Zebras

Below is an extract from the 1947 Belle Vue Zoo Guide

David Barnaby says that the first zebra arrived at Belle Vue in 1873. The records show that it came from India, but although there was indeed a breed of wild horse in India at that time that had stripes, it is most likely that the Belle Vue specimen was indeed a South African zebra that passed through India on the way to England.

The pictures of a Belle Vue zebra below were taken in the 1930s.

       

In the early 1958 a new enclosure for Ruminants was built at the zoo. It was one of the last improvements planned by Gerald Iles prior to his leaving. It was surrounded by a ditch and a wall and the indoor quarters for the animals were built to resemble adobe huts. The area was known as the Mexican Village (see below)

A group of Grant's Zebras in the Mexican Village Image generously donated by David Marsh - former keeper

George Wilburn, Paddocks Keeper, releasing a Zebra into the new Mexican Village Image generously donated by David Marsh, former keeper.

Matt Kelly with his hands full!





The four images above were generously donated by
Tommy Kelly, son of Matt Kelly, the Head Keeper

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