Tracey Lee with examples of  animal poo [Charlotte Levy]

A FORMER senior zookeeper is about to open an extraordinary exhibition focused on animal dung.

The UK’s largest collection of preserved animal poo will be on display at FUSEBOX, south-west London’s newest multi-arts venue from October 9 to 28.

Tracey Lee has worked at London Zoo for over 30 years. She began as a summer temp with the primates and after a winter at Howletts Wildlife Park, returned to London and spent 12 glorious years as a trainee keeper in the elephant and rhino house before working her way up to become a senior zookeeper. She’s hugely knowledgeable about her work, a brilliant raconteur and a talented artist to boot.

Born and raised in Birmingham, Tracey originally trained at Bournville School of Art and has retained her passion for art as well as animals. Even while working full-time at the zoo she would paint portraits of her friends’ pets as gifts. Her pictures of cats are now sold as greetings cards in Cornwall.

Clockwise from top: faeces from a Bactrian camel; an endangered gorilla; a Galapagos tortoise; and a Komodo dragon  [Tracey Lee]

In the late 1990s, Tracey collected elephant dung for Turner Prize-winning artist Chris Ofili. Independently, she saw the worth of preserving and framing the poo she was paid to dispose of, while keeping it a private affair for many years. She stored everything in her Islington home, where her collection was only ever seen by a handful of close friends and family.

During her time at Regent’s Park, Tracey has cared for some of the planet’s most majestic creatures, from elephants and black rhinos to pygmy hippos and Sumatran tigers.

Her unusual artistic journey began in 2001 when the elephants, whom she’d looked after and loved for 12 years, moved to Whipsnade Zoo. As Tracey was cleaning out the elephant house, a solitary ball of dung left by Geetha, the final resident, caught her attention. Rather than discard it, she decided to preserve the ball as a keepsake. A little while later, the zoo’s last black rhino also moved and, again, Tracey kept its final poo. She later displayed these two “mementos” on canvas, hung them on her bathroom wall and called  them The Last Poo at the Zoo. Her collection grew from there.

Tracey Lee’s painting of Smudge the cat [Tracey Lee]

Since then, Tracey has collected and preserved animal dung from more than 100 different species – many of which are threatened in the wild and part of important global breeding programmes designed to protect the species’ future.

Curated by Tracey, The Origin of the Faeces: Poo from the Zoo showcases the diversity and beauty of animal dung. The exhibition includes faeces from an endangered gorilla that apparently resembles a kebab, a tadpole-like giant Galapagos tortoise poo and even tiny droppings from a caterpillar. As well as getting up close to the poo, visitors will have the opportunity to discover more about the animals through photos and soundscapes.

Each poo has been carefully preserved using Tracey’s special technique, which retains the detail and makes them odourless and hygienic to display. She tells me she left some of the faeces drying in her partner’s allotment shed for over a decade before she covered them in PVA. The exhibition also shares Tracey’s personal journey of collecting and preserving these specimens.

Tracey is currently London Zoo’s artist in residence where she produces amazing murals for the animal paddocks, public areas and staff quarters. When she finally went part-time, it  gave her the space to reignite her passion for art at home as well. She could concentrate on mounting and framing the faeces and her collection grew from 10 to over 100 exhibits in a matter of months.

Tracey Lee with her favourite rhino [Mark Power]

Tracey’s face lights up when she talks about the animals she’s cared about for so long.

“This exhibition isn’t just about poo; it’s about capturing the essence of these magnificent animals in a way that’s both educational and eye-opening,” she says. “It’s a celebration of nature’s diversity, while also a sobering reminder of the environmental challenges we face.”

Other than Geetha the elephant, the animal with personality Tracey remembers most fondly is Jos, a black rhino. “We just had a wonderful rapport,” she laughs. “I loved him like family. I even used to send him postcards from my holidays.”

Rosie is another black rhino Tracey recalls as being “naughty and mischievous”. She is still alive “at the grand old age of 34”.  Rosie now resides at Port Lympne Safari Park in Kent and Tracey continues to visit her there.

The free exhibition, a collaborative project between Tracey, The Community Brain, a Kingston-based not-for-profit and Creative Youth arts charity, is sure to appeal to visitors of all ages and it is hoped it will challenge societal norms and spark conversations about nature and conservation as well as being an enjoyable educational experience.

Robin Hutchinson, director and founder of The Community Brain and Creative Youth, says: “When we first heard about Tracey’s collection and her amazing story, we just knew it had to be shared with more people. I’m especially keen to connect young people to the real plight of the natural world.

“The reality for many children today is that they can be more familiar with fictional Pokémon creatures than they are with many of the real-life species represented in Tracey’s collection. Getting up close to the animals’ poo is a fun way to help enable this.”

Tracey hopes the exhibition will encourage people to seriously consider the state of the planet and what we risk losing.

“Species are dying out all the time” she says. “I hope Poo from the Zoo will grab the imagination of children the world over. They’re our future.”

• The Origin of the Faeces: Poo from the Zoo is at FUSEBOX in Kingston upon Thames, from October 9 to 28. See https://creativeyouthcharity.org/events/the-origin-of-the-faeces-poo-from-the-zoo/