Dark Tour of Adelaide

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Adelaide Zoo is Australia's second oldest zoo (after Melbourne Zoo), and it is operated on a non-profit basis. It is located in the parklands just north of the city centre of Adelaide, South Australia.

Five buildings within the zoo have been listed as state heritage places on the South Australian Heritage Register, including the front entrance on Frome Road and the former Elephant House. The zoo is also a Botanical Garden and the grounds contain significant exotic and native flora, including a Moreton Bay fig planted in 1877.

Not only is the Adelaide Zoo one of South Australia’s most beloved tourist attractions, but it is also an important institution for local education and the conservation of wildlife, despite having a history as darkly interesting as the animals it still houses.

Over the years a few paranormal stories have emerged from Adelaide Zoo. One of the areas of the zoo where such stories have emanated is the Minchin House. This was a place where the original directors of the zoo and their families lived and it seems that some members of the Minchin family may still be present at the home.



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The Adelaide Zoo was officially opened on 23rd May 1883, after much debate and concerns of animals being so near the city. The first Director was an Irish gentleman called Richard Minchin who had no zoo training, but what he did have was a clever mind and a good eye. On Richard’s demise in Mount Barker (1893), the victim of a virus caught whilst on a journey to the Far East, his successor was his second son Alfred. 

Alfred Minchin gained zoological knowledge at the Melbourne Zoo and was twice honorary director of the South Australian Zoological and Acclimatization Society. He became honorary assistant director in 1891 and, succeeding his father, director of the Adelaide Zoological Gardens from 1893 until his death.

He had married Florence Euphemia Scammell on 9 October 1888. They lived happily with their daughter and two sons in the stately director's residence. A tall, imposing man, Minchin 'held court' on Sunday mornings at the zoo where the lemurs were his favourites. He was a member of the Adelaide Club. He died on 20 September 1934 at the residence and was buried in North Road cemetery Adelaide.


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His second son Ronald Richard Luther (1904-1940) was born on 26 February 1904 at the zoo and was educated at the Collegiate School of St Peter. In 1923 he joined the zoo's staff. In 1929, as assistant director, he bought new species from Java and Singapore, and from New Zealand in 1933. He was director from 1935. Ron, whose hobby was bird watching, was an aviculturist, specializing in Australian parrots and breeding rare types, particularly seven members of the genus Neophema. New aviaries were built, attendances increased, and in 1938 the society became the Royal Zoological Society of South Australia.

Ron had married Elizabeth Margaret Ashwin on 21 October 1936; they had one son. Quiet and unobtrusively efficient, he had a distinctive sense of humour. He died of cancer on 4 February 1940 at Adelaide, South Australia, he was only 36 years old. His wife scattered his ashes before the parrots cages.



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Alfred Keith (1899-1963), Alfred Minchin's elder son, was born on 24 May 1899 at the zoo and was also educated at the Collegiate School of St Peter. In South Africa and Britain in 1924-25 he collected animals for the Adelaide zoo. He opened a snake park in the north parklands in 1929 with about 200 species. Two years later he was crippled by poliomyelitis, having to use crutches and, later, a wheel-chair.

But in 1936 he expanded, and introduced koala bears; his notes, 'Weaning of young koalas', were published in 1937. He released surplus koalas onto his land on Kangaroo Island. His Koala Farm closed in 1960; council inspections had criticized the stables and enclosures. He also ran an aquarium off the Glenelg jetty, 'the best bob's worth on or off the beach'. By 1942, however, the Glenelg Council deplored the aquarium's disgraceful state; it was destroyed in 1948.

Keith was controversial, some found him dominating, argumentative and over-fond of publicity; to others he was jovial, one of Adelaide's characters. Despite his disability he was an adventurous photographer. Although vice-president of the zoological society from 1935, he rarely attended meetings. Unmarried, he died on 1 August 1963 at Gilberton, South Australia, and was buried near his father.



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Today, the Minchin House is used as office space and at least one staff member has reported to sight a woman in Victorian-style clothing at the top of the stairs. In addition to this, footsteps have been heard in the empty house, a lock is known to rattle on its own accord and an EVP of a child’s voice has been captured on the former home’s staircase.

Steve from Adelaide Zoo says how much of a sceptic he was but, there was this one time. He continued to tell about his experience in Minchin House which was built between 1887/88 and used by the Directors as living quarters until 1970. It is now used for Admin. He arrived to work early one winters morning and as he entered Minchin House, he heard a bang from upstairs. 

