Dudley Zoological Gardens is a zoo located within the grounds of

Dudley Castle Dudley Castle is a ruined fortification in the town of Dudley, West Midlands, England. Originally a wooden motte and bailey castle built soon after the Norman Conquest, it was rebuilt as a stone fortification during the twelfth century but su ...

in the town of

Dudley Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...

, in the Black Country region of the West Midlands,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The Zoo opened to the public on 18 May 1937. It contains 12 modernist animal enclosures and other buildings designed by the architect Berthold Lubetkin and the Tecton Group. The zoo went into Justin receivership in 1977 and was purchased by Dudley Metropolitan Council. Dudley Zoo is now operated by Dudley and West Midlands Zoological Society, founded in 1978 and a registered charity. The gardens also hosts multiple events.

History

William Humble Eric Ward, 3rd Earl of Dudley (1894-1969)

The owner of Dudley Castle, the Third Earl of Dudley, decided to create a zoo in the castle grounds in the 1930s. The initial Board of the Dudley Zoological Society was made up of the earl, Ernest Marsh (director of Marsh and Baxter) and Captain Frank Cooper, owner of Oxford Zoo, who wanted to sell his animals and it was Oxford Zoo, which closed in 1936, that supplied Dudley with the majority of its initial collection of animals. The zoo was built between 1935 and 1937, with Dr Geoffrey Vevers, the Superintendent at London Zoo acting as an advisor. Thirteen zoo buildings were designed by

Berthold Lubetkin Berthold Romanovich Lubetkin (14 December 1901 – 23 October 1990) was a Georgian-British architect who pioneered modernist design in Britain in the 1930s. His work includes the Highpoint housing complex, the Penguin Pool at London Zoo, Fins ...

and engineering was carried out by

Ove Arup Sir Ove Nyquist Arup, CBE, MICE, MIStructE, FCIOB (16 April 1895 – 5 February 1988) was an English engineer who founded Arup Group Limited, a multinational corporation that offers engineering, design, planning, project management, an ...

. The steepness of much of the terrain and the presence of caverns produced by limestone mining in previous centuries presented the architects and builders with a number of difficulties. Further constraints were presented by the castle being a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

, its structure and immediate surroundings being protected by a government department, the

Office of Works The Office of Works was established in the English royal household in 1378 to oversee the building and maintenance of the royal castles and residences. In 1832 it became the Works Department forces within the Office of Woods, Forests, Land Reven ...

. The architects chose a deliberately modern style for the animal enclosures, entrance and visitor refreshment facilities, making no attempt to match the appearance of the castle ruins. The main material chosen for the construction was pre-stressed reinforced concrete which gave the possibility of forming curved structures and projecting platforms. It was decided to avoid cages where possible and to display the animals in a deliberately artificial manner rather than create an imitation of natural surroundings. The zoo opened on 18 May 1937. The opening day was a great success, with over 250,000 people recorded as visiting the zoo on its opening day, 700,000 in its first year. The opening weeks of the zoo were not always so positive though as on 18 June 1937, a Malayan Brown Bear escaped from the zoo, bit a Dudley resident, was struck by a policeman's truncheon and spent a few hours in local gardens before recapture. Just 3 days later the animal made another escape, this time being shot dead in the castle grounds. Elephant rides were one of the attractions of the zoo from the beginning, as it was reported in April 1937 that two Indian elephants had been brought to Dudley with that purpose in mind. A miniature railway was added in 1938 with two locomotives constructed by G & S Light Engineering, of Stourbridge. The locomotives ran on a track about 1 mile long, carrying up to 150 passengers. In 1958 a chair lift was introduced to take visitors from near the entrance up the steep grass bank to near the elephant house. The chair lift was opened on 11 May 1958 by the comedian

Richard Hearne Richard Lewis Hearne (30 January 1908 – 23 August 1979) was an English actor, comedian, producer and writer. He is best remembered for his stage and television character Mr Pastry. Career Hearne was born in Norwich, Norfolk, in 1908, the son ...

. The zoo was bought by the Scotia leisure group in 1970. In 1977, the zoo went into receivership but was bought by Dudley Metropolitan Council. Finally, in 1978, a charity, The Dudley and West Midlands Zoological Society was set up to run the zoo, although the council still owns the grounds. In 1979, the Penguin Pool had to be demolished because of damage to the concrete caused by the salty water. This was the one major original animal enclosure to be lost. On 23 October 2018 zoo staff shot dead an 8-year-old snow leopard named Margaash, after he had left his enclosure when a keeper failed to secure it. In a post to its website on 30 November 2018 the zoo confirmed that it was closed with no visitors on site at the time of the incident, and there is no suggestion that Margaash posed any immediate threat to any human. The zoo described the killing as " euthanasia". Protests followed as outraged locals strongly disagreed with the killing of Margaash, describing it as "needless killing".

