Scotland’s first zoo

If you think of Scotland and zoos, one automatically thinks of the Edinburgh zoo, set in the suburb of Corstorphine. This zoological park opened in 1913 and is world famous for its captive breeding programme and conservation work. However, it was certainly not the first zoo in Scotland. This credit must go to the Scottish Zoo andVariety Circus, established in Glasgow in 1897 by Edward Henry Bostock.

Born in 1858 in Buckinghamshire, Bostock came from a family of menagerie owners. Collections of wild and exotic animals had been seen in England going back to the days of William the Conqueror, who had a small royal menagerie. In the 12th century, Henry I kept a collection of animals at his palace inWoodstock, and King John established a menagerie at theTower of London, a collection that continued there until 1825.

It was not until the late 18th and early 19th centuries that travelling menageries, run