1933
1974 Radar, this was what the interior of the "Pachyderm House" above at Brookfield looked like the first time I saw it, except Ziggy had died two years prior. The winter of 1977 Hawthorn moved into their new facilities in Richmond and it was the first time I had the opportunity to view a big city zoo that I had only read about in books. A blind man would have known what building he was in, as the smells were incredible. I mentioned the other day about touring the San Antonio Zoo. They issue a "map" that someone on ZooChat mentioned is "useless, at best." The folks I was with were looking for the new Hippo exhibit and had concluded it was somewhere near the rhinoceros, but couldn't decide where the rhino's were. Suddenly a strong wind, typical of the San Antonio area came up. I looked around, and pointed to the east and said, "the rhino's are over there some place." They didn't believe me until they wandered in a easterly direction, and walked smack into the rhino exhibit, and the hippos around the corner. Most folks find pleasure in "smelling the roses" me, my pleasure comes from "smelling the animal feces," and they are all very, very distinctive. LOL The following year 1978, was when Hawthorn started using the services of Dr. Dan Laughlin who was Brookfields as well as Ringling's Veterinarian. Maybe Susan can tell us exactly what year the walls were painted, and the interior "naturalized."
Ryan Easley's ShowMe Elephants
It's hard to understand designing such a tall building, and then having to keep it heated in the winter months? The complete enclosing of it with gunnite or shot crete which ever was used at the time, has also been a mystery to me, unless it was intended as insulation. I don't know, but it sure looked odd combined with the beautiful 1930's Art Deco entrance.
Monday, April 25, 2011
For Radar--Brookfield Zoo's "Pachyderm House"
Posted by
Wade G. Burck
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8 comments:
This building was home to Pharaoh and Mary who produced the first and second black rhino calves in captivity. I believe the second calf "Bobby" went to the Ringling show. They also had a pair of Indian rhinos. In front of the indoor exhibit was a glass shield to protect guests from a spray of rhino urine.
I've heard tales of Bob Bean's management style from different sources. Each keeper seemed to have his own deal with Mr. Bean. In the Pachyderm House the keepers got extra pay if they took care of a few more animals (so Bean wouldn't have to hire more keepers). It was also probably one of the last big zoos where keepers routinely worked a 5.5 day week. It became a Teamster Union zoo a few year after Mr. Bean's retirement.
Jim,
One of the great mysteries of captive animal husbandry is why some reproduce and some don't, even with the greatest effort in the world. Some won't produce in a state of the art facility, and some will produce like rabbit's in a dirty shoe box. Funny thing is, the state of the art facility will come up with a thousand alibi's why they have no success, and a thousand patch's why the dirty shoe box shouldn't.
Wade
This is for folks who may not be aware of it, but AZA(Association of Zoo's and Aquariums)awards the Edward H. Bean Award, named in honor of the first Director of the Brookfield Zoo.
From their website:
The Edward H. Bean Award is a historic award within AZA. It originated as recognition for the most significant birth or hatching of a species and/or subspecies. Later it also began to recognize propagation or management programs as first births/hatchings became less frequent and collection management focused increasingly on long-term programs and commitments.
With this evolution in mind we now proudly award the Edward H. Bean Award for propagation or management programs that contribute to the reproductive success of one or more species and/or subspecies.
Wade
Brookfield had the first two black rhinos in the 1940s. Pittsburgh had the third and Cincinnati the forth in the early 1960s. What happened in the 1950s? I've thought that breeding animals like rhinos takes some "balls" (in more than one way). When you could buy rhinos they were expensive. They can be rough. Kind of like watching a demolition derby with new Cadillacs. Let a big male gorilla in with a female who's half his size -- what if it doesn't work (where are you going to work next?). Maybe some small places do well because they have some intuitively good animal people who don't believe there's just one way to do things. Maybe like some trainers who came up with new behaviors because they didn't know you couldn't do it.
As to the Bean family: at least three generations of zoo directors. Edw. Bean of Milwaukee and Brookfield, Robert Bean Sr. of Brookfield, and Robert Bean Jr. of Louisville and Busch Gardens. George Speidel of Milwaukee was a Bean in-law, wife Mary was Bob Sr.'s sister.
Forgot the Ziggy story. The reason Slim Lewis gave for Ziggy's famous attack was the Bob Bean had bred rhinos and wanted to breed elephants. I'm sure there's a whole lot more to it than that.
When I was a kid we see Ziggy in the first stall of the Pachyderm House. He was always chained close to the wall so he couldn't move around much. I think they'd give him more chain and movement when there weren't visitors in the building. As kids we were just impressed by his size and didn't think about his behavioral limits. Don't think I be impressed by that display today, just sad. Glad the old guy got to move around at the end.
Ziggy trivia for Wade: What famous cat trainer worked with Ziggy for a while when the elephant was with Singer's Midgets? You guessed it! My man, Jules Jacot. Jules told me the name of the little person who presented Ziggy. Jules just got him in and out and down the road.
Jim,
Great stuff again. You are giving RJR a run for the money. I knew the Bean's had an extensive zoo pedigree, but I didn't realize they were the equivalent of Germany's Heck's, even out crossing to the Speidel sire line.
I don't think you should have mentioned Slim's alibi for Ziggy's accident(keep in mind,elephants don't attack, they have accident's) though. From what I can gather, at the moment bars, wall, and the enclosure in general is being held accountable. Now that you opened the door with another culprit, "breeding rhinos", I can see a whole can of worms appearing on the horizon. Breeding tapir, breeding meerkats, etc. etc. Breeding Lord Derby Eland is a given for African accidents. Gaur, Bantang, for Asian accidents.
Wade
The second picture is very interesting - a huge difference than what the building is now. Even more interesting that the small stalls were divided in half it seems.
Radar,
We have to wonder if this pen was originally for tapirs, rhinos, hippos given it's low dividing wall, and was being used "temporarily" to introduce Ziggy to the African seen in the picture. I can't imagine it was originally intended for elephants unless they were secured and chained at all times, because at some point you have to think they would try to go over the dividing wall, or at least spending most of their time standing with their front feet on it.
Wade
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