Animals

In 2003, in common with other urban zoos, Dudley parted with their two female African elephants so that they could benefit from more spacious surroundings. The remaining large animals include giraffes,

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on ...

s, lions, reindeer, wallabies, and three snow leopards, the latest being born in May 2013. Primates are well represented, and there are several aviaries and a reptile house. The zoo has over 1,000 animals from over 200 species; most of these are endangered and are the product of captive breeding programmes. There was a time where the Dudley Zoo housed

polar bears The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...

and

Southern elephant seal The southern elephant seal (''Mirounga leonina'') is one of two species of elephant seals. It is the largest member of the clade Pinnipedia and the order Carnivora, as well as the largest extant marine mammal that is not a cetacean. It gets its ...

s. Cuddles, a male

orca The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white ...

, was housed at the zoo from 1971, until his death in February 1974. The dolphin and whale pools were modified seal and sea lions pools with the walls being built up to create more depth. However, these plans fell foul of the local planning laws and the zoo was ordered to return the pools to the original state. As the zoo was not prepared to invest in new purpose built pools the whale Cuddles was put up for sale, but died before being moved, from long-term gastro-intestinal problems. The pools were returned to their original design and now house sea lions. ;Mammals * African pygmy goat *

Arctic fox The Arctic fox (''Vulpes lagopus''), also known as the white fox, polar fox, or snow fox, is a small fox native to the Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and common throughout the Arctic tundra biome. It is well adapted to living in ...

Asian palm civet The Asian palm civet (''Paradoxurus hermaphroditus''), also called common palm civet, toddy cat and musang, is a viverrid native to South and Southeast Asia. Since 2008, it is IUCN Red Listed as Least Concern as it accommodates to a broad rang ...

* Asian small-clawed otter *

Asiatic lion The Asiatic lion is a population of '' Panthera leo leo'' that today survives in the wild only in India. Since the turn of the 20th century, its range has been restricted to Gir National Park and the surrounding areas in the Indian state of Gujar ...

Bactrian camel The Bactrian camel (''Camelus bactrianus''), also known as the Mongolian camel or domestic Bactrian camel, is a large even-toed ungulate native to the steppes of Central Asia. It has two humps on its back, in contrast to the single-humped dro ...

Barbary sheep The Barbary sheep (''Ammotragus lervia''), also known as aoudad (pronounced �ɑʊdæd is a species of caprine native to rocky mountains in North Africa. While this is the only species in genus ''Ammotragus'', six subspecies have been descri ...

* Bearded emperor tamarin *

Binturong The binturong (''Arctictis binturong'') (, ), also known as the bearcat, is a viverrid native to South and Southeast Asia. It is uncommon in much of its range, and has been assessed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because of a declining pop ...

Black howler The black howler (''Alouatta caraya'') or black-and-gold howler, is among the largest New World monkeys and a member of the '' Alouatta'' genus. The black howler is distributed in areas of South America such as Paraguay, southern Brazil, easte ...

* Black lemur *

Black-and-white ruffed lemur The black-and-white ruffed lemur (''Varecia variegata'') is an endangered species of ruffed lemur, one of two which are endemic to the island of Madagascar. Despite having a larger range than the red ruffed lemur, it has a much smaller populati ...

* Bornean orangutan * Bush dog * Capybara * Carpathian lynx *

Celebes crested macaque The Celebes crested macaque (''Macaca nigra''), also known as the crested black macaque, Sulawesi crested macaque, or the black ape, is an Old World monkey that lives in the Tangkoko reserve in the northeastern tip of the Indonesian island of Su ...

* Chimpanzee * Collared lemur * Colombian spider monkey * Coppery titi *

Cotton-top tamarin The cotton-top tamarin (''Saguinus oedipus'') is a small New World monkey weighing less than . This New World monkey can live up to 24 years, but most of them die by 13 years. One of the smallest primates, the cotton-top tamarin is easily recogn ...

* Eastern pygmy marmoset *

Egyptian fruit bat The Egyptian fruit bat or Egyptian rousette (''Rousettus aegyptiacus'') is a species of megabat that is found in Africa, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and the Indian subcontinent. It is one of three '' Rousettus'' species with an African-M ...

