Sydney Living Museums How to Move a Zoo

So, how exactly do you move a zoo? More than a hundred years ago, 904 animals journeyed through Sydney to their new home across the harbour. Fascinated by this astonishing historical titbit, Sydney Living Museums set out to reimagine this peculiar procession and capture the hearts of a new audience.

Entering the space, a life-sized model of Jessie, the Elephant, instantly commands your attention. Taking in her sheer scale, you ponder the reality of moving her through the CBD and across the harbour without so much as a truck – or even a bridge! A remarkable feat. Turning the corner, a series of iPads invites you to create and customise your very own zoo animal.

Wrapping the room, a roof-to-floor projection wall paints a living picture of Sydney’s past. Starting with the former Zoo in Moore Park, commissioned illustrations map out the route that Jessie the Elephant may have taken on her journey to the revolutionary open enclosures of Taronga. Then, adding your animal to the procession, you watch as curious creatures, great and small, leave their cages to travel through the terraced houses and shops of Darlinghurst. Passing paperboys and milk carts, the animals move through the Domain and enter the city, where many old and familiar buildings come into view. Finally, leaving behind the bustling streets for the iconic shores of Sydney Harbour, the motley crew swims through the waves towards the tall Taronga gates in the centre of the room.