Archive for the ‘Reptile Gardens history’ Category

Reptile Gardens…or United Nations?

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

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Many people do not know that the Black Hills was one of the top finalists in the search for a location for the United Nations.

The beginnings of what was to become the United Nations were set in motion back in 1941. By 1942 the term United Nations, coined by Franklin Roosevelt, was first used. Over the next few years the UN Charter was created and ratified and a search was begun for a place to house this new international organization.

Many locales vied for the UN complex. In the end, the final 5 contenders were: a location in Queens, New York, two locations (more…)

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Mac the Scarlet Macaw

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

Mac the Scarlet Macaw posing for one of his many portraits

On Wednesday, 10 March, we lost one of the very few living creatures that has been at Reptile Gardens longer than even us long-timers, Mac our Scarlet Macaw.

Like most parrots in the days before wildlife laws and captive breeding, Mac was captured in the wild, in South America. He was brought to the US in the early 1950’s and arrived here at Reptile Gardens as a large adult bird in 1956. We estimate his age at the time of his death to have been over 70 years.  He was a huge, brightly-colored bird loaded with personality. In fact in regards to his size, many parrot breeders and bird fanciers remarked that he was the largest scarlet macaw they had ever seen.

Mac achieved legendary status here at the Gardens once we moved (more…)

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HOW TO CARE FOR A DEAD TREE

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

This week I am posting a column written 44 years ago by long-time Reptile Gardens General Manager, Jim Campbell. In 1965, Reptile Gardens ran a series of newspaper columns in celebration of the move to our new location on Highway 16. For our first 28 years we had been closer to town but  were forced to move when the highway was widened and moved.

Safari Room in 1965

Right smack in the center of the giant dome at the new Reptile Gardens there is a huge, gnarled pine tree, some forty feet high.  And lots of it is underground to keep it from falling over.

Cavorting, or resting, in the tree are lizards, monkeys, snakes, and hundreds of beautiful birds from all over the world. [Over the years we tried a lot of different animals in the Safari Room, including monkeys, muntjacs, wallabies, giant fruit bats, and, free roaming iguanas and snakes. Some worked and many did not. JM]

Several times daily someone asks casually, “Where did the tree come from, was it already here?”  When we tell them “No, we had to move it in,” it is always with the feeling that if they really knew the whole story they might be less casual about it. (more…)

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