Zoological Society of London: a white polar bear on an ice floe. Coloured etching by W. Panorma after H. Smith.

The Zoological Society of London, a professional scientific body with charitable status, and the oldest zoological society in the world, was first established in 1826. It was through the Zoological Gardens in Regent's Park that the society became best known in Britain and throughout the world, and took the word "zoo" into the international vocabulary. The opening on Whipsnade in 1931 marked the beginning of a new era in the breeding of rare species in captivity