In partnership with ABC Open Central Victoria these stories are be recorded as oral histories for potential inclusion in the exhibition alongside historic photographs, artefacts and objects that survey relationships between humans and animals and how these have shaped the region.

Animals feature prominently in the myriad social history stories of Bendigo and surrounds. Ancestral beings Bunjil the Eagle and Waa the Crow play an important role in local Dja Dja Wurrung dreaming stories and many unique native animals are found in the Box-Iron bark forests that surround Bendigo. 

In the 1800s, European settlers introduced a large number of animals to the area with varied success, including hard hoofed varieties, poultry, foxes and rabbits to name a few. By the mid 1800s, squatting sheep graziers and pastoralists occupied most of the fertile land in the region-breeding animals for wool and meat. Since then, agricultural industries have played a significant role in building the economy of the region. The Bendigo saleyards, one of the largest in Victoria, was founded in 1861 and agricultural prowess was acknowledged at the Bendigo Agricultural Show, which has been held almost every year since 1859.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, it was common for Bendigo citizens to encounter rogue herds of feral goats. The Bendigo Regional Archive Centre has many records including letters and petitions pertaining to a ‘goat problem’ at this time. While roaming the streets and being impounded by the city inspector, goats were also kept as pets, milked or harnessed for work and play; goat racing was a popular form of entertainment in the early 1900s.

Along with goats and other ‘nuisance’ animals, early Bendigo citizens would have regularly encountered drovers herding large mobs of sheep or cattle through the streets, or horses pulling carts, taxis and personal buggies delivering goods and people across the region. Horses were also used in the mining industry.

From their initial introduction by the Acclimatisation Society in the early 1860s, animals including deer, kookaburras, cockatoos, kangaroos, guinea pigs, peacocks and emus, have been kept at the Bendigo Botanic Gardens, White Hills; the monkey exhibit proving particularly popular. Changing social attitudes toward the keeping of animals in captivity in the latter part of last century has seen the closure of most of the animal displays at the gardens.

If this article strikes a chord or triggers a memory that you’d like to share, please contact Post Office Gallery at postofficegallery@bendigo.vic.gov.au or call 5434 6179.

Menagerie: animals in Bendigo history opens at the end of August.