200th Anniversary of ZSL

In 2026 The Zoological Society of London, known as ZSL, is celebrating its 200th anniversary.

We have selected content from The Associated Press archives featuring ZSL's London Zoo and Whipsnade Zoo.

The penguins being fed at their new enclosure at the zoo in London, England, on May 25, 1934. (AP Photo/Robert Rider-Rider)

Boo Boo, the chimpanzee, and her baby daughter, Jubilee, were the center of attraction for a delighted crowd of holiday makers at London Zoo on Aug. 7, 1935. (AP Photo/Len Puttnam)

Britain's Princess Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth II, third from right, and her sister Princess Margaret Rose, second from right, visit the penguins at London Zoo, June 30, 1938. At right, holding the penguins fin, is Shaun Plunket. (AP Photo)

Winston Churchill visits London Zoo to see the kangaroo which had been presented to him by the Stock Owners' Association of South Australia, Sep. 15, 1947. (British Movietone/AP Archive)

Brumas, London Zoo’s baby polar bear, shelters beneath mother Ivy, on Feb. 21, 1950, in London, England. (AP Photo/Sidney Smart)

Gillian Derbyshire gets on friendly terms with a ten-day-old Chinese water deer at Whipsnade Zoo in Dunstable, on June 20, 1959. (AP Photo/Sidney Smart)

Valli the elephant presents a profile to the camera as a party of schoolchildren view the elephants in their new paddock at Whipsnade Zoo, England, on June 18, 1965. (AP Photo/Sidney Smart)

Penguins stand to attention as head keeper Reg Hazzard marks the register, during the annual New Year's Day stocktaking, at Whipsnade Zoo, Bedfordshire, on Jan. 1, 1964. (AP Photo/Sidney Smart)

The President of the Zoological Society, Prince Philip, pays his first official visit to London Zoo on July 18, 1960. (British Movietone/AP Archive)

First Lady Nancy Reagan, left, strokes Jenny, a camel, during a visit to London Zoo, June 8, 1984, in London, England. (AP Photo/Bob Daugherty)

Arfur, a rare Asiatic lion, left, meets one of his three 6-month-old offspring for the first time in London Zoo, March 30, 1994. The three male cubs were all born at the zoo. (AP Photo/Alistair Grant)

A pair of South American King Vultures sit inside their aviary at London Zoo, in London, April 21, 2004. (AP Photo/Max Nash)

A pygmy hippopotamus named Thug, has his teeth cleaned with a new giant toothbrush at London Zoo, July 20, 2006. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)

Polly Wills holds Phoebe, a Malaysian giant stick insect at London Zoo, Aug. 12, 2004. (AP Photo/John D. McHugh)

A heron eats a fish, whilst a penguin takes a dive from the new Olympic London 2012 style diving board installed in the penguin enclosure at London Zoo, March 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

A meerkat tries to eat meal worms stuffed inside a Christmas cracker at London Zoo, Dec. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Effie carries baby Venus as father Kiburi looks on, part of a family of critically endangered Western Lowland Gorillas, as they investigate Christmas sacks at London Zoo, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Penguins investigate a sign during the annual stock take at London Zoo, London, Jan. 11, 2007. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Kumbuka, a male silverback gorilla inspects the keeper's chalk board in his enclosure at London Zoo, Jan. 2, 2014. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

A squirrel monkey looks into the camera during a photocall at London Zoo, Aug. 21, 2014. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Keeper Dave Clarke is seen in silhouette as he holds a jungle nymph stick insect at London Zoo in London, Jan. 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

A northern white-cheeked gibbon eats a carrot during the stock take at ZSL London Zoo, in London, Jan. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

One of the six month old Sumatran tiger cubs plays with a blackboard during a photo call for the annual stock take at London Zoo in London, Jan. 3, 2017. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

A muddy bullfrog is inspected during a photo call for the annual stock take at London Zoo, Jan. 3, 2013. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

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Text and photo curation by Katherine O'Mara

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