For our quiz today, we're looking for a city whose zoo is celebrating its 75th anniversary. The answer is the Belfast Zoo in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
There are few people still around who remember the zoo's early days back in the 1930's and 40's. Zookeeper Mark Challis is trying to reconstruct some of the dramatic moments from the zoo's early history. He's trying to solve a mystery that goes back to 1941, and that involves an elephant named Sheila. Listen to our interview:
From the Belfast Zoo website:
The zoo has many unusual stories from its 75 year history but perhaps this could be the most curious. To mark our birthday, we are looking for our ‘elephant angel', a mystery woman who looked after a baby elephant during World War II.
In 1941, many of the animals in the zoo were killed because of public safety fears during the Belfast Blitz. The Ministry of Public Security ordered that 33 zoo animals be killed in case they escaped from the zoo during the air raids. They included a hyena, six wolves, a puma, a tiger, a black bear, two polar bears and a lynx.
But Sheila, a baby elephant, was protected and taken to the home of the unknown ‘elephant angel' who looked after Sheila in her back garden. It is believed she was local to North Belfast but her identity remains a mystery.
If you have any information that might help us find the family of this remarkable lady, email.