Do You Remember When Buffalos And Monkeys Roamed New London?

This past Thursday, I got into a late night Facebook chat with a great friend of mine, that lasted almost until midnight, (quite a while past my bedtime).  I wanted to find out where the animal shelter in New London was, since at that time I was not even aware that we had one.  I knew of the one in Waterford, but did not know there was also one in NL. 

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"It is in Bates Woods", she tells me.  Well...being the witty guy I am, and thinking that couldn't possibly be the name of where this place was, I typed back..."Oh really?  Does Norman Bate and his Mom run the shelter?"  To which of course she said no.  She then proceeded to tell me that Bate Woods is actually behind the football field at the High School.  Believing I had all of the information I needed, and was about to sign off, my friend started giving me information that...well...it quickly made me un exhausted, to say the least.

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"There use to be a tent city for the homeless there", she continued.  "Until the police and the city moved them."

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"That was so kind of them!"  I responded.

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Then she hit me with the blockbuster!  "Before that, there was a zoo there!"

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Now when she said that, the first thing that came to my mind was what would be a typical, small  town petting zoo, where a farming family would set apart a small section of their land to allow for families with children to come and pet the animals, such as llamas and sheeps, and even horses.   I mentioned my thoughts to her, to which she responded with, and I directly quote, "It was not a petting zoo at all. We had every kind of ape and monkey. We also had wolves and peacocks!"  Now while this peeked my interest, (because I love zoos, and their counterpart places), what she said next totally angered and disgusted me.  

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"Some teens broke into the zoo and beat some of the animals to death so they closed it."

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Yes, I felt the tears in my eyes, and the rage forming in my very being at that statement.  How could such an incident happened?  I have been trying to find information on the web about that zoo, and about that incident, but apparently it can not be found.  So I have decided to put the question out there for you.  This zoo apparently closed sometime during the '80s.  so I am wondering if any of you, (especially those of you who have been living in NL since the day before Noah's flood), remember this zoo?  Do you have any special memories of this place?  Things such as your favorite exhibits or maybe special days the zoo had?  Or maybe you worked at this zoo, and you can give inside information about its operations?

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I am also interested, very interested in fact, in the event that unfortunately led to the zoo's closing.  What do you remember about that?  What happened to the teens that did it?  I personally hope that the perpertrators rot in hell for doing such unspeakable crimes against defenseless animals, but that is just me.

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And just to add a little fun to this conversation, I would like to know, that if it was possible to do, would you like to see a zoo be opened up again in NL?  (I know with the city's current situation, it would not be possible at all!!!)  Are there other things from NL's history you would not mind seeing revived and reopened again?  How about taking a little trip down memory lane?