London Zoo

London Zoo

London is home to several of the world's "firsts"; underground railway, toy balloon, "smog" term, and scientific zoo. Not all of us know that the first-ever toy balloon was conceived using vulcanized rubber. And just how many of us are aware that the London Zoo has been existent since 1828, way before Albert Einstein was born.

The London Zoo houses over 651 animal species. It is under the management of the Zoological Society of London, which was established two years prior the London Zoo. Ideally located in Regent's Park, one of the city's largest parks, the London Zoo was also the first to have opened a reptile house in 1849, aquarium in 1853, insect house in 1881, and children's zoo in 1938.

With the London Zoo's vast animal collection, a good number of it is famously extinct. The world's only living quagga, a plains zebra subspecies, as well as thylacine, most famous carnivorous marsupial, are both extinct and can be found at the London Zoo.

In 1880, the London Zoo was home to Jumbo, the biggest elephant known during that time. His name eventually became a symbol of everything with large size.

Winnie the Pooh has just started winning the hearts of children from all parts of the globe. But the "real" Winnie was actually a resident of the London Zoo in 1914, and was an American Black Bear. The author of the now-famous Winnie the Pooh series went to visit the zoo along with son, Christopher Robin.

The golden eagle named Goldie turned from being London Zoo's caged animal into a national icon when he made a successful escape out of the zoo in 1965, and flew over the city's roads for two weeks.

The first Giant Panda to be held in one of the western zoos is Chi Chi. She was a London zoo resident since 1958.

Another event that the London Zoo thought of is the Human Zoo. Well, some might think that it's the animal activists' way of letting us experience being locked up in cages. It's not really supposed to be as harsh as it sounds. The Human Zoo is merely a display of people of various ethnic backgrounds. It's actually a show of people with nothing on but fig leaves.

The London Zoo has gone a long way from being a house of animals intended for scientific research and study, to become a top London tourist sight. And with all the famous animals for residents, it surely deserves to be in the limelight.