What a privilege as a member of the ZSL team working in Fundraising to be welcomed into the world of wildlife health and pathology. The chance to view a dissection of a harbour porpoise was educational, fascinating and simply wonderful! There are so many experts in so many fields at ZSL all working together to protect wildlife. Their work is only made possible by the fabulous community of support. Thank you to you all - Members, Fellows, Patrons, Donors, Corporate partners, Fellows and Volunteers - for sharing in the mission to protect species and restore habitats.
The ZSL community storybook
Your Story: Our History
Together, we’re creating one giant global storybook that celebrates the many ways ZSL has been part of people’s lives over the past 200 years – and reflects how people have shaped our history. It’s also a way for those who can’t join an anniversary event in person to still be part of our historic anniversary year.
At the end of 2026, the Community Storybook will join the collection in the ZSL Library and Archives, preserved for future generations to explore. Add your story and help us make history together.
6 entries.
In the early 2000s I was an executive in the property sector in the West end and Kings Cross. I used to regularly run around Regent's Park enjoying the views of camels, giraffes and the Snowdon Aviary. Little did I know that I would actually work at London Zoo later in my career. What a great outcome!
Coming to London Zoo or Whipsnade Zoo was a birthday tradition throughout my 20s. I always came on a weekday, alone or with a friend, and spent a happy day exploring this historic place and the animals I'd only ever seen in books or on TV. It always made me happy and feel connected to nature, particularly living in a city. In my 30s I was lucky enough to come and work at ZSL, and it's been the best ten years of my working life. I still look at those pics of me in my 20s, at the Zoos - that girl never imagined she would be so lucky as to spend every day there.
London Zoo has been of huge significance to my family for close to 80 years. My Dad, John FitzGibbon, was obsessed with animals and visited the zoo monthly (or more!) as a child in the 1940s and 50s. He met his hero, Gerald Durrell, in the bird house as a teenager and went on to become a zoologist, working at the zoo, first as a holiday job in the early 1960s and again in the late 1960s and 1970s as a keeper in the primate section, (with a job in the mammal section at the Natural History Museum in between!). At the Zoo Dad worked with Guy the gorilla (giving him a bottle with a blob of jam in it, alongside other, more prosaic tasks) as well as chimps and baboons. He was once (briefly!) locked in an enclosure with a male Mandrill after a mishap in communication with a colleague. In spite of that hairy moment - perhaps even because of it - that time was one of the best of Dad's life.
Throughout my childhood in the late 1980s and 1990s we visited the zoo every school holiday. Dad was a Fellow so we'd have our packed lunch on the Fellows Lawn (or in the Elephant House if it was raining!), always with chips from the restaurant. We enjoyed visiting the apes, of course, but also spent ages in the bird house and the nocturnal exhibit under the Clore pavillion and we'd brave the old insect house, up a rickety metal staircase, while Mum watched the otters nearby.
Dad continued to visit the zoo library weekly up until ill health forced him to stop in his mid-70s. He died in December 2025 and when planning his funeral we knew the zoo had to be a part of it somehow. Our route took him past the gate one last time and the wonderful Library staff arranged a guard of honour. It was incredibly touching to have zoo staff who never knew Dad marking the life of a fellow animal enthusiast in this way.
The zoo is such an important and special place; seeing animals in the flesh, observing them, interacting with them and making a direct connection with them, is vital to understanding and caring for the species we share a planet with. Happy Birthday London Zoo! Here's to the next 200 years.
ZSL has played a significant part in my life. London Zoo was one of the first zoos I visited as a child, and continued to do so with my grandparents during the school holidays on the dedicated TFL “Zoo Bus!” When I passed my Driving Test, Whipsnade was the first place I visited, and was also the destination I took my wife on our first date! I was also a Learning Volunteer at Whipsnade for 10 years, eventually giving it up when our first child was born (who we named after one of the zoo’s giraffes!)
There is nowhere quite as special and as unique as London Zoo, it's probably my favourite animal collection to go to whenever I have the chance. I simply love being surrounded by the history and the amazing life contained within the zoo. I'm constantly fascinated and in awe of the rich and diverse history of the site, it's many varied inhabitants, the tireless and wonderful keepers, it's bold and one of a kind architecture, and the fantastic conservation work which is carried out to ensure the survival and biodiversity of species across the planet.
I can't even remember the first time I visited, but I've been coming to see the animals for pretty much my entire life. My lifelong obsession with Aye-Ayes is thanks in part to seeing them for the first time tucked away in the Roundhouse, and being able to see them in their new home by the other lemurs is always such a treat. There's always something new to see and explore, especially with the other rare and unusual animals still at the zoo, and with the membership it's great to help contribute to the welfare and conservation of these species.
I also really enjoy seeing all the elaborate and ground-breaking buildings (even if a lot of them are now considered outdated for animal housing) and their history, boasting so many species over the years. From Javan and Sumatran Rhinoceros, and the now extinct Thylacine amongst others, to the world's first Insect House, Aquarium and Reptile House. This zoo has it all. Enclosure design has always interested me, and to see it put to use at its fullest in the new Reptile House is fabulous.
Collecting the numerous old guide books, maps and supplementary ZSL branded material from either online or directly from the zoo's gift shop has become a big hobby of mine to be able to study and compare the changes and additions to the zoo over its 200 year existence. Any and every bit of content about this place intrigues me. I will forever enjoy a visit to the zoo.