OBITUARY

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 257, 28 July 1939, Page 5

OBITUARY

Mr. John Langridge The blue ensign was liown at halfmast over the Wellington Town Hall yesterday as a mark of respect to Mr. John Langridge, curator of the Wellington Zoo, who died on Wednesday afternoon at the Lewisham Hospital. Mr. Langridge, born in 1874, was an Englishman, who had spent the major part of his life working in zoological gardens in England and in the Dominions. He was for some time employed as one of the keepers at England’s famous zoo in Regent's Park, London, and through his connexions there, in Australia, and as curator of the Wellington Zoo, he was quite well known to zoological gardens authorities allover the world, having made it a practice to keep in touch with the managements of zoos throughout the Empire and in America. When the Wellington Zoo was instituted in 1906, Mr. A. E, L. Bertling (formerly a keeper in the London Zoo at Regent’s Park) was placed in charge. He was succeeded as head Keeper the next year by Mr. Langridge, but it was not till December, 1910, that he was given the status of curator. Mr. Langridge had a profound knowledge of the nature of wild animals and birds and how they should be fed and treated in captivity; and, even among curators, he had a good reputation for being able to keep animals for very lengthy periods of time, compared with the experience of other zoos. Only a couple of weeks ago he was heard “over the air” on the subject of his calling and the characteristics of some of his charges. Mr. Langridge leaves a widow. The town clerk, Mr. E. P. Norman, in whose department the zoo is vested, announced yesterday that the -zoo would -be closed to the,public throughout today out of respect to Mr. Laugridge. The funeral will leave E., Morris jun.’s mortuary chapel in Kent Terrace after the service to be held at 10.30 a.m. today.