Chester Zoo, located in Cheshire, England, was founded by George Mottershead and his family in 1931. The zoo opened its gates on June 10, 1931, and quickly became one of the most-visited venues in the UK, with a record two million visitors in 2019 before the pandemic hit.
The Founder: George Mottershead
George Mottershead, the founder of Chester Zoo, was born in Sale, Cheshire, in 1894. From a young age, he developed a keen interest in animals and their welfare. After serving in the First World War, where he was shot in the neck and left paralyzed, Mottershead’s determination led to his recovery, and he went on to create the zoo without bars, a haven for exotic animals.
Significant Events and Achievements
Chester Zoo’s history is marked by several significant events and achievements:
- Friendship between a Dog and a Lion: In 1940, a dog named Peter became friends with a lion named Mowgli, attracting large crowds and providing comfort to war-weary visitors.
- The Tallest Giraffe: In 1960, the tallest giraffe ever recorded, a Masai bull named George, lived at Chester Zoo and featured in the Guinness Book of Records, measuring just under 20 feet in height.
- Conservation Efforts: In 1970, George Mottershead was given an OBE for his outstanding contribution to conservation. In 1977, Chester Zoo became the first zoo in the UK to successfully breed endangered Asian elephants, with the first calf named Jubilee. In 1980, fourteen Pere David’s deer bred at Chester Zoo were returned to their native range in China, where they had previously become extinct in 1920, marking a significant moment for conservationists at the zoo.
- Scientific Discoveries: In 2006, scientists discovered that the world’s largest lizard, the Komodo dragon, was capable of “virgin births” through parthenogenesis, with Flora, a resident at Chester Zoo, being associated with the ground-breaking discovery.
- Habitat Restoration: In 2013, zoo conservationists turned a barren seven hectares of land into a new nature reserve, enabling rare and declining UK wildlife to flourish.
- Largest Zoo Development: In 2015, Chester Zoo opened ‘Islands,’ the largest zoo development ever seen in the UK, featuring six islands linked by bridges and a boat trip to see threatened plants and animals from South East Asia.
- Unique Breeding: In 2016, a unique tuatara, a species believed to have pre-dated the dinosaurs, hatched at the zoo, marking the first ever breeding of tuatara anywhere in the world, outside of its native New Zealand.
The Oakfield Manor and the Zoo Estate
Chester Zoo is also home to Oakfield Manor, a beautiful manor house and small parcel of land that came up for sale in 1930. George Mottershead had a vision of creating a zoo without bars, a haven for exotic animals, and The Oakfield is where it all began. The zoo started with the purchase of 11 acres of land together with Oakfield Manor Building, The Stable Block and Lodge in circa 1935. The Zoo wide estate now consists of approximately 500 acres of which 110 acres is the zoological gardens and the wider estate making up the remaining 390 acres. Within the Zoo there are some 170 buildings of varying construction used for a variety of purposes.
The Zoo Library and Archive
Chester Zoo has a library situated within Cedar House Administrative Offices, with public access from the Zoo. The Library houses a fine collection of zoological, horticultural, conservational and veterinary material with books, journals, reports, student projects and conference proceedings. It is also the home of the Zoo archive collection, which covers the history of Chester Zoo from 1932 to the present day.
The Zoo Today
Today, Chester Zoo cares for over 7,000 animals, representing over 400 different species, with around half of these being threatened. The zoo is very conservation-oriented and has been running by the North of England Zoological Society, founded by Mottershead as well, ever since the opening.
References:
– Chester Zoo Memories
– Chester Zoo Turns 90
– The Oakfield Story
– The Story of Chester Zoo’s Founder
– Chester Zoo Database