Candy Hitchcock Collection - Dixie

Ms. Hitchcock has graciously shared rare insight into the beginnings of the elephant program of Zoo Miami (or the Crandon Park Zoo, as it was originally known prior to relocation).

Dixie was the zoo's first elephant and about 20 when I knew her. I used to walk her out to the shade area behind the elephant barn and scratch her back with a rake. She had a huge rubber tire she carried around and we called it her 'baby'. Sadly, she developed arthritis in her front foot/leg from all the years walking on the concrete floor of the barn and was operated on. The surgery was a success but she later died of pneumonia. //Candy Hitchcock

"Hi Ryan, Here is a picture of me with Dixie. I am holding here ‘baby’. Candy"
Courtesy of C Hitchcock

Ark in the Park by Mark Rosenthal

"I have recommended the book in the past, for all you folks who love zoo history and Lincoln Park as I do, and bring to your attention that it normally sells for 49.95 hardcover but there are currently 5 available at Amazon for 39.89. It is one of the best books available on the history of an American Zoological Institution and along with our friend Gary Clarke Director Emeritus of the Topeka Zoo's book "Hey Mister, Your Alligator is Loose," I promise you zoo buffs don't have a complete library without these two publications." //Wade Burck