The day the Zoological Society of Glasgow was founded

The Society was formed with the aim of establishing a zoo within the city of Glasgow and initially it was planned that it would be one of the attractions of the 1938 Empire Exhibition.

However, this proposal was rejected by the exhibition organisers and so the society had to look further afield for locations.

Calderpark was identified as a suitable location and, although the Second World War postponed developments for several years, the zoo was finally opened in July 1947.

At its peak, the Zoo attracted around about 140,000 visitors a year and contained over 600 animals.

It closed in August 2003 after running up a debt of around £3.5 million and failing to renew their zookeeper license, surrounded by controversy on its standards of animal welfare.