The History of the Tregembo Animal Park
by Carole Wirszyla photos by Phil EdwardsBack in 1952 George and June Tregembo had the idea that their love of animals could be more than just a hobby. They had a small zoo in Maine at the time but had difficulty sustaining it as a business because the cold winter months left them a very short tourist season. Several years earlier, George had been stationed at Goldsboro during World War II, when he saw folks fishing during the winter—something that would have been unthinkable in his hometown of Maine—so moving south seemed like a great way to expand his hobby.
The Tregembos started with two and a half acres of land on the current site, a mile south of Monkey Junction, and called it the Tote-Em-In Zoo. In the 50s and 60s, there were many road-side zoos but this was the only real zoo beyond the small Wilmington City Zoo.
George and June’s son, Robert, was only five years old when the family left Maine, and he remembers moving with the few animals they had including a bear called Blackie, a raven, two monkeys, and a porcupine. Today Robert runs the zoo with his wife Rita and daughter Sherry.
Many times Robert took animals into school to entertain his friends and teachers. He was so renowned for his affiliation with the animals that his nickname was “Zoo”. He grew up to love, live and breathe the animals just as his parents did. He also developed a brave streak when it came to alligators and snakes that earned him quite a reputation. He was well known for fearlessly jumping on crocodiles or alligators in Green Swamp.
One day he was spotted from a distance holding a big snake in front of the zoo by a young lady who would become his wife, Rita. When they started dating, Rita knew she was with a different kind of guy, because all her time spent with Robert was shared with the animals.
“There was never a dull moment – we were always going after another animal or visiting a zoo somewhere,” she recalls.
They became high school sweethearts and married in 1966. That same year, the Tregembos discovered the famous pachyderm, Matteau, a female Indian elephant at a small zoo in Georgia. Matteau would become a fixture of Monkey Junction and one of New Hanover County’s most recognizable landmarks for the next 25 years. Matteau was the biggest elephant they ever had and she was with them until she passed away of old age in 1991.
Robert recalled that she was moved from Georgia to North Carolina on a regular moving van.
“It took the guy driving the van twice as long as it should have because she kept rocking the van - the guy vowed he’d never haul another live anything again!”
Over the years, the Tregembos had eight different elephants at the zoo including one owned by famous television personality, Arthur Godfrey. According to the Tregembos, Godfrey had been given the elephant in the early 60s by a prominent Indian and he wanted to be able to ride it on his farm in Virginia for quail hunting. So, the Tregembos trained the elephant to be ridden and to remain calm when guns were fired.
The Tregembos have a lifetime of stories that have brought both humor and warmth to the business. Every time an animal is born or rescued, it reminds them they are in this business for a good reason, and each time an interesting character crosses the threshold it brings a smile to their faces. Their greatest entertainment may be when the circus folk come to town and want to visit the animals. The oddest character to visit may be the snake preacher who would come down from the mountains wanting to buy snakes for his unusual form of preaching.
Robert remembers a young hippo that got out of its enclosure in the middle of the night back in 1964. He took off south down the Carolina Beach Road and they had to track him down and bring him back. Thankfully, there wasn’t too much traffic back then and only one or two cars passed by, but each time they tried to rope him in, he managed to slip back out. It took them all night to get him back to the zoo.
Although, this was a rare instance, the 24/7 nature of zoo keeping means that someone is always on site day and night to check on the animals, so the hippo wasn’t gone long before he was known to be missing.
Currently, Robert and Rita’s daughter, Sherry, lives on site. She checks on the animals every night. Although some animals see better at night, the zoo is lighted at night so the animals can see what is going on and are less likely to get nervous. Obviously animals in the wild experience darkness and have to have a high level of sensitivity for survival, but no animals are taken out of the wild any more; they are pretty much acclimated to being in captivity. Robert added that hunting for zoo animals and importing them into the US was banned in the late 70s.
Acquiring animals has never been a problem at Tregembo – people leave unwanted animals at the door constantly.
“We’ve had bunny rabbits in a bag,” said Rita. “We always try to place them, but some things we just don’t have room for.”
Obviously, this is not the normal or preferred source of animal stock. Most of Tregembo’s animals are brought in from other zoos that have closed down.
In 1990 this was almost the fate for Tote Em In Zoo. Although the Tregembos had spent more than 30 years building the zoo from its infancy, Robert wanted his parents to step down and retire, so they looked into selling the zoo. However, his father’s love of the way of life and reluctance to step down led to the family selling half and leasing half to a family friend. [George and June Tregembo are still living locally, but are no longer active in the zoo.]
Unfortunately, due to lack of experience, the zoo was not kept up to standard and the animals’ habitats and the zoo went into decline. By January 2003, the new owners had announced the closure of the zoo and the intent to sell off all the animals. Luckily this wasn’t possible because of the conditions of the lease so they declared bankruptcy and in November 2003 the Tregembos bought back in. Robert, Rita and Sherry worked hard all through the winter to re-build and expand the property to the current 10 acres and re-opened in spring 2004 under the new name of Tregembo Animal Park.
Since then, they’ve made one improvement after another. The first big animal they acquired was “Baby Jack” the Giraffe; next, they added the white tiger, six more alligators and four new monkeys. After that came “Bugger” the Syrian grizzly bear, “Shadow” the black leopard and “Opal” the ostrich.
Robert believes people want to see a variety of well-kept animals and like to get up close and interact with them. He said that although most zoos don’t allow feeding, “We allow people to feed corn and peanuts to certain animals.” But they are careful not to allow people inside the pens. This is not only dangerous, but increases the possibility of transmitting diseases.
Keeping the animals healthy is the prime factor that contributes to longevity with animals in captivity although most animals don’t live as long as people think. Lions only live about 25 years, but parrots and gators can live 50 years or more and turtles up to 100 years! Most animals in captivity die of old age whereas animals in the wild don’t have that luxury – they prey on each other for survival.
The Tregembo family pays close attention to adjusting the animals’ habitats to meet the needs of the animals, which is why they close in the winter time when many of the animals have to be kept indoors in heated enclosures. Winter is also the time when the family takes a break to the Caribbean – the home of the family’s newly acquired zoo on the south side of the island of St Maarten.
Luckily they have no shortage of qualified zookeepers to share the load at both places because the animals need continuous attention. For zookeepers, caring for animals is not a job, but a way of life.
“She (Rita) told me I’ll work till the day I die,” laughs Robert.
Much of the work is done behind the scenes in an animal park, and many do not realize how much there is to see at Tregembo. After all, when you step back beyond the gift shop that separates the animal park from the traffic roaring up and down Carolina Beach Road it’s like stepping into a different world. Strolling along the shady pathways that meander through the towering maple, oak and pine trees, you experience a feeling of serenity among a wide variety of well-cared-for animals. The chattering of monkeys, an occasional roar from the lion, chirps from the cicadas and squawks from the parrots remind you of the many other creatures that share our world. And if you want to take your time, the well-placed benches allow you to sit and soak up the atmosphere.
It’s understandable why people come from all over to visit the oldest zoo in North Carolina and it’s easy to see why the Tregembo family has stuck with it for 56 years with no intention of quitting or moving on.
To learn more about the Tregembo’s 90 species of animals, check their website www.tregemboanimalpark.com. But, there is only one way to truly appreciate what lies behind the lion’s mouth entrance—make a visit. Open from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. seven days a week, admission to the Tregembo Animal Park is only $8 for adults and $6 for children.
Office: 910-458-0120Fax: 910-458-0490Designed by Beach PC - 1018 N. Lake Park Blvd #17, Carolina Beach, NC 29429 (910-458-3188)
