(Capcom's primary storyline)
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Raccoon Zoo (ラクーン動物園 rakūn dōbutsuen) was a zoological garden in Raccoon City, with its front gates located on the western side of Raccoon Street.[1][2] The zoo featured a variety of attractions, showcasing numerous animals, but its most notable residents were Max the Lion and Oscar the Elephant. Due to its location along a major street and directly in front of a tram station, the zoo was designated as an emergency shelter in the event of disasters.[3][excerpt 1]
History[]
Unspecified[]
Raccoon Zoo opens at an unspecified point in Raccoon City's history.
Oscar the Elephant made his debut in the zoo's first-ever Christmas Parade.
1970s[]
1978 - Joseph Marrows began working at the zoo as its Gatekeeper.[4]
1980s[]
December, 1983 - The zoo's final Christmas Parade takes place.[5]
1990s[]
June 1st, 1998 - Raccoon Press reporter, Alyssa Ashcroft, uncovers the zoo's illegal trade of rare orchid specimens, orchestrated by the zoo's chairman, Elliot Martin. This kind of trade was deemed illegal under the Washington Convention of 1973.[6]
August, 1998 - The zoo conducts an employee evaluation, an employee by the name of Austin Taylor receives a "D" for poor work performance, the report also includes a serious infraction committed by Taylor of bringing a gun to the Observation Deck.[7]
September, 1998
Melty the Rafflesia blooms for the first time.[8]
Max the Lion was joined by three lionesses—Silfy, Angela, and Jennifer—loaned to the zoo to assist in the lion-breeding program. The trio was scheduled to be returned to their respective zoos at the end of October.[9]
A circuit breaker was installed in the inner office to prevent any power surges from causing serious damage.[10] It was also decided that the controversial Jungle Dome which Lloyd was responsible for was to be closed down.[11]
Raccoon City Destruction Incident[]
On Wednesday 23 September 1998, the t-Virus contaminated Raccoon City's drinking water, which found its way into the animals' feed. A sign to the mutations was noticed in Oscar, who became highly excitable at feeding time to the point of damaging his cage.[11] On Thursday morning, maintenance head Matthew Reagan notified employees that he would test the circuit breaker, unaware of the outbreak. At 0930, the Elephant Stage's gate; the panels in the Jungle Dome; the front shutter; the stage lights and the crane in the show animal's boarding house where shut down.[10] Soon afterwards, the animals began escaping. The lions bent their steel bars open and escaped,[12] and likely were responsible for the killing of a tourist,[13] and escaped tiger near the observation deck.[14] Oscar crashed through his cage and killed a staff member with such force his body flew into the air and was caught on top of the gate.[15] The Alligators were also infected, and destroyed the bridge in the lakeside area linking the Jungle Dome to the Observation Deck. The Jungle Dome's tropical wasps and Greater Indian Hornbills were also infected, with the hornbills escaping from the dome and attacking any survivors. A gorilla also escaped its cage and was killed soon after. Another animal escapee was a black rhinoceros. This animal was killed in the car park, possibly by Oscar. The infected elephant was seen later in the night attacking zombies feasting on the rhinoceros's body.[16] The status of the zebras; gazelles and giraffes that were on the zoo's western side is entirely unknown.[note 1]
Following the escape, the surviving zoo staff ran into hiding. Lloyd Stewart hid in the inner office; Patrick Reyes was stranded in a room overlooking the elephant stage, while Austin Taylor was stranded at the observation deck. Because of the animals, they were unable to be evacuated from Raccoon City despite the US Army using the zoo as a refugee evacuation point.[17] They are therefore believed to be deceased.
On 1 October 1998, like the rest of the city, the zoo was totally destroyed by the missile strike conducted by U.S. government.
Attractions[]
From the main entrance to the north, visitors could reach the Zebra Zone,[note 1] which contained African animals such as zebra; gazelle and giraffe. To the east of the entrance was a small lake to house at least two alligators.
