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Story: Zoos and aquariums

Lion cage, around 1910

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Lion cage, around 1910

Until the 1980s, most animals were kept in small, concrete enclosures. This cage at Wellington Zoo, which housed two lions, was typical of those in Wellington and Auckland zoos for much of the 20th century.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, Sydney Charles Smith Collection (PA-Group-00242)

Reference: 1/4-020037; G

by Sydney Charles Smith

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Maggy Wassilieff, Zoos and aquariums – Modernising zoos, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/18439/lion-cage-around-1910 (accessed 15 June 2026).

Story by Maggy Wassilieff, published 1 March 2009.