Curious as to what it was, Steve hurried upstairs only to find a lady standing at the top on the landing. He described her as wearing a long white dress, with her hair pulled back. She quickly vanished. He pointed to the lady in the photo here and said, although he couldn’t be sure it was her, the dress was very similar but she wasn’t wearing a hat. Over time she has also been witnessed by other employees of the Adelaide Zoo.

Was the alleged ghost dressed in Victorian-style clothing Florence Euphemia Scammell Minchin?

Are other members of the Minchin family still present at the home, walking around and checking the locks?

Surprisingly, another area of the zoo where activity has been documented is its Nocturnal House.
This unsuspecting place is said to be haunted by a mystery figure who many have seen and even mistaken for a keeper tending to the animals. In addition to these sightings, disembodied footsteps and doors slamming in the area have also been reported.



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[KANACKI]

Hello Headless thank you for another fascinating post.

Kanacki

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You’re welcome KANACKI

A paranormal experience in the Nocturnal House

This dark environment was made even creepier due to the fact that we had to keep very quiet indeed as we didn’t want to disturb the animals behind the doors. As we entered, we all heard loud noises coming from one end of the service area. No one was there and the animals in the exhibits on the other side of the wall were only small, such as hopping mice and bilbies. Footsteps were heard and a cat ball started to flash for no apparent reason.

During an EVP burst, a question was asked if Samuel, the keeper who lost his life at Adelaide Zoo, was there and, if so, did he want to talk to us?  

The cat ball and EDI (Environmental Detection Instrument) began to flash seemingly in response. During an Estes Experiment with Alison and Dylan using different ghost boxes, they both came out with similar meaning words at the same time. Alison said “you make it sound scary”, whilst Dylan said, “it was frightening!”  It happened again but with a medical theme this time. Very interesting to listen to indeed.

Hearing a loud bang, Alison went down the opposite end of the tunnel by herself and, unbeknown to her, we asked if someone could touch her on the head. Shortly after Alison turned to find a dark shadowy figure standing next to them before disappearing, making her jump back, knocking a cat ball flying. Again, we were only there for a short time, but what a great experience. So much activity experienced.

Could it be the keeper who met with a tragic accident when hosing the polar bears? 



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DEATH OF THE KEEPER

ADELAIDE, February 16, 1920.— The unfortunate keeper at the Adelaide Zoological Gardens, Samuel May, who had his arm torn off by a Polar bear on Sunday morning, died at the Adelaide Hospital today. He was 65 years of age, and the shock of the terrible occurrence proved too much for him.

The Director of the Gardens (Mr Minchin) stated today that he heard a fearful cry, and ran to where May was watering the bears cage. As he approached, May said "It is all up with me, I am gone. This is going to be the end of me." The arm was so lacerated that it was impossible to tie it up. The missing member could not be found, and the bear must have eaten it. May had met with a previous accident at the Zoo, having had his heel clawed by a Sun Bear when he was getting out of a pit.

The Director added that Polar bears were always bad-tempered, and were the most treacherous animals in the gardens. "They will put out their paws sideways," he said, "and make a slap at you. If you are watering from one end, they will watch you, and slide along towards you as quick as lightning. You know where you are with lions and tigers, but these fellows will take a biscuit out of your hand one day, and put their paw out next."

Perhaps it’s another keeper who loved his work so much, he has returned?



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BROWN BEAR ATTACKS HIS KEEPER

ADELAIDE, January 22, 1902.— The most exciting and lamentable incident recorded in the history of the Zoological Gardens happened this morning. One of the keepers, R. H. Doricott, was engaged in the routine work of feeding the animals and cleaning the cages, and in the course of attending to a huge Indian brown bear, the largest in the establishment, he received injuries which may probably prove fatal.

The cage of the animal is divided into two compartments, divided by a portcullis door regulated by a pulley and chain, which goes up through the top of the cage and the weight hangs over the back. Doricott, as usual, hauled the door up from the rear, and, taking it for granted that Bruno would, as his custom was, remove himself to the rear apartment, immediately on hearing the rattle of the chains, let the door down again. Walking around to the front of the cage he stooped down and commenced to crawl into it via a little door in the corner. No sooner had Doricott got his body through the opening than the bear, which had remained in that compartment, hugged him.

