A Press Cutting from 1932: Burgess Barnett, Lord Moyne and Galapagos Marine Iguanas at London Zoo

 

This photograph I came across connects three topics I have written about before:

1. Dr Burgess Barnett shortly after taking over as Curator of Reptiles at London Zoo. I have found it difficult to find photographs of him and I will add this to the article on his life and works. The article here on Barnett, incidentally, is one of the most popular on this site.
2. Lord Moyne (Walter Edward Guinness, 1880-1944) back from an earlier expedition cruise than the one in 1934-35 in which he brought back Komodo dragons. That trip was well documented but the earlier one was not. Article can be found here.
3. Galapagos Marine Iguanas. Four collected by the Moyne Expedition being handed over to London Zoo. Article on Marine Iguanas in captivity here.

I have been unable to find find the name of the yacht Moyne used in 1932 since he seemed to have owned two at the time, both were converted passenger vehicles. My guess it was the MY Roussalka since she had tanks fitted during conversion to hold sufficient diesel fuel to cross the Pacific. Many of Moyne’s records were lost when the vessel sank after striking a rock in Killary Bay, Ireland, in 1933. That may account for the lack of information. All the passengers and crew, including Moyne, escaped.

Four Marine Iguanas were brought back by Moyne. A discussion on the ZooChat forum some time ago, notes that they were mentioned in the 1933 Zoo Guide with the statement that seaweed was brought up from Cornwall to feed them. One only was noted in 1934 and all mention had disappeared by 1935. So far I have found no description of how the Marine Iguanas were kept at the Zoo. Clearly, they did not do well, as was the case with many reptiles until the last thirty years or so.

Moyne also brought a Flightless Cormorant (Phalacrocorax or Nannopterum harrisi) and five Galapagos Doves (Zenaida galapagoensis). David Seth-Smith wrote of their arrival, the first in Britain in the case of the cormorant, in Avicultural Magazine. He provides no further information though on the expedition itself. We can though deduce that Moyne visited the west coast of Isabela (Albemarle) and/or Fernandina (Narborough) since that is the only place in the Galapagos the endemic Flightless Cormorant can be found.

Finally, a few observations in the photograph. I have not been able to identify the publication. It was obviously taken in the public area of the Reptile House—the barriers remain unchanged today. It would appear though that the fronts of some of cages were of wire mesh and not glass. The photograph has an odd appearance and only after looking at it for some time did I realise that Moyne’s hands and arms seem out of place. His right hand is grasping the lizard’s tail but the one shown apparently as the left hand seems to be coming out of thin air. Has there been some heavy retouching, or even the merging of two negatives?