Qualla: Zoological Society of London

Zoological Society of London: Introduction

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. On 29 November 1822 - the birthday of the seventeenth-century naturalist John Ray, often called the father of modern zoology - a meeting was held at the Linnean Society's rooms in Soho Square. The Reverend William Kirby chaired. The resolution was to form a Zoological Club of the Linnean Society of London. From that small meeting of natural-history enthusiasts emerged, four years later, the Zoological Society of London. Its founder was Sir Stamford Raffles - colonial administrator, founder of modern Singapore, naturalist - who served as the first president for only a few months before dying in July 1826. He had wanted London to have something like the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, where a zoological collection would interest and amuse the public. Two centuries on, the society runs London Zoo, Whipsnade Zoo, and an Institute of Zoology that publishes original scientific research, and remains a registered charity with about thirty thousand members.

Image: Unknown author | Public domain

Zoological Society of London: Building the First Zoo

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. After Raffles' death, the third Marquess of Lansdowne took over as president and supervised the building of the first animal houses. A parcel of land in Regent's Park had already been obtained from the Crown at the inaugural meeting in 1826. The site was at the north end of the p...

Image: Public domain

Zoological Society of London: Whipsnade

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Eluveitie, CC BY-SA 3.0. By the early twentieth century, the society's secretary Peter Chalmers Mitchell could see that large animals needed more space than Regent's Park could give them. He looked for a site within seventy miles of London - close enough that members could visit, far enough that animals ...

Image: Eluveitie | CC BY-SA 3.0

Zoological Society of London: The Institute of Zoology

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit StagiaireMGIMO, CC BY-SA 4.0. In 1960 and 1961, Lord Zuckerman - then secretary of ZSL - persuaded two medical foundations to fund a research division. The Institute of Zoology became one of the first scientific bodies in the world to focus specifically on the conservation of species and their habitats. Its r...

Image: StagiaireMGIMO | CC BY-SA 4.0

Zoological Society of London: Sir David and the Honorary Fellows

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mx. Granger, CC0. The list of Honorary Fellows of ZSL reads like a roll-call of twentieth and twenty-first century naturalists and conservation patrons. Sir David Attenborough was elected in 1998. The Emperor Emeritus Akihito of Japan, who is a working ichthyologist (he has published research on t...

Image: Mx. Granger | CC0

Zoological Society of London: What ZSL Does Now

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Kreepin Deth, CC BY 3.0. In 2026, the society is in some ways back to first principles - using its zoos as gates into a much larger conservation programme. Field projects run on every continent. The EDGE of Existence programme identifies species that are both Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endanger...

Image: Kreepin Deth | CC BY 3.0