Aardvark ultrasounds and dormouse vet visits: London Zoo's new attractions

Visitors to London zoo will soon be able to watch live veterinary procedures inside a state-of-the-art new animal hospital thanks to a mystery £20m donation. A viewing gallery will show everything from penguin health checks to ultrasounds on pregnant aardvarks and even porpoise post-mortems - things never before seen publicly in the UK. The health centre has been made possible by the zoo's largest ever gift - from an anonymous benefactor. With the keeping of animals in captivity increasingly questioned, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), which manages the zoo and marks its 200th anniversary today, hopes the new centre will help demonstrate the enduring value of its conservation work. According to ZSL, the Wildlife Health Centre facility aims to bring together advanced veterinary care, scientific research, professional training, and public engagement under one roof. It will also investigate how diseases could spread from animals to humans. ZSL says it will build on a long-established record of veterinary innovation, which began with employing the world's first zoo vet in 1829, a year after opening London Zoo, and later included Europe's first purpose-built zoo veterinary hospit