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Herbert Whitley's zoo began when he was only small with a fond gift from his mother of a pair of canaries. He went on to breed and exhibit finches, Dutch rabbits and silver Wyandotte poultry but the stars of his collection were undoubtedly his beloved blue and black cropper pigeons.
When arriving in Paignton in 1904, two of Mrs Whitley's sons, William and Herbert, formed a partnership to manage the land around Primley. Their master plan was to create a breeding centre for a complete range of pedigree livestock. They were not to know that this would form the foundations of what would eventually become the world-famous Paignton Zoo.
Moving to Paignton gave Herbert the opportunity to pursue his passion for collecting and breeding domestic animals such as cattle, sheep, horses, dogs and pigeons. Exotic animals soon appeared, with the first monkeys arriving in 1910, and in 1911 Herbert bought the first of the Primley exotic birds, a pair of sulphur crested cockatoos which were to be the foundation of his ornithological collection. |
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