Colchester Zoo was established in 1963 by Zoologists Frank and Helena Farrah in the grounds of Stanway Hall Park. The site was around 25 acres in size and contained a small collection of animals ranging from lions to kangaroos. The purchase of the Stanway Hall Estate was the realisation of a lifetime’s ambition for the owners. Helena Farrah acted as the zoo curator during this period; she was the first female curator in Europe. Even in its early years the zoo had a clear conservation focus:
Stanway Hall offers me the opportunity of helping in the preservation of animals - Frank Farrah (May 1963)
In 1983 Colchester Zoo changed hands and was taken over by the present owners, Mr and Mrs Tropeano. It was run as a small family business, Colchester Zoo Ltd. Since this time, Colchester Zoo has been continually redeveloping to improve the facilities for both the animals and the visitors. It has been developed as a conservation centre and has expanded in size from the original site of 25 acres to almost 60 acres, following the purchase of neighbouring land. Colchester Zoo celebrates its fiftieth anniversary on 2 June 2013. The zoo will be holding a number of events to celebrate its birthday week, check their website for more information.
The zoos which have always been good, often don’t have much to of a story to tell. Bad zoos get closed down and forgotten. A place such as Colchester Zoo holds a unique fascination for us. In its fifty years it has swung from early triumph in the 1960s, to near-ruin in the 1980s and back to overwhelming success in the twenty-first century.
Colchester Zoo enjoyed popular acclaim in its earliest days thanks to the flamboyant personalities of its founders, Frank and Helena Farrar. In the 1960s, visitors would be able to meet Frank and Helena walking their cheetahs and leopards around the zoo on leashes. These cats, like many other Colchester Zoo animals, were film and television stars, regularly appearing in shows alongside icons such as John Wayne. Visitors would even find themselves able to reach through the bars and stroke the Farrars’ tame lions and bears.
The world has since changed and what was once thought acceptable is now illegal or considered morally wrong. The 1980s were a watershed for British zoology and saw a sea-change in the way Britain thinks about and runs its zoos. In that decade the country’s worst zoos were closed down altogether. Other zoos shut their gates for a time in order to transform themselves from top to bottom. What makes the story of Colchester Zoo such an intriguing one is that it remained open and fought its way head-first through this storm. In doing so, it turned its reputation from that of one of the worst zoos in Britain to one of the best in Europe.
Frank and Helena Farrar did little to ensure that their zoo kept up with the times once the 1960s had ended. It is likely that the zoo would have failed had not the Tropeano family bought the zoo in 1983 and set to work rebuilding the park. Some of the animals in those days were in poor health and most of the zoo was in need of renovation. Colchester Zoo thus passed through some difficult times in the 1980s, but emerged in the 1990s with a strong sense of purpose and a renewed ambition to match the achievements of the best zoos.
In the last twenty years, Colchester Zoo has made some great advances. These include breakthroughs in artificial insemination breeding in elephants and rhinos, assisting with improvements to zoos in Eastern Europe, the foundation of a charity called Action for the Wild and the creation of a large nature reserve in South Africa. The story of these first fifty years of Colchester Zoo presents a remarkable case of victory against the odds and we are fortunate to be in a position now to recognise the extent and meaning of that success.
S.C. KERSHAW is an independent writer who works voluntarily at Colchester Zoo. He received his doctorate from the University of Essex in 2010 for a thesis on the history and theory of opera and ballet. He lives in Wivenhoe, and is passionate about sharing the history of Colchester Zoo.
The Story of Colchester Zoo is a tale of struggle and heartbreak, but also of transformation and redemption, and is a fitting tribute to one of our great animal institutions as it reaches its fiftieth anniversary. Visit The History Press website and get a special fiftieth anniversary discount of 20% off the book plus free UK P&P by using offer code: HPZOO50TH