A freaky invasive species of lizard was introduced to BC by the people who operated the very first licensed zoo here, back in the 70s.
Rudy Bauersachs moved here with his family from Germany in 1951 and opened Rudy’s Pet Park in 1958, when he was issued the very first license to operate a zoo in our province.
There were a number of zoos operating for decades prior to this but they weren’t at all regulated, until tragedy struck at one of them. An incident involving an 8-year-old girl who was eaten by a lion who escaped a Nanaimo zoo sparked an investigation, and some new legislation that made it so everybody operating a zoo had to have a permit.
Bauersachs was the very first person to get one, and his family operated their zoo in Saanich for 13 years, from 1958 until 1970.
They had lions, alligators, 36 monkeys and chimpanzees, you name it, it roamed their property.
Not just a popular place for families to visit, some of their animals were loaned out to appear in TV and movies, including a lion that starred in Tarzan and a wolf who was in a Disney movie starring Rock Hudson.
But one day the patriarch fell ill, so the family decided to shut down the zoo and sell over 1,000 of the animals that they had.
The European Wall Lizards they had were the only creatures that didn’t end up going to good homes, and instead were simply let go into the wilds of central Saanich. From there they spread all over the island, and also made their way over to the mainland.
They’ve been seen lately in Powell River, Delta, Chilliwack and all the way out to Osoyoos. It’s estimated that there are now more than 700,000 of them in BC, thanks to the people who were the first to ever be entrusted to not do that.
Rudy Bauersachs passed away in 1987, about 17 years after they let his wall lizards run free.
This story first appeared in Issue 1 of my Now You Know BC Almanac, which is now SOLD OUT. You can subscribe and receive the next issue in October, then one every 6 months after that.
