Qualla: Dublin Zoo

Dublin Zoo: Introduction

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ridiculopathy, CC0. On a Tuesday afternoon in May 1830, a group of physicians, naturalists and Royal Dublin Society members met in the Rotunda Hospital to found a zoological garden. They had no animals yet. London Zoo, founded two years earlier, donated their first specimens; the Tower of London's Royal Menagerie, then in its final years, sent more. The Royal Zoological Society of Ireland opened its gates in Phoenix Park the following year and never closed them. Almost two centuries on, Dublin Zoo is the world's third-oldest scientific zoo, the third-most-visited tourist attraction in Ireland, and home to about 400 animals across 100 species. The original 1833 thatched gatehouse, built for thirty pounds, still stands just to the right of the modern entrance.

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Image: Ridiculopathy | CC0

Dublin Zoo: The Penny Sunday

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit D., CC BY-SA 4.0. From the start the zoo made one choice that distinguished it from its English cousins: on Sundays, the entrance fee dropped from one shilling to one penny. London charged the same prices to everyone, which meant in practice that the working class did not come. Dublin's penny Sund...

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Image: D. | CC BY-SA 4.0

Dublin Zoo: The Rising and the Lions

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit self, Public domain. Easter Week 1916 found Dublin in chaos. The Rising's volunteers seized the General Post Office and a string of other strongholds, the British Army shelled the city centre, and food deliveries to Phoenix Park stopped. A young keeper named Jack Flood -- son of the long-serving Chri...

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Image: self | Public domain

Dublin Zoo: Almost Closed

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Bonovox84 at Italian Wikipedia, Public domain. By the late 1980s Dublin Zoo was nearly bankrupt. Visitor numbers had fallen, animal welfare standards had slipped behind the rest of Europe, and the protests of former keeper Brendan Price were forcing uncomfortable questions about cramped enclosures and outdated cages. Dublin C...

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Image: Bonovox84 at Italian Wikipedia | Public domain

Dublin Zoo: Bangui and the Elephants

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Elemaki, CC BY 3.0. The silverback gorilla now in residence is named Bangui, after the capital of the Central African Republic; he leads a troop that includes the adult females Kafi and Vana, and the young Asali and Kambiri, born in 2011 and 2019. His predecessor Harry, who died in 2015, sired a gre...

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Image: Elemaki | CC BY 3.0

Dublin Zoo: Conservation as Mission

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Rory Parle (Rparle at English Wikipedia), CC BY-SA 3.0. The zoo's stated mission is to contribute to the conservation of endangered species, and it backs the claim with paperwork. Dublin manages the European Endangered Species Programme studbooks for the golden lion tamarin -- a tiny South American primate brought to within a few hund...

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Image: Rory Parle (Rparle at English Wikipedia) | CC BY-SA 3.0