Raccoon Zoo

Raccoon Zoo was a tourist attraction in the Midwestern community of Raccoon City, not far from the center of the city.^[1] It was located on the western side of the Circular River and was near a tram station that provided the zoo with tourists on weekends. In the event of disasters, Raccoon Zoo was listed by the local government as an emergency shelter.^{[2][excerpt 1]}

History

The zoo was opened as early as 1978,^[3] with an annual parade involving elaborately-dressed elephants conducted until 1983.^[4] At Christmas time each year, they would hold a parade of trained animals. Oscar, who was the zoo's bull elephant and the star took lead of the parade while dressed in holiday garb; this had been discontinued by the '90s.^[5] The zoo's Deputy Chairman, Elliot Martin, had acquired an orchid exhibit for display at the botanical garden. Their transport in and out of the US being restricted by the Washington Convention, it was left unknown as to how Martin managed to acquire such an attraction.^[6]

1998

Around September 1998, "Max", the resident male lion, was joined by three lionesses on loan to the zoo to assist in the lion-breeding program. The three were scheduled to be returned to their respective zoos at the end of October.^[7] During this period, a circuit breaker was installed in the inner office to prevent any power surges from causing serious damage.^[8] It was also decided that the controversial Jungle Dome which Lloyd was responsible for was to be closed down.^[4]

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.^[4] 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.^[8] Soon afterwards, the animals began escaping. The lions bent their steel bars open and escaped,^[9] and likely were responsible for the killing of a tourist,^[10] and escaped tiger near the observation deck.^[11] 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.^[12] 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.^[13] 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.^[14] They are therefore believed to be deceased.

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.^[15] 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.^{[16][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.^{[17][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.^{[18][excerpt 4]}

Other animal attractions included lions; hyena; gorillas; tigers and black rhinoceroses.^[15]

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 Murrows - Gatekeeper
• Austin Taylor
• Matt Smith
• Maggie Nodle

Gallery

Kevin and Cindy at the rear entrance

Concept CGI rendition of the elephant bar, with the zoo's rear gate

Just outside the zoo

zoo

Zoo map and evacuation notice

Front gates of raccoon zoo, the local tram station is just across the road from it.

The "Set Design Zoo 1" collectible image (Japanese).

The "Set Design Zoo 2" collectible image (Japanese).

This is where school children/children come to watch some of the animals perform

The "Set Design Zoo 3" collectible image (Japanese).

The "Set Design Zoo 4" collectible image (Japanese).

Add a photo to this gallery

Sources

notes

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} This area is not explored, but it can be seen on zoo maps.

excerpts

1. ↑ 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。"
2. ↑ 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。"
3. ↑ 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。"
4. ↑ 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

1. ↑ Resident Evil Archives, Raccoon City map
2. ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File 2 (2004), collection: "Wild Things Set Design Zoo 1".
3. ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File #2 (2004), file: "Joseph's notebook".
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Resident Evil Outbreak File #2 (2004), file: "Elephant keeper's diary".
5. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named keeper
6. ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File #2 (2004), Money Scoop.
7. ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File #2 (2004), file: "Zoo pamphlet 1".
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} Resident Evil Outbreak File #2 (2004), file: "Repair notification".
9. ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File #2 (2004), room: "show animal's boarding house", examine: "The steel cage is broken. What could have done this?".
10. ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File #2 (2004), room: "Path in front of observation deck", examine: "A blood-drenched jacket. Must have been an animal attack.".
11. ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File #2 (2004), room: "Path in front of observation deck", examine: "A dead tiger. It's covered in claw marks.".
12. ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File #2 (2004), room: "Elephant stage", examine: "There's a body on the gate. He's holding something...".
13. ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File #2 (2004), scene: "City in Ruin".
14. ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File #2 (2004), file: "Evacuation order".
15. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named open
16. ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File 2 (2004), collection: "Wild Things Set Design Zoo 2".
17. ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File 2 (2004), collection: "Wild Things Set Design Zoo 4".
18. ↑ Resident Evil Outbreak File 2 (2004), collection: "Wild Things Set Design Zoo 3".