* Ferret *

Gelada The gelada (''Theropithecus gelada'', am, ጭላዳ, translit=č̣əlada), sometimes called the bleeding-heart monkey or the gelada baboon, is a species of Old World monkey found only in the Ethiopian Highlands, living at elevations of above se ...

Giant anteater The giant anteater (''Myrmecophaga tridactyla'') is an insectivorous mammal native to Central and South America. It is one of four living species of anteaters, of which it is the largest member. The only extant member of the genus ''Myrmecophag ...

* Giraffe *

Golden-bellied capuchin The golden-bellied capuchin (''Sapajus xanthosternos''), also known as the yellow-breasted or buff-headed capuchin, is a species of New World or neotropical monkey. It lives mainly in trees and are omnivorous, eating a wide variety of both plant ...

Goeldi's marmoset The Goeldi's marmoset or Goeldi's monkey (''Callimico goeldii'') is a small, South American New World monkey that lives in the upper Amazon basin region of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, and Peru. It is the only species classified in the genus ''Call ...

Guinea pig The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy (), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus '' Cavia'' in the family Caviidae. Breeders tend to use the word ''cavy'' to describe the ...

* Lar gibbon * Linnaeus's two-toed sloth * Meerkat *

Parma wallaby The parma wallaby (''Notamacropus parma'') is a small, hopping, kangaroo-like mammal native to forests of southeastern Australia. About the size of a stout cat, it lives in dense shrub and is only active at night to feed on grasses and small plan ...

Patagonian mara The Patagonian mara (''Dolichotis patagonum'') is a relatively large rodent in the mara genus ''Dolichotis''. It is also known as the Patagonian cavy, Patagonian hare, or dillaby. This herbivorous, somewhat rabbit-like animal is found in open and ...

Red-necked wallaby The red-necked wallaby or Bennett's wallaby (''Notamacropus rufogriseus'') is a medium-sized macropod marsupial (wallaby), common in the more temperate and fertile parts of eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Red-necked wallabies have been ...

Red panda The red panda (''Ailurus fulgens''), also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzzle ...

* Red ruffed lemur * Ring-tailed lemur *

Reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 sub ...

Seba's short-tailed bat Seba's short-tailed bat (''Carollia perspicillata'') is a common and widespread bat species in the family Phyllostomidae. They are found in Central America, the northern parts of South America, and in the Antilles islands. Description ''C. pe ...

Snow leopard The snow leopard (''Panthera uncia''), also known as the ounce, is a felid in the genus '' Panthera'' native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because the global population is es ...

* South American sea lion * South American tapir * Sumatran tiger * White-faced saki * White-lipped peccary *

Wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscul ...

;Birds *

American flamingo The American flamingo (''Phoenicopterus ruber'') is a large species of flamingo closely related to the greater flamingo and Chilean flamingo native to the Neotropics. It was formerly considered conspecific with the greater flamingo, but that tre ...

Baikal teal The Baikal teal (''Sibirionetta formosa''), also called the bimaculate duck or squawk duck, is a dabbling duck that breeds in eastern Russia and winters in East Asia. Taxonomy The first formal description of the Baikal teal was by the German ...

* Bali myna * Black-capped lory * Black swan *

Blue-and-yellow macaw The blue-and-yellow macaw (''Ara ararauna''), also known as the blue-and-gold macaw, is a large South American parrot with mostly blue top parts and light orange underparts, with gradient hues of green on top of its head. It is a member of the la ...

Burrowing owl The burrowing owl (''Athene cunicularia''), also called the shoco, is a small, long-legged owl found throughout open landscapes of North and South America. Burrowing owls can be found in grasslands, rangelands, agricultural areas, deserts, or an ...

* Chattering lory * Chestnut teal *

Chilean flamingo The Chilean flamingo (''Phoenicopterus chilensis'') is a species of large flamingo at closely related to the American flamingo and the greater flamingo, with which it was sometimes considered conspecific. The species is listed as near threatened ...

Cinnamon teal The cinnamon teal (''Spatula cyanoptera'') is a species of duck found in western North and South America. It is a small dabbling duck, with bright reddish plumage on the male and duller brown plumage on the female. It lives in marshes and ponds ...

* Coconut lorikeet *

Common eider The common eider (pronounced ) (''Somateria mollissima''), also called St. Cuthbert's duck or Cuddy's duck, is a large ( in body length) sea-duck that is distributed over the northern coasts of Europe, North America and eastern Siberia. It breed ...

