Now over 80 years since June first set foot in the echoing house, Chester Zoo has achieved worldwide renown. Yet George's resilience, resourcefulness and tenacity eventually paid off. Nightly bombing raids turned the dream into a nightmare and finding food for the animals became a constant challenge. They were shunned by the local community, bankruptcy threatened and then World War Two began. The early years were not without their obstacles for the Mottersheads. Pelican, penguin or polar bear - for June, they were simply family. Soon her best friend was a chimpanzee called Mary, lion cubs and parrots were vying for her attention in the kitchen, and finding a bear tucked up in bed was no more unusual than talking to a tapir about granny's lemon curd. When George Mottershead moved to the village of Upton-by-Chester in 1930 to realise his dream of opening a zoo without bars, his four-year-old daughter June had no idea how extraordinary her life would become. 'With characteristic self-effacement, she puts the escapades of charismatic animals ahead of her own feelings.' The Guardian. Soon her best friend was a chimpanzee called Mary, lion cubs and parrots were vying for her attention in the kitchen, and finding a bear tucked up in bed was no more unusual than talking to a.
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