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DOE AND HOPE

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Item Details

The collection of five plastic keyrings/small plaques for various Bristol Zoo related rooms, timings or vehicles, each in jet black with bright yellow lettering, tied together with string, comprising a key ring for a Commer Van, keyring for the Main Gate, one for the Meat Preparation Room, and two for show or talk times for 2.45pm and 3pm, surviving from the 1950s and formerly of Bristol zoological gardens.

Each plaque is in good overall order with no cracks. The fob for the Main Gate has a date to the reverse being 29th May 1958.

Opened in 1836 by the Bristol, Clifton and West of England Zoological Society, Bristol Zoo was the world's oldest provincial zoo. The zoo's stated mission was to "maintain and defend" biodiversity through breeding endangered species, conserving threatened species and habitats and promoting a wider understanding of the natural world".

Bristol, like its earlier London counterpart, included several original buildings which have been praised for their architectural quirks, despite being unsuitable for the care of animals; the (former) Giraffe House joined the main entrance lodge to the south gates on Guthrie Road as a Grade II listed building. The old Monkey Temple, resembling a southern Asian temple, was home to an exhibit called "Smarty plants", an interactive exhibit which shows how plants use and manipulate animals to survive. The zoo also has breeding firsts, including the first black rhino born in Britain in 1958, the first squirrel monkey born in captivity in 1953 and the first chimpanzee born in Europe in 1934.

The mammal collection at the zoo numbered around 300, representing 50 species, including: gorillas, Asiatic lions, goodfellow's tree-kangaroo, and red pandas. Among species on view at Bristol which are rare or absent in other UK zoos were Livingstone's fruit bats, aye ayes and quolls. The zoo's Twilight Zone was the first of its kind when it opened, there were many other indoor exhibits including an insect and reptile house and aquarium meanwhile outside there were several aviaries and a seal and penguin enclosure. The lakes' islands were home to gorillas, golden lion tamarins, golden-headed lion tamarins, gibbons and squirrel monkeys.

The Zoo announced on 27 November 2020 that after more than 186 years its main centre in Clifton would close in 2022, with its animals moving to its Wild Place Project site close to the M5 motorway and the zoo reopening there in early 2024.

Bags of fun and a wonderfully talking point for ones set of keys.

• Period: c.1950-60
• • Price: £625.00
  • €756 Euro
  • $793 US Dollar
• Location: Buckinghamshire
• • Dimensions: H: 3cm (1.18in)
  • W: 0cm (0.00in)
  • D: 0cm (0.00in)