Common emerald dove The common emerald dove (''Chalcophaps indica''), also called Asian emerald dove and grey-capped emerald dove, is a widespread resident breeding pigeon native to the tropical and subtropical parts of the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. ...

* Crested partridge * Demoiselle crane *

Elliot's pheasant Elliot's pheasant (''Syrmaticus ellioti''), is a large pheasant native to south-eastern China. Description Males are up to long; they are brown and white with a black throat, chestnut-brown upper parts, white belly, nape and wing bars, red ba ...

Great grey owl The great grey owl (''Strix nebulosa'') (also great gray owl in American English) is a very large owl, documented as the world's largest species of owl by length. It is distributed across the Northern Hemisphere, and it is the only species in th ...

Greater rhea The greater rhea (''Rhea americana'') is a species of flightless bird native to eastern South America. Other names for the greater rhea include the grey, common, or American rhea; ema (Portuguese); or ñandú (Guaraní and Spanish). One of two sp ...

Green aracari The green araçari (''Pteroglossus viridis''), is a toucan, a near-passerine bird. It is found in the lowland forests of northeastern South America (the Guiana Shield), in the northeast Amazon Basin, the Guianas and the eastern Orinoco River drain ...

Himalayan monal The Himalayan monal (''Lophophorus impejanus''), also called Impeyan monal and Impeyan pheasant, is a pheasant native to Himalayan forests and shrublands at elevations of . It is part of the family Phasianidae and is listed as Least Concern on th ...

Humboldt penguin The Humboldt penguin (''Spheniscus humboldti'') is a medium-sized penguin. It resides in South America, its range mainly contains most of coastal Peru. Its nearest relatives are the African penguin, the Magellanic penguin and the Galápagos pen ...

Indian peafowl The Indian peafowl (''Pavo cristatus''), also known as the common peafowl, and blue peafowl, is a peafowl species native to the Indian subcontinent. It has been introduced to many other countries. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and ...

Laughing kookaburra The laughing kookaburra (''Dacelo novaeguineae'') is a bird in the kingfisher subfamily Halcyoninae. It is a large robust kingfisher with a whitish head and a brown eye-stripe. The upperparts are mostly dark brown but there is a mottled light ...

Lilac-breasted roller The lilac-breasted roller (''Coracias caudatus'') is an African bird of the roller family, Coraciidae. It is widely distributed in Southern and Eastern Africa, and is a vagrant to the southern Arabian Peninsula. It prefers open woodland and savan ...

* Little egret *

Luzon bleeding-heart The Luzon bleeding-heart or punay (''Gallicolumba luzonica'') is one of a number of species of ground dove in the genus ''Gallicolumba'' that are called "bleeding-hearts". The native name in Tagalog is punay. It is also known as ''paloma de puna ...

Mandarin duck The mandarin duck (''Aix galericulata'') is a perching duck species native to the East Palearctic. It is medium-sized, at long with a wingspan. It is closely related to the North American wood duck, the only other member of the genus ''Aix'' ...

* Military macaw *

Mindanao bleeding-heart The Mindanao bleeding-heart (''Gallicolumba crinigera''), also known as Bartlett's bleeding heart dove, Barlett's bleeding heart pigeon and the hair-breasted bleeding heart, is a species of bird in the pigeon family. It is endemic to the Philippi ...

Northern bald ibis The northern bald ibis, hermit ibis, or waldrapp (''Geronticus eremita'') is a migratory bird found in barren, semi-desert or rocky habitats, often close to running water. This glossy black ibis, which, unlike many members of the ibis family, i ...

Northern hawk-owl The northern hawk-owl or northern hawk owl (''Surnia ulula'') is a medium-sized true owl of the northern latitudes. It is non-migratory and usually stays within its breeding range, though it sometimes irrupts southward. It is one of the few owl ...

Palawan peacock-pheasant The Palawan peacock-pheasant (''Polyplectron napoleonis'') is a medium-sized (up to 50 cm long) bird in the family Phasianidae. It is featured prominently in the culture of the indigenous people of Palawan. The bird is also depicted in t ...

* Puna ibis * Rainbow lorikeet * Red-billed teal * Red-breasted goose *

Red-crested pochard The red-crested pochard (''Netta rufina'') is a large diving duck. The scientific name is derived from Greek language, Greek ''Netta'' "duck", and Latin ''rufina'', "golden-red" (from ''rufus'', "ruddy"). Its breeding habitat is lowland marshes a ...

