It’s the summer of 1958.
A young sea lion breaks out of a brand-new theme park, slips into a river, and leads bounty hunters, zookeepers, and politicians on a ten-day, cross-border chase that makes international headlines. By the time he’s done, half a city is waiting on the curb to cheer him home.
This is the story of Slippery, the sea lion, London’s unlikeliest hero.
A New Park
In June 1958, the city of London opened the gates to Storybook Gardens, a family-friendly theme park built around fairy-tale characters and nursery rhymes. But in the 1950s, no children’s park was complete without live animal exhibits. And so Storybook Gardens started its own exhibit. Among its most ambitious attractions were two California sea lions.
(Photo credit: London Free Press)
The Breakout
Just days after the park opened, novice zookeepers made a rookie mistake: they overfilled the sea lion pool. The higher water level gave Slippery a chance, and he seized the moment. He slipped through a gap in the fence and dropped into the Thames River, free, curious, and heading south.
The London Free Press quickly posted a $200 reward for his safe capture. That might not sound like much today, but in 1958, that was serious money. Amateur bounty hunters, animal lovers, and curious locals all joined the chase.
The Thames River Highway
Over the next ten days, Slippery did what sea lions do: he kept swimming.
- Down the Thames River – past the factories and farms of southwestern Ontario.
- Into Lake St. Clair – a major body of water that could have swallowed him forever.
- All the way to western Lake Erie – crossing an international border without a passport.
Sightings poured in. Every few hours, someone would spot a sleek, dark head bobbing in the water. But Slippery was always just ahead of his pursuers.
(Map by Lawrence Durham)
The Capture That Made Headlines
The chase finally ended not in Canada, but in Sandusky, Ohio, near the famous Cedar Point amusement park. The director of the Toledo Zoo successfully hit Slippery with a tranquilizer dart and then found him asleep in an empty boathouse.
His capture was just in time for the Fourth of July.
The Toledo Zoo put Slippery on display, and curious crowds who had been following the saga in newspapers for days lined up to see the fugitive sea lion. Then came the twist: the Toledo director announced he might keep Slippery for good.
“Slippery Come Home”
Londoners were not having it.
Petitions circulated. One of the most charming messages sent to Toledo read:
“Slippery, come home. London needs you. 100,000 Londoners await your arrival at Storybook Gardens.
P.S. Don’t swim; transportation has been arranged.”
Politicians protested. The press ate it up. But just as tensions peaked, the Toledo zookeeper relented. Slippery would return to London after some well-deserved rest. As a parting gesture of goodwill (and brilliant showmanship), Toledo gave Slippery the keys to the city before he headed north.
A Hero’s Homecoming
On July 6, 1958, Slippery returned to London.
And here’s where the story becomes legendary: roughly half the city’s population, tens of thousands of people, lined the streets to welcome him home. It was a parade, a party, and a civic celebration all at once.
(Photo credit: Archives and Special Collections, Western Libraries, Western University)
Slippery’s reaction? Total indifference. He was far more interested in reuniting with his mate, Lonesome, back at the sea lion pool.
(Photo credit: Ron Nelson Photography Ltd)
The Secret Joke
Here’s the detail that makes this whole story even better.
Years later, the Toledo zookeeper admitted that his threat to keep Slippery was a joke, one he’d cooked up with an official from London to drum up publicity. The whole cross-border “feud” was a friendly stunt.
And it worked brilliantly. International coverage put Storybook Gardens on the map just as it was opening its doors.
(Photo credit: Archives and Special Collections, Western Libraries, Western University)
(Photo credit: London Post Card Collection, Box #98, Album #2, p. 76, pocket 3, Ivey Family London Room, London Public Library, London, Ontario, Canada)
An Official Mascot, a Splash Pad, and a Goodbye
Slippery lived out his years as the unofficial, and later official, mascot of Storybook Gardens. He died in 1967, but his legend never faded.
In 2003, the park named a brand-new splash pad after his great escape, ensuring that kids could escape their day-to-day worries as they ran through water in honour of his journey.
(Photo credit: Lawrence Durham)
But times change.
In 2008, London City Council voted to phase out live animal exhibitions. The final harbour seal exhibit closed in 2012, ending a 54-year love affair with Slippery and his sea lion successors.
Why This Story Still Matters to London
You won’t see live sea lions at Storybook Gardens today. But his escape reminds us that London has always been a city of quiet surprises. It’s where a children’s theme park can make global news, where a sea lion can become a civic icon, and where half the people in the city will cheer for a creature who couldn’t care less about the applause.
For culture seekers, that’s the real magic of London. It’s not Toronto. It’s not Vancouver. It’s a city with a small-town heart, big ambition, and at least one international fugitive sea lion.
(Photo credit: Lawrence Durham)
Hi, I’m Lawrence. bicycle tour guide and storyteller. Slippery’s great escape is one of my favourite stories: part adventure, part comedy, and all heart. If you’d like to pedal through the very river valleys that Slippery swam through (on dry land, I promise), I’d love to show you around. Small groups, big laughs, and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Click here to book a tour with London Bicycle Tours. Your next adventure is just a pedal away.
Leave a Reply