His cries attracted Director Minchin to the spot, who realised at once that there was no hope of combating the bear, so he secured a gun and shot the animal dead over the man's body. Doricott was immediately removed to the hospital, where his scalp was found to be badly torn, his arms and body badly injured, and his leg to have the muscle torn out about an inch deep. He was operated on in the morning and seemed to be in a very low state.

Doricott admitted that the accident was owing to his own mistake. The animal had been at the Zoological Gardens about fifteen years, and had been looked upon as being particularly vicious. The death of the bear means a loss to the Society of about £50 or £60.

The mauled keeper, though the loser of an amputated arm, recovered in hospital, and for four years after, continued his work as a member of the Gardens Staff. The bear finds itself stuffed and placed on display in the Museum of South Australia where it remains today.

Two possible keepers of the alleged hauntings, I’ll let you decide.



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Adelaide Zoo is to keep its century-old wrought iron main gates on which a teenager was fatally impaled.
The body of 18-year-old Tim Cain was found on the pavement outside the zoo's main entrance early on Saturday morning, June 2005. It is believed he was trying to climb over the gate when he slipped and became impaled on its metal spikes, spearing his groin and rupturing an artery.

Police believed Mr Cain, from suburban Medindie, had earlier broken into an ice-cream vending machine inside the zoo and was trying to escape with another person when he fell. Two icecream wrappers were found discarded near the vending machine but no other damage was reported.

Zoo director Mark Craig said the management had been discussing a security upgrade for some time, but the heritage-listed gates would remain. The gates have been there since the zoo opened in 1883.

"That (the zoo's front entry) is one of the most lit-up areas of the zoo and we've got no plans to replace any of the heritage wrought-iron gates," Mr Craig said. “They've been there for 122 years and this has never happened before."

Mr Craig said staff had been extremely distressed by the incident, particularly the gatekeepers.
Several staff had been unable to return to work and all were offered counselling.

The zoo has been subject to a string of bizarre break-ins in recent years. 16 guinea pigs were attacked and killed by a zoo intruder in 2002 and 10 years ago, 64 animals were slaughtered in a bloody rampage carried out by two men who broke into the zoo kiosk.



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ZOO ANIMALS SLAUGHTERED

ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) _ Shocked keepers at the children’s zoo this morning found the carcasses of 64 animals, including kangaroos, sheep and a crocodile, that had been hacked to death during the night, police said.

Police Detective Sgt. Jeff Lawrence said the attackers appeared to have climbed into the children’s section of the Adelaide zoo over a wooden fence and slaughtered the animals, more like pets to staff and the thousands of children who visited them.

″As a police officer you can accept a murder scene, but to see innocent animals in a children’s zoo slaughtered ... One’s got to wonder what type of person this is,″ he said.

Police said they were sure the killings were carried out by more than one person because several people would have been required to hold down some of the larger animals while they were being killed.

″The sheep were disembowelled, the majority of the animals had their throats cut or were stabbed near the
heart,″ he said.

An antelope, a llama, kangaroos and sheep were among the larger animals attacked in the slaughter which extended indiscriminately to guinea pigs, rabbits and chickens inside a children’s playhouse. In one section, a crocodile was beaten over the head with an iron bar, dragged over a low railing and disembowelled. In another enclosure, kangaroos had had their throats slashed.

″Most of them were tame and would come up to you, and consequently were very easy to catch,″ said zoo director Robert baker as zoo staff and police inspected the scene.

Baker said the killings would have taken some time because of the large number of animals attacked. ″It was the way in which it was done that was so terrible, it was obviously premeditated,″ he said. ″They just went from one enclosure to the next killing. All the staff are extremely distressed and angry.″

Also back in the depression era between 1929 and 1939, when destitute people lived on the banks of the River Torrens. Their tents are set up behind the zoo's northern boundary from where some are employed as keepers and given keys to the zoo. But food is scarce and hungry men are tempted by the many birds and fowl inside. Men enter the zoo at night, choose a suitably plump bird from the pheasantry, take it back to the Torrens, pluck it, gut it and cook it.



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We exit the zoo to the adjoining Botanic Park and Botanical Gardens.

Whilst the Adelaide Botanic Gardens may hold some very interesting secrets, it is a wonderfull place to visit and enjoy, although maybe as the sun goes down, the hairs on the back of your neck may start to tingle.

It is said that years ago you could see the fleeting glimpses of black and white objects skulking amongst the various bushes and shrubs. When approached they would disappear, vanishing without a trace. Some would swear they looked like the apparition of a dog.