After this was the "Jungle Dome", a dome-shaped structure with an artificially-modulated temperature and humidity. Here, rare, tropical plants and animals were able to survive, numbering 700 individual species.[18][excerpt 2] A species of tropical wasp and a group of Greater Indian Hornbills also lived within the dome.
To east of the Jungle Dome and at the north-east corner of the zoo was the "Elephant Show", a scale model of the Colosseum capable of seating 600. The show was where Oscar the elephant, an older zoo attraction, could be paraded. Familiar with the old parades of the 1980s, Oscar would react just the same to circus music recordings for the entertainment of tourists.[19][excerpt 3]
On the south side of the zoo was the "Animal Show", a stage set up for children to watch animal performances, featuring bear cubs; monkeys and dogs.[20][excerpt 4]
Other animal attractions included lions, hyena, gorillas; tigers, and black rhinoceroses.
The zoo's official mascot is Mr. Raccoon, and is popular enough to have his own branding and franchise as a hallmark of Raccoon City, with memorabilia sold at gift stores throughout the city. During the summer of 1998, local hoodlums and delinquents began a trend of using Mr. Raccoon bobbling dolls as target practice with airsoft guns and firearms throughout the city, to which the Raccoon City Zoo responded in kind with a public advisory campaign against.
Employees[]
- John Murphy
- Lloyd Stewart - Jungle Dome
- Susan Fischer
- Patrick Reyes - Elephant Stage
- Kim Derek
- Joseph Marrows - Gatekeeper
- Austin Taylor
- Matt Smith
- Maggie Nadel
Further notes[]
- The front entrance was based on the Elephant House in New York City's Bronx Zoo.
Sources[]
- notes
- excerpts
- ↑ Excerpt from "Wild Things: Set Design Zoo 1":
"ラクーン動物園正門。すぐ前には路面電車の停車駅があり、 週末には家族連れでにぎわう。被災時は緊急避難場所として利用されることもある。" - ↑ Excerpt from "Wild Things: Set Design Zoo 2":
"植物園と鳥舎を乗れたドーム式の建造物。 通称「ジャングルドーム」。 室内は高温多湿に保たれ、 ７００種以上の珍しい熱帯植物や鳥類を鑑賞できる。" - ↑ Excerpt from "Wild Things: Set Design Zoo 4":
"動物園のメインイベント 「エレファントショー」 を鑑賞できる建物。コロシアム模した観客席は６００人を収容。電飾をまとった象とサーカス団員らで催されるアトラクションは、最新のアミューズメント施設にはない懐かしさと独特の味わいがある。" - ↑ Excerpt from "Wild Things: Set Design Zoo 3":
"動物たちの演芸を見せる小さなステージ。小熊、 サル、 犬といった小動物たちの受らしい舞台は子供たちに人気だ。"
- references
- ↑ Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, promotional Raccoon City map
- ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File #2, Wild Things scenario
- ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File #2, collection: "Wild Things Set Design Zoo 1".
- ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File #2, file: "Joseph's Notebook"
- ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File #2, file: "Elephant Keeper's Diary"
- ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File #2, file: "Money Scoop"
- ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File #2, file: "Employee Evaluation Form"
- ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File #2, file: "Zoo Pamphlet 2"
- ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File #2, file: "Zoo pamphlet 1"
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Resident Evil Outbreak File #2, file: "Repair Notification"
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Resident Evil Outbreak File #2, file: "Elephant Keeper's Diary".
- ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File #2, room: "show animal's boarding house", examine: "The steel cage is broken. What could have done this?".
- ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File #2, room: "Path in front of observation deck", examine: "A blood-drenched jacket. Must have been an animal attack.".
- ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File #2, room: "Path in front of observation deck", examine: "A dead tiger. It's covered in claw marks.".
- ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File #2, room: "Elephant stage", examine: "There's a body on the gate. He's holding something...".
- ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File #2, scene: "City in Ruin".
- ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File #2, file: "Evacuation Order".
- ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File #2, collection: "Wild Things Set Design Zoo 2".
- ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File #2, collection: "Wild Things Set Design Zoo 4".
- ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File #2, collection: "Wild Things Set Design Zoo 3".
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