London Zoo, 1928

Published on Wednesday, May 1st, 2024

In 1928, when he was 6 years old, Dick was taken to London Zoo by his parents.

He drew some pictures of the animals he saw there, including Ranji the tigon (a tiger crossed with a lion), Cleopatra the python, Sam the black-maned lion and Peter Pan the baby alligator.

He also drew this rather fetching picture of a tiger (top of the page), which had been given to the zoo by Prince Ranjitsinhji – an Indian cricketer who was one of the finest batsmen of all time, and later became ruler of the Indian Princely State of Nawangar from 1907 to 1933.

London Zoo opened to the public in 1828, exactly 100 years before Dick visited!

It is quite clear that he had a great interest in animals from a young age, and this interest went on to inspire him to write many stories for children, much later in his life!

You can see some more of the pictures Dick drew below, and a picture of Prince Ranjitsinhji…