When Lake Macquarie Had Lions, Bears and Monkeys
Hunter Photo Bank, Newcastle Libraries
Today, it might be hard to imagine, but for much of the 1940s, 50s and 60s, Lake Macquarie was home to several private zoos.
At a time when overseas travel was out of reach for most Australians, these attractions gave local families the rare opportunity to see lions, monkeys, bears and other exotic animals without leaving the Hunter.
Hunter Photo Bank, Newcastle Libraries
The best known was Carey Bay Zoo, which opened in the mid-1940s. What began as a modest private collection steadily expanded into one of the region's most popular family attractions. Visitors could see everything from monkeys, lions and bears to native Australian wildlife and hundreds of birds, while children were entertained by a small funfair.
By 1954, the Sydney Morning Herald described Carey Bay Zoo as Australia's largest private zoo, occupying five acres and housing more than 2,000 animals. Its popularity was such that weekend and holiday crowds regularly reached around 2,000 visitors, with special trains and buses bringing families from across Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and beyond.
Carey Bay was not the only zoo around the lake. Stony Creek Zoo at Blackalls Park also became a well-known attraction during the post-war years, while an earlier and much shorter-lived native animal zoo operated on Pulbah Island during the 1920s.
These privately operated collections reflected a broader post-war trend, when small family-run zoos appeared across suburban Australia. Safety standards were very different to those expected today, and visitors often found themselves remarkably close to dangerous animals.
That occasionally led to accidents.
In 1953, the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate reported that a young boy had been bitten by a monkey while visiting Carey Bay Zoo. The following year, the zoo made headlines again when a grizzly bear bit off part of a man's finger after he reached into its enclosure.
Despite the seriousness of the incident, one zoo employee reportedly offered a matter-of-fact explanation:
"The bear is tame, but it does like peanuts."
The bear's owner was later charged under animal management regulations, with the matter proceeding through the courts in 1954.
Although enormously popular through the 1950s, maintaining large collections of exotic animals was expensive. By the late 1960s, changing public expectations, rising operating costs and declining profitability saw Lake Macquarie's private zoos gradually disappear.
Today, little remains to suggest that lions roared, monkeys chattered and bears once lived beside the shores of Lake Macquarie.
Yet for thousands of local families, a trip to Carey Bay Zoo or Stoney Creek Zoo remains one of the defining childhood memories of growing up around the lake.
Further reading: https://history.lakemac.com.au/narrative/4748
References
104_003092, Newcastle Morning Herald (1954). Girl and wombat on a bicycle, Carey Bay Zoo. Via Hunter Photo Bank, Newcastle Libraries.
096_000001, Newcastle Morning Herald. Via Hunter Photo Bank, Newcastle Libraries.
104_003093, Newcastle Morning Herald. Via Hunter Photo Bank, Newcastle Libraries.
Private Zoo Makes Toronto Boom Town. (1954, December 14). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842–1954), p. 2.
Finger Bitten by Grizzly Bear. (1954, May 18). Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW: 1888–1954), p. 4.
Grizzly Bear Bites Off Man's Finger. (1954, May 17). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842–1954), p. 4.
Judge's Decision Reserved. (1954, September 17). The Newcastle Sun (NSW: 1918–1954), p. 2.
Lake Mac Libraries. History Lake Mac.https://history.lakemac.com.au/