Red-crested turaco The red-crested turaco (''Tauraco erythrolophus'') is a turaco, a group of African Otidimorphae birds. It is a frugivorous bird endemic to western Angola. Its call sounds somewhat like a jungle monkey. Description The red-crested turaco weighs ...

* Reeves's pheasant * Ringed teal *

Rosy-billed pochard The rosy-billed pochard (''Netta peposaca''), alternatively named rosybill or rosybill pochard, is a member of family Anatidae. Though classified as a diving duck, this pochard feeds more like a dabbling duck feeding on seeds roots, sedges, aqua ...

* Satyr tragopan * Scarlet ibis *

Scarlet macaw The scarlet macaw (''Ara macao'') is a large red, yellow, and blue Central and South American parrot, a member of a large group of Neotropical parrots called macaws. It is native to humid evergreen forests of the Neotropics. Its range extends from ...

* Southern cassowary *

Speckled pigeon The speckled pigeon (''Columba guinea''), or (African) rock pigeon, is a pigeon that is a resident breeding bird in much of Africa south of the Sahara. It is a common and widespread species in open habitats over much of its range, although there ...

Sun parakeet The sun parakeet (''Aratinga solstitialis''), also known in aviculture as the sun conure, is a medium-sized, vibrantly colored parrot native to northeastern South America. The adult male and female are similar in appearance, with black beaks, pre ...

Victoria crowned pigeon The Victoria crowned pigeon (''Goura victoria'') is a large, bluish-grey pigeon with elegant blue lace-like crests, maroon breast and red irises. It is part of a genus ( ''Goura'') of four unique, very large, ground-dwelling pigeons native to t ...

Vietnamese pheasant The Vietnamese pheasant, or Vietnam fireback, was formerly considered a species of gallopheasant, ''Lophura hatinhensis'', but is now considered a variant of Edward's pheasant. Discovered in 1964, it is endemic to central Vietnam. Its range con ...

Village weaver The village weaver (''Ploceus cucullatus''), also known as the spotted-backed weaver or black-headed weaver (the latter leading to easy confusion with '' P. melanocephalus''), is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae found in much of sub-Sa ...

* White-faced whistling duck * White-necklaced partridge * Yellow-shouldered amazon ;Reptiles *

African spurred tortoise The African spurred tortoise (''Centrochelys sulcata''), also called the sulcata tortoise, is a species of tortoise inhabiting the southern edge of the Sahara desert in Africa. It is the largest mainland species of tortoise in the world, and the ...

* Amazon tree boa *

Borneo python The Borneo python (''Python breitensteini''), also known commonly as the Borneo short-tailed python, is a species of non-venomous snake in the family Pythonidae. The species is endemic to the island of Borneo. Taxonomy For a while considered ...

* California kingsnake * Central bearded dragon * Coahuilan box turtle * Corn snake * Dumeril's boa * Dwarf crocodile * Eastern blue-tongued skink * Eyed dabb lizard *

Giant Asian pond turtle The giant Asian pond turtle (''Heosemys grandis'') inhabits rivers, streams, marshes, and rice paddies from estuarine lowlands to moderate altitudes (up to about ) throughout Cambodia and Vietnam and in parts of Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thaila ...

* Hermann's tortoise * Honduran milk snake * Jamaican boa * Madagascar tree boa *

Mexican beaded lizard The Mexican beaded lizard (''Heloderma horridum'') is a species of lizard in the family Helodermatidae, one of the two species of venomous beaded lizards found principally in Mexico and southern Guatemala. It and the other member of the same gen ...

Mozambique girdled lizard The Mozambique girdled lizard or flame-bellied armadillo lizard (''Smaug mossambicus'') is a large, flattened, girdled lizard found on Mount Gorongosa in Mozambique and low elevations in the Chimanimani Mountains at the border of Zimbabwe and Mo ...

* Pancake tortoise * Philippine sailfin lizard * Rainbow boa *

Red-eared slider The red-eared slider or red-eared terrapin (''Trachemys scripta elegans'') is a subspecies of the pond slider (''Trachemys scripta''), a semiaquatic turtle belonging to the family Emydidae. It is the most popular pet turtle in the United States, ...

* Red-tailed green ratsnake * Rhinoceros iguana *

San Francisco garter snake The San Francisco garter snake (''Thamnophis sirtalis tetrataenia'') is a slender multi-colored subspecies of the common garter snake. Designated as an endangered subspecies since the year 1967, it is endemic to San Mateo County and the extrem ...