Many years ago, the gardens had a problem with stray dogs on the grounds. One of the grounds keepers was tasked with the job of getting rid of this problem. What he did is quite questionable indeed. He would either bait or shoot the animals, and as for the disposal of their bodies? He would just dump them under one of the bridges.

Is there any historical evidence to this story?



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[KANACKI]

Amazing history.

Kanacki

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In 1868, Benjamin Ellis was a local dog catcher employed by the Corporation of Adelaide (Adelaide Council).
He was given carte blanche to shoot any unlicensed dog he found in the city boundaries and dispose of them as he saw fit.

Either lacking a good burial site or just being plain lazy, Mr Ellis decided it was perfectly fine to dispose of the dead dog bodies under a bridge in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens.

The little bridge, which crossed a little creek, was near the rear entrance of the gardens and was often used by the public. The smell was overwhelming, and complaints began to come into the main office of the Botanic Gardens. Doctor Schomburgk inspected the bridge and counted 13 dead dogs – he quickly wrote a letter of disgust to Mr Ellis – and the dead dogs soon ceased to be left in the gardens.

The following story was printed in Adelaide Observer, April 11th 1868;

From Dr Schomburgk, stating that the person employed by the Corporation for killing dogs threw the carcases in the creek below the Botanic Garden, I and requesting that the nuisance might be removed.

In reply, Benjamin Ellis wrote, admitting that some dogs had been thrown there, but that since the complaint he had removed them.

His Worship said the Act distinctly required that the carcases should be buried. Mr. Sundry considered that Mr. Ellis was deserving of severe censure; but he apprehended he was employed by the Registrar of Dogs.

The Town Clerk, in reply to Mr. Bundey, said the man had received fees for the dogs upon making declaration that they were buried.

Mr Bundey considered certainly some steps should be taken, and if the thing was brought before the Council again he would see that steps were taken to prosecute the party for obtaining money under false pretences.

His Worship pointed out that according to the Act the fee was only to be paid on a declaration being made such as to satisfy a Justice of the Peace. Then, if the man committed perjury, he could be prosecuted. The Council resolved that no fees be paid without a certificate from a Justice of the Peace.


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Adelaide Botanic Gardens in the heart of the city has over 2 million people pass through its gates every year.
It is a state icon that not only filled with plants but also a interesting history.

The Gardens once were the home of the Adelaide Lunatic Asylum, a grand building which once occupied the elevated site close to the corner of North Terrace and Hackney Road. Opened in 1852 it housed many patients requiring mental health care, including children. Although opulent from the exterior, this building was anything but a palace, rather and austere and functional structure which reflected the level of mental health care rendered in those times.

In 1862, this asylum too was stretched to breaking point, with more patients than it could accomodate (some having to sleep in beds in the corridoors) and in the mid 1880's construction began on the larger 'Parkside Lunatic Asylum' (Glenside hospital today).

Meanwhile Adelaide Lunatic Asylum continued operation, but the number of patient deaths made a dead house or morgue necessary. In 1882 The South Australian Register announced that a tender to build the new asylum dead house had been accepted.

The morgue was built from Yatala stone, probably quarried by prisoners from stone along the Dry Creek Linear Park It was a simple rectangular building with white rendered internal walls with timber roof supports and a galvanised iron roof. Windows and ventilators provide the air flow that would have been essential during autopsies, while a slate floor is canted to a central drain. On the left of the door a long stone slab has a trough where a body can exsanguinate. The room is a similar size to the morgue at Torrens Island Quarantine Station which was constructed 30 years later.

The former Adelaide Lunatic Asylum Morgue is one of only a few buildings from the original asylum to survive today. Situated not far from the ultra modern Bicentennial Conservatory, the original morgue table was reputedly used in the 1980's by gardeners as a table for potting plants, but these days the building is only used as a storage shed.

Adelaide Asylum remained in operation until 1902, when all patients were moved to the Parkside Lunatic Asylum. The building was taken over by the Adelaide Hospital and became an infectious diseases ward. The building was demolished in 1938, its grounds made part of the Botanic Gardens.

So many of these souls lives were lived within the walls and grounds of the asylum. Lives that ended in torment and isolation. But while there mortal bodies are no longer present, there is an air of spookiness which begs the question – are their souls still around?

There’s also other deaths connected to the Botanical Gardens.



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