The Star: September 23, 2021

The Star Thursday September 23 2021
8
NEWS
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Escapades and early morning roars –
Reporter Sonia Yee
talks to those who
remember the North
Beach Zoo
ROARING SOUNDS of Suzy
the lion would wake up residents
in an otherwise quiet suburb.
The mini zoo known as North
Beach Zoo was situated at 153
Beach Rd. A former aquarium,
it was re-imagined by Bill Grey
who bought it in the late fifties.
“It had a very special place in
my heart,” said Wellingtonbased
Aaron Alexander.
Alexander visited the mini zoo
many times with his grandmother
who lived in the area. And to
this day, the crocodile in a glass
case near the entrance, remains
firmly in his memory.
“As a little kid I wouldn’t
want to get any closer . . . it was
a beautiful mix of terror and
excitement,” he said.
The zoo was established before
Orana Wildlife Park, which
didn’t open its doors until the
mid-seventies. So for many
visitors, the mini zoo provided
an opportunity to see large, wild
animals up close and personal.
But what also made this zoo
peculiar is that it was small – a
stone’s throw from the beach
and across the road from a golf
course, it was also surrounded by
TAMED: Zoo owner Bill Grey, with Suzy the lion, and Hank the monkey, which Grey raised by hand.
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF MILES DALTON AND ELEANOR MORGAN ​
residential properties.
“It wasn’t really aimed as a big
money making venture,” said
Miles Dalton who worked there
part-time as a student.
Dalton says the entrance fee
for visitors was around $3 for
adults, and half that again, for
kids.
During the summer months
it was bustling with families
and tourists, and visitors could
buy cups of food to feed to the
smaller animals. Although it
seemed like an odd location for a
zoo, it was established before the
area became residential.
“There was a point where Bill
used to take the lion for walks on
the beach,” said Dalton.
“But then it got too populated,
so he couldn’t do that.”
Dalton referred to owner Bill
Grey as a “hard worker and a
lovely man who really cared for
the animals,” some of which had
been acquired not by choice,
but because previous owners
had mistreated them, and the
animals had shown signs
of neglect.
Grey had told Dalton of the
tiger who had come from a
circus with a burn on its nose.
When the circus owner came
back to collect her, the tiger was
growling with its back up against
the wall. From that moment,
Grey refused to release the
animal to its owner.
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