Where the wild things are

A lion guards the courtyard of Adolphus Busch Hall. The statue is a replica of Braunschweiger Löwe, or Brunswick lion, a cast of the 12th-century bronze from Germany.

Photos by Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

Stephanie Mitchell

Harvard Staff Photographer

March 30, 2021 4 min read

Capturing the exotic creatures that grace Harvard’s buildings, gates, and shields

Harvard’s campus and community through the lens of our photographers.

Animal explorers traversing the Harvard campus will encounter curious squirrels in the Yard, flocks of wild turkeys near the residences, and red-tailed hawks hopping from tower to tower.

More exotic creatures lurk everywhere. On building facades, gates, and shields, a closer look reveals a host of nature’s and mythic beasts, from lions to buffalo, from eagles to owls, a famous pair of rhinos, and even a Pegasus and a unicorn.

Most gather close to the Charles River, their source of water, along the perimeter gates, or surround the Bio Labs, near the scientists who study them. The Yard is largely unpopulated, save for the humans guarded under John Harvard’s close watch.

For the New England area, the variety of species is astounding. An inventory reveals such unusual stock as a jaguar, tapir, pelican, iguana, and a giant anteater.

Explore the campus wildlife, where animals are etched and cast in stone, brick, and metal.

On DeWolfe Street, Leverett House’s eagle spreads its wings.

An owl decorates the gate surrounding Winthrop House. — An owl clutches a mouse in its talons while cattle sit on a shield along the gate surrounding the Winthrop House courtyards.

Three cattle decorates the gate surrounding Winthrop House. — An owl clutches a mouse in its talons while cattle sit on a shield along the gate surrounding the Winthrop House courtyards.

Cattle skulls mark the entrance to Lowell House.

On Plympton Street, across from the Harvard Book Store, a bull takes charge.

A lion head decorates the gate on Quincy Street. — Lions, the most populous of the beasts roaming campus, decorate the gate on Quincy Street and the entrance above Claverly Hall.

A lion head decorate the entrance above Claverly Hall. — Lions, the most populous of the beasts roaming campus, decorate the gate on Quincy Street and the entrance above Claverly Hall.

Griffins abound along the Bow Street entrance to Westmorly Court at Adams House.

A pair of lions flank the entrance to the Harvard-Yenching Library.

An eagle adorns Adolphus Busch Hall. — An eagle and a pair of concerned lions adorn Adolphus Busch Hall.

A pair of concerned lions adorns Adolphus Busch Hall. — An eagle and a pair of concerned lions adorn Adolphus Busch Hall.

Three golden lions gleam across the Mather House crest.

A rabbit bravely leaps over the lion crest on the wrought-iron gate of Yellowwood Courtyard.

An ibis decorates the Harvard Lampoon building. — An ibis keeps watch over the Harvard Lampoon building, while across Mount Auburn Street a feline embellishes a weathervane.

A feline decorates a weather vane. — An ibis keeps watch over the Harvard Lampoon building, while across Mount Auburn Street a feline embellishes a weathervane.

The world-famous rhinos Victoria and Elizabeth, who flank the main doors of the Biological Laboratory Building, were unveiled on May 12, 1937, by their award-winning sculptress Katharine Ward Lane Weems (1899‒1989). Nicknamed Vicky and Bess, the rhinos weigh three tons each and are modeled after of the largest known female rhino, the Rhinoceros unicornis, or Indian rhino. The artist took five years to create the bronze pair, who measure 13 feet.

An animalia of tapir, giant anteater, iguana, and jaguar decorate the hand-carved frieze atop the five-story Biological Laboratory Building. In 1930, Harvard President A. Lawrence Lowell commissioned Katharine Ward Lane Weems, then 30 years old, to “embellish” the building’s exterior.

A golden trilobite decorates the door to the Bio Labs. — On the three doors to the Bio Labs, 24 organisms, insects, and fauna from sea, air, and land, including this trilobite and jellyfish, are magnified in bronze. Katharine Ward Lane Weems worked with scientists and craftsmen to design this celebration of the natural world.

A jellyfish decorates the door to the Bio Labs. — On the three doors to the Bio Labs, 24 organisms, insects, and fauna from sea, air, and land, including this trilobite and jellyfish, are magnified in bronze. Katharine Ward Lane Weems worked with scientists and craftsmen to design this celebration of the natural world.

A black rhinoceros, Cape buffalo, and ostrich peek through the trees along the rim of the Bio Labs. More than 30 animals from four zoogeographic regions — the Ethiopian (southern Africa), Indo-Asiatic, Neotropical (South American), and Holarctic (northern temperate zone and Arctic zones) — are carved 2½ inches deep in the brick.

The White Rabbit decorates a gate on Quincy Street. — The White Rabbit and Cheshire Cat perch on the newly designed gate near Houghton Library along Quincy Street. The Peter J. Solomon Gate took its inspiration from the first edition of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”

The Cheshire Cat decorates a gate on Quincy Street. — The White Rabbit and Cheshire Cat perch on the newly designed gate near Houghton Library along Quincy Street. The Peter J. Solomon Gate took its inspiration from the first edition of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”

Nestled in the small garden outside the Lippmann House, “Santa Clara Hawk” by Doug Hyde of the Nez Percé tribe perches on a rock. Fashioned after the red-tailed hawks of New Mexico, the statue commemorates Howard Simons, the beloved Nieman Foundation curator from 1984 to 1989, who was a bird watcher as well as an advocate for Native American journalists.

A snail punctuates the spiral designs of the Quincy Square garden, a collaboration between sculptor David Phillips and landscape architect Craig Halvorson.