eastern China. There is also a small breeding population in Turkey. These cranes are migratory birds. Bir ...
* Elliot's pheasant * Great grey owl * Greater rhea * Green aracari * Himalayan monal * Humboldt penguin * Indian peafowl * Laughing kookaburra * Lilac-breasted roller * Little egret * Luzon bleeding-heart * Mandarin duck * Military macaw * Mindanao bleeding-heart * Northern bald ibis * Northern hawk-owl * Palawan peacock-pheasant *
Puna ibis The Puna ibis (''Plegadis ridgwayi'') is a species of bird in the family Threskiornithidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. Its natural habitats are swamps, marshes and lakes, and most of its range is in the Andean highlands, ...
* Rainbow lorikeet * Red-billed teal *
Red-breasted goose The red-breasted goose (''Branta ruficollis'') is a brightly marked species of goose in the genus ''Branta'' from Eurasia. It is currently classified as vulnerable by the IUCN. Taxonomy and etymology The red-breasted goose is sometimes placed ...
* Red-crested pochard * Red-crested turaco * Reeves's pheasant * Ringed teal * Rosy-billed pochard * Satyr tragopan * Scarlet ibis * Scarlet macaw * Southern cassowary * Speckled pigeon * Sun parakeet * Victoria crowned pigeon * Vietnamese pheasant * Village weaver * White-faced whistling duck * White-necklaced partridge * Yellow-shouldered amazon ;Reptiles * African spurred tortoise *
Amazon tree boa ''Corallus hortulana'', commonly known as the Amazon tree boa, macabrel, common tree boa, and garden tree boa,Mehrtens JM. 1987. Living Snakes of the World in Color. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. . is a boa species found in South Americ ...
* Borneo python * California kingsnake *
Central bearded dragon The central bearded dragon (''Pogona vitticeps''), also known as the inland bearded dragon, is a species of agamid lizard found in a wide range of arid to semiarid regions of eastern and central Australia. Taxonomy ''Pogona vitticeps'' was fi ...
*
Coahuilan box turtle The Coahuilan box turtle (''Terrapene coahuila''), also known commonly as the aquatic box turtle, is an endangered species of turtle in the family Emydidae. Unlike the other members of the genus ''Terrapene'', this turtle spends roughly 90% of its ...
* Corn snake *
Dumeril's boa ''Acrantophis dumerili'', commonly known as Dumeril's boa, is a species of non-venomous snake in the family Boidae. The species is endemic to Madagascar. No subspecies are currently recognized. Etymology The specific name, ''dumerili'', is in ...
*
Dwarf crocodile The dwarf crocodile (''Osteolaemus tetraspis''), also known as the African dwarf crocodile, broad-snouted crocodile (a name more often used for the Asian mugger crocodile) or bony crocodile, is an African crocodile that is also the smallest extan ...
* Eastern blue-tongued skink * Eyed dabb lizard * Giant Asian pond turtle * Hermann's tortoise *
Honduran milk snake ''Lampropeltis triangulum hondurensis'', commonly known as the Honduran milk snake, is an egg-laying subspecies of nonvenomous colubrid snake. It is one of the more commonly bred milk snakes in captivity and is one of the larger milk snakes, re ...
*
Jamaican boa The Jamaican boa or yellow snake
a
* Madagascar tree boa * Mexican beaded lizard * Mozambique girdled lizard *
Pancake tortoise The pancake tortoise (''Malacochersus tornieri'') is a species of flat-shelled tortoise in the family Testudinidae. The species is native to Tanzania and Kenya. Its common name refers to the flat shape of its shell. Etymology Both the specific ...
*
Philippine sailfin lizard The Philippine sailfin lizard (''Hydrosaurus pustulatus''), also known as crested lizard, sail-fin lizard, sailfin water lizard, soa-soa water lizard or its native name ''ibid'', is an oviparous lizard endemic to several of the islands that make ...
* Rainbow boa * Red-eared slider * Red-tailed green ratsnake * Rhinoceros iguana * San Francisco garter snake *
Sinaloan milk snake ''Lampropeltis triangulum sinaloae'', commonly known as the Sinaloan milk snake, is an egg-laying subspecies of nonvenomous colubrid snake. It is one of the most commonly bred milk snakes in captivity. It is a fairly docile subspecies and will r ...
* Solomon Islands skink * Tokay gecko * Utila spiny-tailed iguana ;Amphibians * Argentine horned frog * Axolotl * Fire salamander *
Iberian ribbed newt The Iberian ribbed newt, gallipato or Spanish ribbed newt (''Pleurodeles waltl'') is a newt endemic to the central and southern Iberian Peninsula and Morocco. It is the largest European newt species and it is also known for its sharp ribs which ...
* Lesser siren


