Remember when: The call of the wild resonates across the years

THIS week marks the anniversary of the death of Thomas Haining Gillespie, the man who fought passionately for many years to create one of the Capital's greatest attractions - Edinburgh Zoo.

On August 6, 1967 he died aged 90 at his home on William Street, decades after realising his dream to bring exotic animals to Edinburgh for education and conservation in July 1913.

In his book, The Story of Edinburgh Zoo, he admits he became "obsessed" with the idea of trying to establish a "zoological garden or park" in the Capital at the turn of the century, yet faced great opposition from most people he spoke with, who believed animals would struggle to survive in Edinburgh's climate, and therefore the public would not support the project.

An earlier zoo in Edinburgh had opened in 1840 on East Claremont Street, but proved a "dismal failure" owing to disease and closed in 1867.

"My enthusiasm sank beneath the flood of cold water poured over it," Mr Gillespie wrote.

Although he had trained as a lawyer, he spent his childhood fascinated by animals and refused to give up on his fight for a zoo in Edinburgh.

In 1908, he discovered a new animal park in Stellington, near Hamburg, was successfully displaying wild animals in captivity, fuelling his passion further for a similar project in Edinburgh. He believed the public would want a similar attraction.

His idea started becoming a reality when he managed to form the Scottish Zoological Society the following year and then, in 1913, he was appointed director of Edinburgh Zoo when it finally opened its gates at Corstorphine Hill - putting his career as a lawyer well behind him.

As these pictures show, over the last century, Mr Gillespie's zoo has become one of Edinburgh's greatest attractions, with hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world stepping though its doors every year.

And it has grown since Mr Gillespie founded it in 1913, with more than 1000 animals now in its grounds, cared for under the highest standards of welfare, conservation and environmental guidelines.

Back in April 1972, Audrey the chimp was one of the zoo's most popular animals, pictured here as she enjoyed her "elevenses" with Carole and Warren Smyth, two children who were visiting Edinburgh from Belfast as part of a church holiday to allow them to flee the violence of their home city.

Some years earlier, in July 1963, Toco toucans Guinni and Nessi were the main attraction at the zoo, donated by brewers Arthur Guinness and Sons.