3 Prince Albert Road  

51.53735, -0.149839 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Information stand on the opposite side of the road.
Animal on the picture
hedgehog

Historical background

London Zoo is the world’s oldest scientific zoo. Since its opening 190 years ago, many of the resident animals became surprisingly famous.

In 1865 the world’s largest known elephant was brought to the London Zoo for permanent residency, enjoying an enormous success among visitors, especially children, as elephant rides were offered. The elephant was named Jumbo by one of the zookeepers, and in years, this word entered the English dictionary as a synonym for something very big (for example, Boeing 747 aeroplane bears this nickname).

In 1914 a black bear called Winnipeg — or Winnie for short — joined the zoo. Winnie struck the imagination of a boy named Christopher who visited the zoo with his father, Alexander Milne. After getting back home from the zoo, Christopher renamed his teddy bear Winnie, and the world soon got one of the most famous children's stories.

Many of you have probably seen some of the zoo’s pavilions depicted in cinema. The most famous appearance was in the first Harry Potter film: the scene where Harry talks to a python was filmed at the zoo’s Reptile House, however, in reality the depicted tank is home to a black mamba rather than a python.

Present in routes of categories Lion, Lion-Mini

Passed by: 42/43 (98%).

By categories:

  • Lion: 36/37 (97%)
  • Lion-Mini: 6/6 (100%)