Conservation charity reveals record £20m donation

The charity behind London Zoo has revealed it has received a £20m donation – the largest in its history – that will fund a new animal hospital and research centre. 

The Zoological Society of London said the gift, which it was announcing to coincide with its 200th anniversary, had come from a donor who wanted to remain anonymous. 

ZSL said the funding would enable the construction of a “world-leading wildlife health centre” that would combine animal care, research and the UK’s first viewing gallery in a vet hospital. 

“The anonymous gift will allow us to create a brand new centre integrating clinical care, a teaching hospital and wildlife disease research,” the charity said. 

It said the new centre, which will be built at its Regent’s Park base in central London, would “deliver world-class care for the animals at London Zoo and support our global science and conservation efforts”. 

The charity said: “It will bring veterinary science to everyone – with visitors to the centre able to watch live procedures, from penguin health checks to porpoise post-mortems.”

Kathryn England, chief executive of ZSL, said: “As we celebrate our bicentenary with the announcement of our ambitious new wildlife health centre, we are drawing on those two centuries of scientific leadership, making us uniquely positioned to deliver this vision. 

“We established the foundations of modern zoo veterinary care, have advanced conservation science on a global scale and been at the vanguard of public engagement with wildlife; our history has shaped how wildlife is studied, treated and protected. 

“Now, that legacy becomes a platform for action.”