Editing Chester Zoo (section)

===Early history===
[[File:At Chester Zoo 2023 039.jpg|left|thumb|Plaque in a garden at the zoo as a memorial to the founder, George Saul Mottershead.]]
[[File:Polar Bears at Chester Zoo taken in 1967 - geograph.org.uk - 737458.jpg|left|thumb|Polar bear exhibit, 1967.]]
The Mottershead family's [[market garden]] business was based in [[Shavington]] near [[Crewe]]. George Mottershead collected animals such as [[lizard]]s and insects that arrived with exotic plants imported by the business. A visit to [[Belle Vue Zoo]] in Manchester as a boy in 1903 fuelled his developing interest in creating a zoo of his own.

Mottershead was wounded in the First World War and spent several years in a wheelchair. Despite this, his collection of animals grew and he began to search for a suitable home for his zoo. He chose [[Oakfield Manor]] in [[Upton-by-Chester]], which was a country village then but now is a suburb of [[Chester]]. He bought Oakfield Manor for £3,500 in 1930.<ref name=history>{{cite web |title=From Polar Bears to Pandas: The History of Chester Zoo |publisher=Chester City Council |url=http://www.chester.gov.uk/tourism_and_leisure/culture_and_leisure/chester_history_and_heritage/past_exhibitions/from_polar_bears_to_pandas.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012024332/http://www.chester.gov.uk/tourism_and_leisure/culture_and_leisure/chester_history_and_heritage/past_exhibitions/from_polar_bears_to_pandas.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 October 2008 |date=13 February 2008 |access-date=20 June 2008 }}</ref> The house had {{convert|9|acre}} of gardens and provided easy access to the railways and to Manchester and [[Liverpool]]. There were local objections, but Mottershead prevailed, and Chester Zoo opened to the public on 10 June 1931.<ref name="goodzoos"/> The first animals were displayed in pens in the courtyard.<ref name="history" />

An [[Ordnance Survey]] [http://www.ponies.me.uk/maps/osmap.html?z=14&x=-2.8887176513671875&y=53.2235588799907 inch-a-mile map] published in 1936 shows the area around as farmland and villages and marks the present Zoo area north of Oakfield as "Butter Hill".

Rapid expansion followed after the Second World War, despite the difficulty of sourcing materials. Mottershead had to be resourceful; the [[polar bear]] exhibit (1950) was built from recycled wartime road blocks and [[Pillbox (military)|pillboxes]].<ref name="history" /> "Always building" was the zoo's slogan at the time. Mottershead received the [[OBE]], an honorary degree of MSc, and served as President of the International Union of Zoo Directors. He died in 1978 aged 84.