Hugo Memorial Unveiled
Hugo memorial unveiled thanks to local art student
We’re so excited to have unveiled a very special memorial statue at our ‘Pride of Pembrokeshire’ zoo exhibit, to remember our beautiful lion Hugo, who passed away in 2025.
The stunning, life-size bronze bust of Hugo was created by Coleg Sir Gar’s art student Katie Morrissey, who hails from Rhondda Cynon Taf. Katie had never worked with clay or bronze on such a scale up until now – and is thrilled to have her artwork on display for our guests and staff to enjoy for years to come.
We were keen to commission a lasting tribute to Hugo and approached Coleg Sir Gar’s Arts School in Carmarthen, to see what would be possible. We met with Lee Odishow (‘Dish’), Fine Art Tutor and Technician at the college, and Lisa Phillips, Programme Director of Fine Art Practice to discuss our plans, and they were equally as enthusiastic to collaborate on such a unique opportunity for their students – and to showcase the fantastic facilities that are available in the art school.
“This live project fell serendipitously within our schedule and coincided with the 2nd year Studio Skills brief. During this module we typically cover varied techniques used within art, and Hugo’s portrait was a fantastic opportunity to work on so many aspects including: approaching a commission, client relations, mapping, working to scale, proportion, armature building, clay application and modelling, and working to a set brief”.
Lee ‘Dish’, Fine Art Tutor and Technician
Eight fine art students spent many weeks creating clay models of the handsome lion, but there could be only one winner who would have their project continue to completion and keeper Dan Sutton, who worked closely with Hugo for many years, selected Katie as the overall winner.
Katie, the fellow art students and tutors at Carmarthen College, as well as their family and friends, were invited as our very special guests to congregate at the Pride of Pembrokeshire lion exhibit, where the rest of Hugo’s family reside. The sculpture was unveiled by keeper Dan and Katie received a cheque from our MD, Chris Ebsworth, as a contribution towards future art supplies.
Katie was also able to join Zookeeper Dan on a special behind the scenes to meet the lion pride including Hugo’s mate Luna, and their four daughters, Sola, Ebele, Alika and Zahra, and even had a go at feeding them – before everyone enjoyed some lion themed cupcakes, provided by the wonderful Sandie Jones aka ‘The Cake Fairy Pembs’.
Katie is certainly the pride of her family who joined her to celebrate the unveiling of her artwork.