ZSL, the charity that runs London Zoo, is to build an animal health centre at the central London attraction after receiving a record £20m donation.

The anonymous gift is the largest donation in the zoo’s 200-year history.

“The new centre at our UK headquarters at Regent's Park will deliver world-class care for the animals at London Zoo and support our global science and conservation efforts,” said the charity.

“It will bring veterinary science to everyone – with visitors to the centre able to watch live procedures, from penguin health checks to porpoise post-mortems.”

The centre is part of the zoo’s “veterinary heritage” said the charity, which has included employing the world’s first zoo vet in 1829 to building Europe’s first purpose-built zoo hospital 70 years ago.

Its chief executive Kathryn England said: “We established the foundations of modern zoo veterinary care, have advanced conservation science on a global scale and been at the vanguard of public engagement with wildlife; our history has shaped how wildlife is studied, treated and protected. Now, that legacy becomes a platform for action."

ZSL head of wildlife services Dr Amanda Guthrie added: “This is a truly momentous way to mark ZSL's 200th anniversary, and as an organisation founded with a mission to better understand wildlife, this is an extraordinary recognition of that work.

"I'm personally so excited that visitors will be able to see this work happening, building on the enormous efforts we already make to inspire the next generation of conservationists."

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