Pictures show Glasgow Zoo's funniest moments caught on camera

Calderpark Zoo (later Glasgow Zoo) opened on this day in 1947.

It was home to more than 600 animals, from African lions and a polar bear called Winston, to elephants and snakes. There were parrots, monkeys, an ostrich, two cheetahs and some baboons and there were hopes that the whole place would eventually occupy 100 acres of the parkland.

The penguins were one of the biggest draws - here at the opening, some of the VIP guests including the Marchioness of Bute and her children took the opportunity to get up close and personal with them for a while.

Set up originally to create a zoo for the 1938 Empire Exhibition, that proposal was rejected and instead, the city’s first open-air zoo, and the first in Britain since the end of the war, was created on 31 acres of the Calderpark estate.

In his speech at the formal opening ceremony, the Marquis of Bute said the zoo was an “institution of which the West of Scotland has long stood in need.”

Our photographers captured many great moments at the zoo over the decades - do these bring back memories for you?

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Keeper Brian Glen was happy to show some visiting children the zoo’s Indian python in 1982, although it looks like the visitors are less sure about the whole affair. Freda the elephant arrived in 1948 and was a huge (in both senses of the word) attraction.

The zoo closed, amid mounting debts and controversy over animal welfare standards and licensing, in August 2003.