Records show that sea lions have been at Chessington since at least 1936, we know this from a newspaper article about a ‘strange boat load’ destined for Chessington Zoo that included 4 ostriches, a zebra, several penguins and a baby sea lion. Sea lions have always been housed in this location since their arrival, however in 1993, it was renovated and became what you see today as Sea Lion Bay. The keepers have been pictured over the years swimming with the sea lions. They were a very popular animal at the zoo, but in 1939, the future of sea lions and penguins at Chessington Zoo was up in the air as they were unable to obtain a regular supply of fish. In 1961, one of the sea lions called Chess escaped the grounds and was found over a mile away in the grounds of Horton Hospital, in order to do this, it would have gone over Leatherhead Road, through farming fields and into the hospital grounds – it was collected by zoo staff when found and given a good meal when it got home.