2010 - Asian elephant Gay is put to sleep after a long-suffering illness. The Amphibian Ark is officially opened by TV actor Anthony Head.
2009 – Four rare Sumatran tiger cubs born; Paignton Zoo hosts the ninth International Conference on Environmental Enrichment; the pioneering Verticrop vertical growing unit opens.
2008 – Crocodile Swamp opens; Curator of Birds Colin Bath retires after nearly 50 years.
2007 – First black rhino calf is born at the Zoo.
2006 – Monkey Heights is officially opened by TV celebrity Noel Edmonds. The Zoo gains a silver award in the Enjoy England Excellence Awards.
2005 – The Zoo Story book is published and Paignton Zoo achieves its ISO 14001 accreditation.
2004 – TV documentary series, Zoo Story, is screened and features the work of the Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust.
2003 – The Reptile Nursery opens and the construction of Monkey Heights begins. Living Coasts, Torquay’s coastal zoo, opens.
2002 – The Veterinary Centre opens.
2001 – The Animal Encounters theatre is completed. The Zoo temporarily closes during the Foot & Mouth Disease crisis.
2000 – Reptile Tropics opens.
1998 – The Zoo celebrates its 75th Anniversary which coincides with the Zoo's first Asiatic lion cubs being born. The Education Centre opens.
1997 – The Marie Le Fevre Ape Centre opens and the Savannah habitat opens.
1996 – The Zoo’s name changes again to Paignton Zoo Environmental Park and the habitats theme is introduced. Desert House is completed.
1995 – The Zoo is awarded a £2.9 million grant from the European Regional Development Fund and the £6m redevelopment begins.
1993 – The first orang utans arrive from London Zoo.
1989 – The Island Restaurant opens.
1986 – The new rhino house is completed.
1977 – Two elephants arrive from Longleat - Duchess (African) and Gay (Asian).
1973 – Rodent Cities and Baboon Rock are created.
1968 – The first giraffes arrive.
1964 – Paignton Zoo becomes a registered charity.
1963 – Gibbon Island is built.
1961 – The Devon Zoology Centre opens.
1955 – Herbert Whitley dies and The Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust is formed.
1949 – The first elephants arrive
1946 – The Zoo’s name changes to Paignton Zoological & Botanical Gardens.
1940 – The Zoo takes in war-time evacuees, animals and keepers from Chessington Zoo.
1934 – The first Tropical House opens.
1930 – The Zoo becomes Primley Zoological Gardens.
1924 – Temporary closure. Herbert Whitley has a dispute with the taxman over the imposition of Entertainment Tax – he feels strongly that the Zoo is a place of learning and not merely entertainment.
1923 – The Zoo opens to the public.
Click here to view some amazing archive footage from as far back as 1941.
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