More than 30 employees at the Zoological Gardens in London (London Zoo) left behind their charges to join up in the early months of the war. In March 1915, The Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic News featured this picture, showing a zookeeper in khaki, returning to his place of work while on leave to visit the seals, and to feed them some fish in what would be a rather charming publicity photograph.
The lack of male zookeepers was rectified by the arrival of women to help out, the first being a Miss Saunders, who was featured in The Queen magazine in April the following year holding a somewhat recalcitrant chicken. Always meticulously observant when it came to fashion reporting, the magazine was careful to describe Miss Saunders' olive green linen overall which was worn with a fetching hat of 'silver grey straw.'
Elsewhere, some of the animals were used for propaganda purposes. This obliging tortoise, fittingly named Methusaleh, used his shell to advertise the need for more shells (of a different kind), with a message which read, 'We can't do without our shells; but they will serve to remind you that there are others - which your country needs.' http://www.maryevans.com/lb.php?ref=21822
Luci Gosling
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