Jan 31, 2009

I Am The Walrus...

... in the London Zoo in the 1930's.

Those were different times back then. The animals had to earn their keep, like this camel transporting the newly arrived occupants of the famous Little People Exhibit. They were traded from the Bristol Zoo for a polar bear.

Here we can see a giant turtle, baby alligator, komodo dragon and a young train conductor having a tea party. The baby alligator is telling a joke: A wildebeest walks into a bar...

It was a tough, hyena-eats-hyena world, and the residents were the rough and tumble type. This baby elephant was later arrested for public drunkenness and lewd behavior.

Feeding time in the hippo enclosure. Contrary popular misconception, hippos are not exclusively vegetarian.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Whenever I see a Komodo dragon I think of Sharon Stone. What a paper score. Where did you find these?

geez, my word verification is merci ! I can't seem to escape the french

Anonymous said...

Judging from the dragon and turtle, the alligator's joke was speciest and offensive.

Vanda said...

PA, Sharon Stone? How? They both have bad breath? Neither wears underwear? You must explain.

There is no escape from the French.

AH, back in those days reptiles had thick skin. Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk.

Anonymous said...

My love for the arcane... Sharon Stone was last married to a fellow who was/is an editor for the San Francisco Chronicle by the name of Phil Bronstein. As a birthday gift she was able to make an appointment at the Los Angeles zoo to have a behind the scenes tour. One of the stops was the reptile house. Things went terribly wrong.
About the French....so true, search engines are leading them to my blog.

Vanda said...

You know... I'm no world-traveled journalist, but even I know that komodo dragons are dangerous, just from watching the Disaster Channel (aka National Geographic).

Margaret said...

Times sure have changed. I took my Girl Scouts to an overnight at the San Diego Wild Animal Park in the fall. It was amazing, and the work they do to protect habitats and endangered species is phenomenal. It was an awesome overnight by the way. Rhinos at night, giraffes in the morning. Very cool.

Vanda said...

That sounds fun. I like the fact that they make an effort these days to make the animals' habitat be more or less like a real place, as opposed to just shoving them in a cage.

Petrea Burchard said...

I loved the Brookfield Zoo (near Chicago) when I was a kid, but as an adult I've always felt sick and heartbroken in zoos, even the "habitat" types. I'm on the Bob Barker/Lily Tomlin side of the LA Zoo elephant controversy. I'm all for education, but there's got to be a better way to do it.

Anonymous said...

These are such fantastic photos, along with hilarious commentary. I must say that I am much happier that we have become more humane and try to make their "homes" more like their natural state, even if it does not create good photo ops.

Anonymous said...

I had to come back and gaze at the walrus. He/she is so perfectly beautiful in every way.

Anonymous said...

Here's the Jim Carrey karoke version. Just what you wanted, right? The ending is pretty good (Joker).