James Wren, ZSL’s Executive Vice President of Global Resources and Monaco Life’s new contributor on sustainability, explains how the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) has evolved from the first scientific zoo to a global conservation charity.
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As we prepare to ring in the new year, the ZSL will be celebrating a phenomenal 193 years of working for wildlife.
During that time, the charity has evolved from the world’s first scientific zoo to a world-class science, conservation and education institution inspiring millions to create a world where wildlife thrives through ZSL’s two zoos, carrying out conservation in the field in more than 50 countries, and publishing ground-breaking research to help save the world’s most endangered species.
ZSL London Zoo has long been at the forefront of zoological development, home to the first public aquarium, the first reptile house, the first living hippopotamus in Europe, and in 1916 Evelyn Cheeseman became the first woman in a curatorial post.
ZSL Fellow Charles Darwin worked with ZSL London Zoo’s curator of birds to identify the individual finches he studied while researching his theory of evolution by natural selection, while Jenny, the Zoo’s resident orangutan and the first ape the biologist ever saw, played a huge part in Darwin’s conclusion that man and ape must be related.
Our commitment to learning remains as strong today as it did when the Society was founded in 1826, and we continually develop our zoos to ensure we meet the complex needs of the animals in our care and can apply our expertise to protecting their wild counterparts. More recently, researchers studied the ‘waddle’ of the zoo’s Humboldt penguins in an attempt to understand the birds’ unique gait. Using custom-designed mechanics, the birds had to simply walk over plates in the ground in order for the researchers to learn how they had evolved to move that way.
Over the years our zoo has been home to many famous animals, including Guy the gorilla, Obaysch the common hippo and Winnie the black bear, immortalised as one of the most famous bears in the world through A.A. Milne’s stories. Today, the London Zoo is home to a diverse array of species, ranging from tiny Partula snails to towering giraffes.
Zoos are a substantial and real part of the world’s conservation movement. The many ways we provide support include contributing to research and data on animal ecology, physiology and behaviour, developing ground-breaking veterinary techniques that are directly transferred to wild veterinary teams, and engaging audiences and inspiring the conservationists of tomorrow.
As we head closer to our landmark 200th birthday, ZSL will evolve once again. Our vision, a world where wildlife thrives, is underpinned by a simple purpose: To inspire, inform and empower people to stop wild animals going extinct.
We will focus our efforts on conservation and science on two key areas where we see exceptional pressure on wildlife, and believe that our expertise, credibility and skill – coupled with our two inspiring zoos – can have significant impact and influence: wildlife health, and the troubled relationship between wildlife and humans.
This year saw the media highlight the devastating impact single-use plastics are having on our planet, an issue we have been addressing globally for many years. While Sir David Attenborough, a ZSL Honorary Fellow, and his Dynasties documentary showed us the continuing challenges wildlife face across the world.
It is issues such as these that are at the very heart of our work. This month alone at least ten tigers will be killed for illegal wildlife trade, today three rhinos will be killed for their horns and every 25 minutes an elephant is killed for its tusks. Many of these species are in danger of going extinct in our lifetime, something we are working incredibly hard to prevent by supporting rural communities to live side-by-side with their native wildlife through appeals such as our For People. For Wildlife. fundraising campaign.
Our cherished zoos will continue to be shared spaces of wonder, taking inspiration from the surprise and astonishment of a fun childhood visit. We’ll keep that front-of-mind as we develop these powerful public engagement platforms to inspire, inform and empower people through innovative and thoughtful new opportunities to see animals.
All of our conservation projects, engagement with communities across the world, school education programmes, ground-breaking science and zoos are funded by our zoo visitors, patrons, incredible individual donors and corporate partners – none of this would be possible without these passionate supporters.
Working together, we can create a world where wildlife thrives; to find out how you can support us, please visit zsl.org to learn more.
Exclusive offer for Monaco Life readers – if you sign up as a Patron of ZSL before the 15th January 2020 you will receive an out of hours tour of London Zoo. Find out more about the exciting benefits of being a Patron and sign up https://www.zsl.org/support-us/patrons (select Monaco Life in the ‘How did you hear about us?’ section).
Top photo: James Wren (c) ZSL
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