Belfast Zoo
The Belfast Zoo was first opened on March 28, 1934 by Sir Crawford McCullough and spanned about 12 acres. Its first animals arrived by boat and close to 300,000 people visited the zoo in its first year.
By the time WWII rolled around, the zoo was off to a great start. But, the war severely affected it. On April 19, 1941, a few days after a German bombing raid on Belfast, the Ministry of Public Security ordered that 33 dangerous animals be killed. A total of 33 animals were killed including one hyena, six wolves, one puma, one tiger, one black bear, two polar bears and one lynx. The zoo's elephants were not killed. In fact, one elephant calf, Sheila, was rescued by an elderly lady (pictured above) and was cared for on nearby Whitewell street throughout the war. Many searches have been conducted to find out more about the "Elephant Angel" as she is called by locals, but to no avail. Even though more information cannot be found about her, she still did wonderful things for the elephant that would surely have been killed without her.
By the time WWII rolled around, the zoo was off to a great start. But, the war severely affected it. On April 19, 1941, a few days after a German bombing raid on Belfast, the Ministry of Public Security ordered that 33 dangerous animals be killed. A total of 33 animals were killed including one hyena, six wolves, one puma, one tiger, one black bear, two polar bears and one lynx. The zoo's elephants were not killed. In fact, one elephant calf, Sheila, was rescued by an elderly lady (pictured above) and was cared for on nearby Whitewell street throughout the war. Many searches have been conducted to find out more about the "Elephant Angel" as she is called by locals, but to no avail. Even though more information cannot be found about her, she still did wonderful things for the elephant that would surely have been killed without her.