HOW WELLINGTON ZOO STARTED

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 259, 31 July 1939, Page 3

HOW WELLINGTON ZOO STARTED

Arrival Of “King Dick” MEMORIES OF THE FIRST KEEPER Before a superintendent or curator to the Wellington Zoo was appointed there was the nucleus of a collection, not very extensive in variety, perhaps, that was to form the first inhabitants of the zoological gardens which were then proposed as an additional amenity for the city. The first keeper, long before Mr. A. E. L. Bertling was appointed superintendent, was Mr. A. L. firewer, who for 57 years was employed by the city corporation at Newtown Park. The first caretaker of the park was Mr. W. H. Brewer, and the two sons, Messrs. A. L. and Albert Brewer, followed him. Mr. Brewer, when seen yesterday said he was not made the first keeper for any special knowledge he had of animals, for up till that time tie had none. He only dropped in for the job because he happened to be caretaker of the park, and there was no one else so conveniently situated to do the work. Presented By Circus. “The zoo started with the presenta--1 tion of a young lion to the city by Messrs. Bostock and Wombell, proprietors of an itinerant circus,’’ said Mr. Brewer. “If I remember rightly, that gift was influenced by the Bev. D. C. Bates, then of the meteorological office, who was a ke.n advocate of setting up a zoo in Wellington. That lion, then only about six or seven months old, grew into the magnificent beast which became known throughout New Zealand as ‘King Dick,’ after Mr. Seddon’s nick-name. “It came from Palmerston North by train, and was brought up to the park and placed in a case which the city engineer’s department had built for its reception. It was the late Mr. J. J. Kerslake, the corporation yards overseer, who undertook the job of getting the lion from the truck into the new cage, which was placed on the rise near the old bear-pit, not far from the main entrance of the zoo. When that manoeuvre was accomplished, Mr. Kerslake turned to me, and said: ‘Thereyou are, Brewer, there's the key, and you’re the keeper!’ With that he left me to it to manage as best I could. Mr. Bertling was not appointed to the charge of the zoo till 1908, and it was at the end of 1910 that he was succeeded by Mr. Langridge.” Park Not As Intended. Mr. Brewer recalls that Newtown Park was the first recreation ground to be made on the toyvn belt. It is not laid out at present as originally intended. In the beginning there were to be three grounds—the upper ami lower grounds on the flat, and one that was to have been made by excavating the knoll between the park and the zoo to a lower level. The round which almost encircles-the ground at present was to have continued eastward up a slight incline, and joined an exit road that was to follow roughly the line of the present main road from the zoo gates to the lion’s cages, cutting out the carriage drive as it exists today on, the eastern side of the ground. There was no zoo reserve in those days; it was all Newtown Park. At one time the area now. devoted to the zoo was to have been a kind of scenic reserve and walk, with three lakes, one above the other, up the gully; but when tluzoo proposal was given effect to that idea was scrapped, and a new layout had to be devised to suit the new purpose. Mr. Brewer said that in his belief the council’s grounds were ail worked too hard without a spell. Any ground subjected to three or four seasons of Rugby or soccer football deserved a spell. If it did not get one the ground deteriorated and the grass existed only In little elumps. He knew that to be so because when, after years of soccer football, the game was transferred to the Basin Reserve and Newtown Park ( was allocated to women's hockey the ground almost immediately started to recover, and it was in capital order at present. Given a hard gruelling for a number of winters in succession it was no wonder that such a ground became muddy after rain; there was no sod left underground to absorb the mois- I ture.