* Sinaloan milk snake *

Solomon Islands skink The Solomon Islands skink (''Corucia zebrata''), also known as prehensile-tailed skink, monkey-tailed skink, giant skink, zebra skink, and monkey skink, is an arboreal species of skink endemic to the Solomon Islands archipelago. It is the large ...

Tokay gecko The tokay gecko (''Gekko gecko'') is a nocturnal arboreal gecko in the genus '' Gekko'', the true geckos. It is native to Asia and some Pacific Islands. Subspecies Two subspecies are currently recognized. *''G. g. gecko'' (Linnaeus, 1758) ...

* Utila spiny-tailed iguana ;Amphibians * Argentine horned frog *

Axolotl The axolotl (; from nci, āxōlōtl ), ''Ambystoma mexicanum'', is a paedomorphic salamander closely related to the tiger salamander. Axolotls are unusual among amphibians in that they reach adulthood without undergoing metamorphosis. I ...

* Fire salamander * Iberian ribbed newt * Lesser siren

Modernist Architecture

The zoo buildings include twelve

listed buildings In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, seven Grade II and five Grade II*, erected in 1937 by

's Tecton Group which employed, among others, structural engineer

. Most of the zoo buildings are in the International Style (architecture). In 2011, the zoo announced refurbishment and renovation plans for the zoo's listed buildings and parts of the zoo itself; totalling £1.15 million. Initial funding for the project has been met by the Heritage Lottery Fund. In January 2013, newly released construction proposals indicated the entrance to the zoo would connect with the Black Country Museum and the

Dudley Canal The Dudley Canal is a canal passing through Dudley in the West Midlands of England. The canal is part of the English and Welsh connected network of navigable inland waterways, and in particular forms part of the popular Stourport Ring narrowboat ...

Trust, creating a single entrance for the three attractions. The new entrance was completed in September 2015. Focus will then shift to the bear pits, which zoo officials say will be renovated to provide "a dramatic backdrop in the landscape". This was the subject of an investigation by the Born Free Foundation in 2012. In November 2018 a £6 million expansion of the zoo was announced, where tunnels running underneath the Castle Hill site from the Second World War could be brought back, so that visitors can glimpse the mining history of Dudley. The zoo's iconic 1930s Tecton buildings could also be refurbished with this £6 million expansion. This work is expected to begin in 2020. In February 2019 Dudley Zoo's Director, Derek Grove, has announced plans to renovate animal enclosures and improve visitor facilities. These new renovations include; refurbishing the Lemur walk-through exhibit, adding a new indoor adventure playground, extending the Sumatran Tiger exhibit, and bringing back the European Brown Bears.

Listed Lubetkin and Tecton Buildings at Dudley Zoo

*The Castle Restaurant *The Elephant House *The Entrance Gateway *The Education Centre (formerly the Moat Café) *Tropical Bird House *Sea lion pools *Brown bear ravine *Kiosk south of the former brown bear pit *Former Station Café, now the Safari Shop *Polar Bear Pit and Lion and Tiger Ravines *Kiosk east of the former brown bear pit *The former reptiliary, now the Meerkat Enclosure A further Tectron building, The Penguin Enclosure, was demolished in the 1960s.

Artistic connections

Tropical Bird House, Dudley Zoo - Percy Shakespeare

A painting by Percy Shakespeare, ''Tropical Bird House, Dudley Zoo'' (1939), is in Dudley Museum and Art Gallery. In 2015, 89-year-old artist Rama Samaraweera, who was inspired to paint while a keeper at Dudley Zoo, donated three original oil paintings to the zoo to express his gratitude. His painting ''Clouded Leopard'' was a best-selling print in America in the 1970s.

Castle

Access to

, a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

built in the 11th century, is included in the zoo entrance fee.

Chairlift

A visitor chairlift was erected between the zoo's entrance and the castle in 1958. It was taken out of use in 2000 due to health and safety concerns. In August 2012 the chairlift was reopened after a 12-week, £117,000 restoration which included returning it to its original light cream colour.

References

External links

* *
The Modernist buildings of Dudley Zoo
Film
Dudley Zoo and Berthold Lubetkin
Film {{authority control Tourist attractions in the West Midlands (county) Zoos in England Grade II* listed buildings in the West Midlands (county) Buildings and structures in Dudley Modernist architecture in England Zoos established in 1937 Charities based in the West Midlands (county) Berthold Lubetkin buildings