Aardvark at the Underground Zoo

1965

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Aardvark at the Underground Zoo
  • Title
  • Aardvark at the Underground Zoo
  • Creator
  • Associated Photographers
  • Identifier
  • MSP285.B018.F22.I03
  • Description
  • Caption on the back of the photograph reads, “One of the most peculiar animals in Pittsburgh’s Underground Zoo is the aardvark, an ant eater from Africa, shown here as the visitor will see him through the observation window of his burrow.” Pittsburgh’s Underground Zoo first opened to the public in June 1962. Built principally with funds provided by the Sarah Mellon Scaife Foundation, it was the largest of its kind in the world. The idea behind the zoo was to display the burrowing animals such as beavers, aardvarks, and wolverines in their natural settings. Most of these are nocturnal animals that sleep during the day and prowl and feed at night. To view them, visitors to the cave-like building simply pushed buttons that lit the exhibits. The aardvark, as seen in the photograph, is sometimes known as an anteater and sometimes is called an “earth pig.”
  • Subject
  • Highland Park Zoo (Pittsburgh, Pa.).Underground Zoo.
    Aardvarks--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh.
    Zoos--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh.
  • Contributor
  • Detre Library & Archives, Heinz History Center
  • Collection
  • Allegheny Conference on Community Development Photographs
  • Rights Information
  • The copyright and related rights status of this Item has been reviewed by the organization that has made the Item available, but the organization was unable to make a conclusive determination as to the copyright status of the Item. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use.
    http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/