Modernist Architecture

The zoo buildings include twelve listed buildings, seven Grade II and five Grade II*, erected in 1937 by Berthold Lubetkin's
Tecton Group The Tecton Group was a radical architectural group co-founded by Berthold Lubetkin, Francis Skinner (architect), Francis Skinner, Denys Lasdun, Michael Dugdale, Anthony Chitty, Val Harding, Godfrey Samuel, and Lindsay Drake in 1932 and disbanded ...
which employed, among others,
structural engineer Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants. Their work takes account mainly of safety, technical, economic ...
Ove Arup. Most of the zoo buildings are in the International Style (architecture). In 2011, the zoo announced refurbishment and renovation plans for the zoo's listed buildings and parts of the zoo itself; totalling £1.15 million. Initial funding for the project has been met by the Heritage Lottery Fund. In January 2013, newly released construction proposals indicated the entrance to the zoo would connect with the Black Country Museum and the Dudley Canal Trust, creating a single entrance for the three attractions. The new entrance was completed in September 2015. Focus will then shift to the bear pits, which zoo officials say will be renovated to provide "a dramatic backdrop in the landscape". This was the subject of an investigation by the Born Free Foundation in 2012. In November 2018 a £6 million expansion of the zoo was announced, where tunnels running underneath the Castle Hill site from the Second World War could be brought back, so that visitors can glimpse the mining history of Dudley. The zoo's iconic 1930s Tecton buildings could also be refurbished with this £6 million expansion. This work is expected to begin in 2020. In February 2019 Dudley Zoo's Director, Derek Grove, has announced plans to renovate animal enclosures and improve visitor facilities. These new renovations include; refurbishing the Lemur walk-through exhibit, adding a new indoor adventure playground, extending the Sumatran Tiger exhibit, and bringing back the European Brown Bears.


Listed Lubetkin and Tecton Buildings at Dudley Zoo

*The Castle Restaurant *The Elephant House *The Entrance Gateway *The Education Centre (formerly the Moat Café) *Tropical Bird House *Sea lion pools *Brown bear ravine *Kiosk south of the former brown bear pit *Former Station Café, now the Safari Shop *Polar Bear Pit and Lion and Tiger Ravines *Kiosk east of the former brown bear pit *The former reptiliary, now the Meerkat Enclosure A further Tectron building, The Penguin Enclosure, was demolished in the 1960s.


Artistic connections

A painting by
Percy Shakespeare Percy Shakespeare (28 February 1906 – 25 May 1943
CWGC Casualty Record, Brighton County Bor ...
, ''Tropical Bird House, Dudley Zoo'' (1939), is in Dudley Museum and Art Gallery. In 2015, 89-year-old artist
Rama Samaraweera Rama "Sam" Samaraweera (1926-2021) was a self-taught artist of Sri Lankan heritage living and working in Wales. He specialised in painting wildlife and was inspired by a year working as a keeper at Dudley Zoo. He is probably best known for his ...
, who was inspired to paint while a keeper at Dudley Zoo, donated three original oil paintings to the zoo to express his gratitude. His painting ''Clouded Leopard'' was a best-selling print in America in the 1970s.


Castle

Access to Dudley Castle, a Grade I listed building built in the 11th century, is included in the zoo entrance fee.


Chairlift

A visitor chairlift was erected between the zoo's entrance and the castle in 1958. It was taken out of use in 2000 due to health and safety concerns. In August 2012 the chairlift was reopened after a 12-week, £117,000 restoration which included returning it to its original light cream colour.


References


External links

* *
The Modernist buildings of Dudley Zoo
Film
Dudley Zoo and Berthold Lubetkin
Film {{authority control Tourist attractions in the West Midlands (county) Zoos in England Grade II* listed buildings in the West Midlands (county) Buildings and structures in Dudley Modernist architecture in England Zoos established in 1937 Charities based in the West Midlands (county) Berthold Lubetkin buildings