The zoo that could: Maryland Zoo’s 150-year history chronicled in new book

Did you know the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore shaped the 1922 mayoral election?

Seriously.

At the time, Baltimore Sun columnist Raymond Tompkins wrote about zoo news in a column called Jungle Circle, and kids regularly wrote to him about the animals they wanted to see there.

Though they acquiesced to the kids’ request for lions in 1919, park commissioners said no to a request for elephants, citing cost, safety and other concerns.

Kids raised money for the zoo to purchase an elephant, and the issue even came up in the mayoral campaign. The one candidate who supported bringing an elephant to what was then called the Druid Hill Park Zoo, Howard Wilkinson Jackson, won the 1922 election. And park commissioners obliged and bought Mary Ann, the zoo’s first elephant.

This is just one of many stories shared in “This Is Your Zoo: 150 Years of Community, Conservation, and Change at the Maryland Zoo,” a new book by Ian Shelley, the park’s registrar. The book draws its name from a 1950s TV show that used to feature the zoo’s animals.

The book came about after Shelley started compiling research and information to help Kirby Fowler, then the zoo’s new CEO, adjust to the place. What started as an effort to pull together helpful information for the new boss snowballed into a 12-chapter documentation of the first 150 years of one of the earliest zoos in the country.

“It really just kind of fascinated me that there were so many stories wrapped up in this place that people didn’t know,” Shelley said.

In addition to Shelley’s book, people can learn about this history through walking tours.

The Baltimore Banner spoke with Shelley about the book, some of the highlighted animals and how it survived near financial ruin.

The interview has been edited for clarity and concision.

Chartered on April 7, 1876, the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore — then called the Druid Hill Park Zoo — was among the first in the country. So why did it get left behind compared to the Philadelphia Zoo or National Zoo?

There are some zoos in this country that were planned and some that happened. The Philadelphia Zoo was planned; Baltimore happened.

The growth of early zoos during that time really came down to luck and the personalities that were involved. John Garrett, the guy Garrett County’s named after, he was an enormous supporter of the zoo. He had a lot of plans and ambition and drive for this place, and then, unfortunately, he passed away. And things kind of went on freeze for a while, and then we picked up again when you had another philanthropist who was interested in it.

What really made the zoo finally begin its growth in the 1920s — after the first third of its existence has gone by — is when the city finally did say, “OK, we’re going to sort of open up the zoo to the support of the citizens, and if the people of Baltimore want to get together and bring lions to the zoo, then that is something that we are OK with.” And sure enough, as soon as that happened, the zoo got its first lion, first tiger, polar bears and, after a bit of a hullabaloo, first elephant.

Part of refining the zoo was getting a director in 1948. Arthur Watson was the first and, to this day, the longest-serving director. What would you say is the mark of his tenure?

He was really the person who got the community to realize that this zoo could be something special. There’s a quote from somebody shortly before Watson took over as director that basically said, “Baltimore might never have a great zoo, nothing like the National Zoo, but it should at least have something.” And that idea that the city … wasn’t deserving or would never really get a great zoo, I like to think that Arthur Watson was the person who went out to prove that wrong.

I think we went on to prove that right and in directions he probably was not thinking about. What really defines our successes now is how much we’re meeting our goals of educating the public, making a meaningful contribution to conservation and ensuring the welfare of the animals that live here at the zoo. In those ways, I say our zoo really punches above its weight.

When would you say the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore became a hub for conservation and research? When Baltimore hosted the first symposium on lion-tailed macaques?

If Watson was the one who brought the focus on community involvement, then Brian Rutledge, the director in the ‘80s, was the person who really brought that interest in scientific research and conservation and the idea that what happens here in the zoo should have an impact to improve the world for wildlife outside of our gates. And he was involved in a lot of projects, but the macaques were a special focus.

You tell the history through some of the animals whose lives were changed and improved by being here at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. What’s one that illustrates the city’s and state’s ownership of and care for the zoo?

The Golden Frogs, in some way, exemplify that, because the Golden Frogs came to the zoo in the early 2000s right before things began to get kind of rough for a period of time. Obviously, it was a period where the zoo downsized a considerable amount.

It’s something that speaks to the zoo’s commitment, to its ideals, but also to the fact that the city and other funding agencies were willing to keep supporting the zoo. During all of this, the Golden Frog project continued.

This was something that the zoo knew was important. And no matter what, they resolved to commit to having this project and keeping it going because, if the zoo was not there for golden frogs, then we could very well have been looking at a world where there would be no golden frogs.

It seems like the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore went through its own “Y2K crisis” in the early 2000s. How many animals did you guys end up giving away?

We’re talking hundreds, because we’re talking the entire Reptile House at that point. Pretty much that stretch of exhibits that’s over there, from where Red Panda is now to where Prairie Dog is now, those animals, largely all, were sent to other facilities. A good portion of our bird collection was phased out. So, it was a dramatic scale-down accompanied by a reduction in staff.

There have been different times throughout the zoo’s history when there’s been talk of shutting down, but it was really serious at this point.

That was a pretty dire time. The zoo was looking bankruptcy in the face.

How are you guys still here?

The people of Maryland decided that their zoo was worth saving. That helped secure support from the state, from the city, from surrounding municipalities.

It helped light the fire under folks, going, “Hey, you know, I remember going to the zoo with my kids when they were younger” or “I remember going to the zoo, and it would be such a tragedy if we lost that experience.” It helped bring the community out.

We really started putting a focus on ensuring the zoo’s financial stability. There were tough decisions that had to get made. The Red Panda exhibit is the first step of the first master plan the zoo has had in 20 years. The great thing about projects like this is it also gives the community something to look forward to, something to rally around.

Of the animals the zoo has had over 150 years, which best personify the zoo?

One animal that personifies the zoo to me is Alaska the polar bear. I think she just shows what a difference our zoo can make. We took this animal from what must have been some of the most miserable situations a member of her species could ever have been in — a solitary Arctic animal, jam-packed with seven other polar bears in a tractor trailer traveling across the Caribbean performing tricks.

I took care of Alaska when she arrived at the zoo. … Talking with the keepers who helped with her transition to the zoo, watching her swim for the first time in who knows how many years or seeing snowfall, hearing people say that if they’d ever seen a bear smile, that was that bear. That is the kind of force for good that the zoo could be.