When wolves roamed Oxfordshire (Status: Press release)

A NEW exhibition at Oxfordshire County Council?s Central Library reveals when wolves last roamed the countryside between Oxford and Kidlington – and it was not as long ago as you might think!
Gosford Hill Farm in Kidlington was the home of Oxford Zoo between 1931 and 1937. A ?zoo-mad? population regularly piled on to special buses from the city centre to see star attractions Rosie the elephant and Hanno the lion.

Wolves were also housed at the zoo and the escape of three of them in 1937 provided a drama that is now the subject of a fascinating exhibition called Zoo-mad at Oxfordshire Studies in Oxford Central Library.

Thrilling chase

The wolves were 14-months-old, and one was said to be six feet in length after it was shot.

Inspector Barnett of the City Police brought down the first wolf near the police houses in Banbury Road on the same day the wolves escaped.

Robert Collett of Hampton Poyle shot the second wolf the same evening at his father’s farm. The third wolf survived until Thursday after allegedly killing 13 sheep at a farm near North Oxford Golf Club.

Press photographer shoots wolf

That evening, Oxford Mail photographer, Johnny Johnson, gave chase to the wolf, and shot it in Summertown.

He had commandeered a bike from a cyclist on the A40 and ridden up to the house where children were yelling ‘There’s the wolf, there’s the wolf’; before shooting the animal dead from 30 yards.

Malcolm Graham, Head of Oxfordshire County Council’s Oxfordshire Studies, said: ?We?ve recently acquired some Oxford Zoo postcards and these inspired me to find out more about this short-lived entertainment venue.

?Like so many aspects of local history, it?s an intriguing story once you delve into it and where better to start than Oxfordshire Studies!?

The exhibition will run until 6 April at Oxford Central Library in the Oxfordshire Studies section, at the Westgate Centre, Oxford.