Knaresborough Zoo

[3] When Knaresborough Zoo opened it held many varieties of animals including elephants, chimpanzees, bats, otters and exotic birds.

One famous chimpanzee who lived at Knaresborough Zoo was named Enoch, this animal had appeared in the 1957 BBC television series The Silver Sword.

When Nyoka took over Knaresborough Zoo he brought larger animals including lions, tigers, leopards, snakes and Himalayan brown bears.

[8] The most famous animal that lived at Knaresborough Zoo was Simba, a male African lion who weighed 826 lb (pounds) and had a shoulder height of 1.11 m (44 in).

Residents of Knaresborough who lived in the town during the period of time Simba was at the zoo have recalled memories of hearing the lion roar early in the morning or late at night.

[13] However, an anonymous comment on a blog about Nyoka and Simba claims this isn't true and the lion’s body is buried on the Knaresborough Zoo site.

[10] Another famous animal that Knaresborough Zoo housed during Nyoka's time was a python named Cassius, this snake weighed 220 lb (pounds) and measured 27'4" in length.

The Knaresborough Zoo buildings and enclosures were demolished and an Arts and Crafts Centre was built, this first opened to the general public on 25 April 1999[22] and is still used today as an educational facility and a place for local events to be held including live music nights.

[23] The crafts produced at Henshaw's still reference the zoo history of the location, for the 2017 Spring Flower Show in Harrogate the organisation created a design which included a sculpture of a lion named Simba.

The mural shows a zebra and a giraffe but it is unclear if these species were ever found at Knaresborough Zoo as there are no photographs or public records to evidence this.