May I Please Speak with Mr. Lyon?

If you found a note on your desk today or received a voicemail message instructing you to call Mr. Lyon, Mr. Katz, Mr. Fox, Sally Mander, Ana Conda, Al Gator, or even Jim Panze, you were the unwitting participant in an April Fool's Day prank that dates back over 100 years. After dutifully dialing the requested number and asking for the given name, you probably soon realized that you were connected to a local zoo. Or, perhaps if you were instructed to call Mr. Fish, an aquarium.

Pranksters love this April Fool's Day classic, and zoos, well they mostly despise it. Most major zoos phone lines are clogged up all day with requests for such individuals. Most callers are quick to realize that they've called a zoo, but some become increasingly persistent in their request to speak with Mr. Lyon when they are told he's not available. Zoo and aquarium phone operators typically either inform the caller that the requested party is not available, or, more comically reply that "Mr. Lyon is locked up in his cage."

Speaking with several major zoos across the country today, phone operators were quick to assure us that yes, they'd been overwhelmed with such calls. None, however, had kept track of the actual number of callers, but after a few chuckles assured us that they had received "quite a few" of these calls throughout the day. There were even a couple zoos that we couldn't through to, such as the Seattle Zoo, likely due to jammed up phone lines.

Thousands upon thousands of people fall for this prank this year, despite it having been around since the very early 1900's. It's even more amazing considering that it has been pretty well documented as well. (See references below.)

It's a prank that isn't just limited to the United States either - last year the Dublin Zoo in Ireland had to shut off their switchboard after a text message instructed nearly a hundred thousand people to call the zoo asking for Rory Lyons, Ana Conda, and Don Key.

Early media references to the zoo prank phenomenon:

2 April 1909, New York Times, pg. 9:
"DARWIN" ENJOYED APRIL 1.

Chief Guest in the Hotel de Monk Got
Many Telephone Calls.

Darwin, the chief guest in the Hotel de Monk at the circus in Madison Square Garden, was an unconscious aid yesterday in a score of All Fool's Day jokes. For many years practical jokers have on April 1 induced their unsuspecting friends to call up numbers on the telephone and ask for Mr. Camel, or Mr. Fox, or Mr. Lion. Usually the number given was the telephone number of the Bronx Park or the Central Park Zoo.

But yesterday the favorite number for the jokers was "1630 Madison," which is the telephone number of Madison Square Garden. And the "person" they were told to ask for was Mr. Darwin. The telephone operator at the Garden switchboard had been instructed to switch all such calls to the menagerie and to the Hotel de Monk.
(...)
They kept calling for Darwin at intervals throughout the day, and each time the little ape seemed to enjoy the experience.

19 September 1909, Washington Post, pg. M2:
[New York Sun.]
(...)
The next day perhaps, if a great light has now dawned upon him, he is persuaded to call up Mr. Lyon or Mr. Fish at a telephone number that proves to be that of the zoo or the aquarium.

12 June 1910, Washington Post, "Phun on the Phone," pg. SM14:
Particularly annoying is the telephone joker, generally epidemic about April 1st, who leaves on your desk a memorandum:

"Please call up Mr. Fish, 608 Main, as soon as you come in."

Of course you call up the number and ask:

"Is Mr. Fish there?"

A weary, disgusted voice explains that the number in question belongs to the Aquarium. Of course, it is "Mr. Lyon" at the "Zoo." There are innumerable versions of this supposed joke.

5 April 1917, San Francisco Chronicle, pg. 8 cartoon:
MUTT AND JEFF -- Jeff Should Have Called Up the Aquarium and Asked for Mr. Fish -- By Bud Fisher

2 April 1932, Washington Post, pg. 20:
Zoo Called 3,338 Times
During All Fools Day
(...)
Exactly 3,338 calls were received at the Zoo, between 9 a. m. and 9 p. m., and their makers were disillusioned just that many times when they asked for "Mr. Lion," "Mr. Bear," "Mr. Katz," and "Mr. Monk," and the other appellations of humans that phonetically resemble the cognomens of Zoo inmates.

1 April 1936, Washington Post, pg. 19:
Beware, Ye Who Are Gullible-
Day of Utter Nonsense Is Here
(...)
In keeping with the rollicking spirit of the day, the telephone at the Zoo is expected to jangle throughout the day.

"Is Mr. Lion there?"

"May I speak to Mr. Fox?"

"Tell Mr. Wolf to come to the phone, please."

So if someone leaves a note on your desk today to call any of the above, forget it.

1 April 1940, Los Angeles Times, pg. 2:
Griffith Park will get its share of calls for "Mr. Fox," "Mr. Lion," "Mr. Beaver" and other permanent guests. Some of the calls will be from persons who think they are fooling the zoo attendants, but most of the callers will be gullible folks who found a message on the desk telling them to "call this number and ask for Mr. Lamb."

29 September 1957, New York Times, pg. 76:
On April 1 the Bronx Zoo is bombarded with phony calls. Last year the zoo received 2,419 phony calls, 569 of them for Mr. Lion, 437 for Mr. Fox, 319 for Mr. Wolf.