Royal Zoological Society of Scotland

The society was able to raise £17,000, with the help of Edinburgh Council, to buy an 85-acre site on Corstorphine Hill for a zoo. Gillespie envisioned Edinburgh Zoo leaving behind the concept of the Victorian menagerie and creating an open zoo, where the animals are kept in large enclosures with space for them to retreat from view if desired. Inspiration for the zoo design came from Carl Hagenbeck’s (1844-1913) zoo in Hamburg where cages were exchanged for moats and illusion, and the enclosures were designed to mimic the animal’s home environments.

Edinburgh Zoo was designed by Patrick Geddes (1954-1932), whose archive is held here at the University (Coll-1167), and was opened to the public 22nd July 1913. Much of the original layout of the zoo, challengingly built on an incline on Corstorphine Hill, can still be seen today.
Edinburgh Zoo became well known around the world for its penguin collection. Gillespie managed to acquire penguins with support from the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s president, Lord Salvesen (1857-1942). Lord Salvesen was able to supply Edinburgh Zoo with penguins due to the Salvesen Whaling Company’s presence on South Georgia. The first batch of penguins (six in total, including four king penguins, a gentoo and a macaroni) arrived in Edinburgh in 1914 via the whaling ship, Coronda. Edinburgh Zoo became the first to successfully breed penguins when, in 1919, the first penguin outside the southern hemisphere, was born. Edinburgh Zoo’s connection with penguins continues to this day.

Since its beginnings as a zoo aiming to transform how the public engage and learn about animals, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland continues to adapt and change with the times. The Royal Zoological Society not only manages Edinburgh Zoo, but also the Highland Wildlife Park in 1986, where, again, the society aims to house animals in large, natural enclosures. The society places education and conservation at the centre of their ethos and aims with conservation research and programmes based in Scotland and across the world.