Robison bought the steamer's animal cargo and rapidly sold the constrictor snake to a circus, but could not seem to find a buyer for the orangutan. Then, in late summer 1915 an "enormous orangutan" came from Java on a Russian tramp steamer otherwise loaded with sugar. According to the San Francisco Examiner in 1968, Robison initially "gave Buck ideas on the use of tropical birds for added interest at the exposition." Buck began to visit frequently to talk to Ansel Robison and look at the animals until he was virtually "haunting the place". Hired by Frank Burt, the Director of Concessions and Admissions, Buck was there to drum up business for "the Zone" of the world's fair, which was the amusement-park-style "midway of that time". Otherwise, at that time, "there was nothing to link him to animals.except a modest taste for finches." Buck, who had formerly been a Chicago newspaperman, worked in publicity for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. A regular fashion plate, and handsome and likable, too." Buck was looking for pets "to keep in his hotel room". Robison vividly recalled his first sight of Buck: "He was a slick-looking young fellow. Robinson, a pet store owner from the third generation of a family of San Francisco animal merchants, recalled from over a distance of some 50 years "the day Buck barked frantically over the telephone, 'Come quick, Ansel, the panther escaped when we were unloading it!' Robison hurried to the docks and together they inched the snarling, frightened cat into an awaiting cage." Īccording to Robison, one day in 1915, Buck visited Robison's shop with an eye to purchasing Lady Gould finches ( Chloebia gouldiae) from a shipment that Robison had received from Australia. Robison, he both trained and funded the man whom The Rotarian magazine in 1972 called "a sideshow impresario and writer". Map of 1915 San Francisco fairgrounds, including the ZoneĪccording to Ansel W. After an expedition, he would usually accompany his catches on board ship, helping to ensure they survived the transport to the United States. Leading treks into the jungles, Buck learned to build traps and snares to safely catch animals so he could sell them to zoos and circuses worldwide. He then traveled to Singapore, beginning a string of animal collecting expeditions to various parts of Asia. According to a 1957 article about Buck's life, "For years he avoided telling about the poker game that staked him to his first venture in South America, instead claiming he had skimped and saved as an assistant taxidermist in a museum." Bringing back exotic birds to New York, he was surprised by the profits he was able to obtain from their sale. The Frank Buck Zoo in Buck's hometown of Gainesville, Texas, is named after him.Īccording to Buck, in 1911 Buck won $3,500 in a poker game and decided to go abroad for the first time, traveling to Brazil without his wife. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and co-authored an autobiography, 1941's All in a Lifetime. He was also briefly a director of the San Diego Zoo, displayed wild animals at the 1933–34 Century of Progress exhibition and 1939 New York World's Fair, toured with Ringling Bros. Between 19 he starred in seven adventure films based on his exploits, most of which featured staged "fights to the death" with various wild beasts. He co-authored seven books chronicling or based on his expeditions, beginning with 1930's Bring 'Em Back Alive, which became a bestseller. Beginning in the 1910s he made many expeditions into Asia for the purpose of hunting and collecting exotic animals, bringing over 100,000 live specimens back to the United States and elsewhere for zoos and circuses and earning a reputation as an adventurer. Boardman, Muriel Reillyįrank Howard Buck (Ma– March 25, 1950) was an American hunter, animal collector, and author, as well as a film actor, director, and producer.
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