Belle Isle Zoo - Vance Patrick Historic Photo Collection
Belle Isle
Sheba the elephant arrives on Belle Isle with handler Rex White, right, on June 16, 1923. She was about 4 years old and weighed about a ton.
The Belle Isle Zoo wolf house in February 1956
The new sign for the Belle Isle Zoo on May 28, 1980. The sign was part of rebranding the Belle Isle Children's Zoo as simply the Belle Isle Zoo.
Camels at the Belle Isle Zoo in March 1936
One of the Belle Isle Zoo's camels in November 1934
The Belle Isle Elephant House in January 1955
Nancy Fischera cuts the ribbon formally opening the Belle Isle Children's Zoo on June 30, 1947. The zoo was a gift to the city from the James and Lynelle Holden Fund. Behind her, from left, are Frank G. McInnis, zoo director; Mayor Edward Jeffries; Mr. and Mrs. James Holden, and Barbara Bingham, supervisor in charge of the children's zoo.
Children feed a lamb in May 1966 at the Belle Isle Children's Zoo. The kids are Mary Agnes Curran, left, and Scott William DiGiulio.
Denise Mantle feeds a llama at the Belle Isle Children's Zoo in May 1957.
Brothers Jamie and David (no last name given) at the Children's Zoo in May 1984.
Jim Langhammer, curator at the Belle Isle Zoo, sits in the "Wishing Seat" at the zoo April 3, 1982.
George Bromley, the Detroit Zoo's chief animal keeper, welcomes Kita, a 300-pound infant elephant, to the Belle Isle Children's Zoo on May 20, 1959. She arrived by airplane.
Arthur LeBeau gives Sheba the elephant a scrub in April 1939.
Sheba the elephant in May 1936
Sheba the elephant in July 1956
Sheba the elephant in May 1936
Handler Rex White helps introduce Sheba the elephant to Detroit on June 16, 1923, at the Belle Isle Zoo.
Sheba and trainer Harold Olsen at the Belle Isle Zoo in May 1937
Sheba at the Belle Isle Zoo circa 1930
Jerry Stokes hangs out with Sheba the elephant in July 1949
The monkey island and wolf house at the Belle Isle Zoo in February 1956
Five-year-old J. Abbott with Samu the orangutan in May 1967
Phyllis Warren with her rabbit friend at the Belle Isle Children's Zoo in May 1966
Diane Williams and 5-year-olds Dana Williams and Crystal Hunter feed pigs at the Belle Isle Children's Zoo in July 1978
John Ireland with Sheba the elephant in August 1942
Children's Zoo supervisor Barbara Bingham shows girls with the Felician Sisters a baby pig in May 1948.
Kids at the Belle Isle Children's Zoo in August 1968
Suki the elephant at the Belle Isle Children's Zoo in May 1965
Paul Franklin gives Kita the elephant a bath in August 1959.
Paul Franklin feeds Kita the elephant an apple in August 1959 as his aunt Margaret Taylor looks on.
Creepy. Belle Isle Children's Zoo, May 1972
Pamela Buhler and Eugene Feldman feed a llama in May 1962
The Children's Zoo on Aug. 31, 1947
Lorie Eisenberg feeding a sheep in August 1968
Donna Marie Burdar, Beth Ballard, and Julie Dade feeding their little friends in July 1960
Theron Francis feeding his little friends in May 1970
Seven-year-olds Alain Ciric and Alonzo Starks check out the turkeys at the Belle Isle Children's Zoo in May 1971
Larry LaRue, 7, and Gloria Kleczewski, 7, feed fallow deer at the Belle Isle Children's Zoo in May 1960.
Kita the elephant in August 1961
From left: Michael A. Tomsello, 8; Donald Leonard, 7; and Anna Boatright, 8, feed a pig in May 1964
Charlotte Smith with some fawns in June 1948
Nancy Davis, 7, and Patsy Torrance, 8, feed fawns in August 1947 at the Belle Isle Children's Zoo.
The old bear cages at the Belle Isle Zoo in 1956
A bear at the Belle Isle Zoo in August 1968
Judy Mitchell with lambs at the Belle Isle Children's Zoo in May 1955.
Kids at the Belle Isle Children's Zoo in May 1978
Jason Straweder, 6, gets a smooch from a llama in May 1976.
Leroy Mattic wrangles an African dwarf goat in April 1983.
Kids with llamas at the Belle Isle Children's Zoo in May 1954
Pigs at the Belle Isle Children's Zoo in August 1967
Becky Lieedle, 3, feeds a baby lamb in May 1953.
Workers clean the pool area used by Scimitar-horned oryx at the Belle Isle Zoo in April 1992.
Mayor Coleman A. Young "adopted" a reindeer at the Belle Isle Zoo in June 1983.
A seal at the Belle Isle Zoo in November 1920
John McRae hugs a 2-month-old pony while 4-year-old Thomas Haroutunian in April 1958.
Janet Brack, 8, and sister Karen Brack, 6, visit with a pony before going riding at the Belle Isle Zoo in April 1960.
Four Shetland ponies presented to the City in 1966 by The Detroit News go for their first ride. Mounting their steeds are, from left, Joey Hofer, 4; his brother Ronald, 7; Cathy Celise, 5; and Karen Brown 3.