Zoo exhibition a winner

A new exhibition reimagines a wondrous, long-forgotten moment in Sydney’s history.

Amid the great upheaval of World War I, Sydneysiders were fascinated by the remarkable spectacle of hundreds of animals moving through city streets and across the harbour to their new home on the north shore. 

How to Move a Zoo, which opened at the Museum of Sydney on November 20, tells the story of how a motley group of Sydney’s favourite animals travelled from Moore Park Zoological Gardens to their new purpose-built home at Taronga Zoo in 1916.

From elephants to kangaroos, seals and cockatoos, animals big and small made the majestic journey across Sydney to a new life in one of the world’s most beautiful zoos. 

Visitors to How to Move a Zoo can delight in the sights and sounds of this amazing historical event dubbed at the time a ‘miniature Noah’s Ark’. 

So, why was the zoo moved? What sort of animals were involved? How did zookeepers move Jessie, the elephant known as the “children’s favourite”? How did they build the new zoo?  

Creative storytelling coupled with original archival photography and records answers these questions and more in a playful, thought-provoking interactive exhibition that tells a unique Sydney story. The exhibition features exquisite creative concepts from Grumpy Sailor design studio and specially commissioned illustrations by the acclaimed illustrator Ollie Davis.

Satellite events are also planned for two other Sydney Living Museums properties – Vaucluse House in Sydney’s east and
Elizabeth Farm in the west.