London Zoo is going to let visitors watch its vets at work

London (CNN) — Visitors to London Zoo will soon be able to watch its vets in action as they carry out operations, health checks and necropsies at a planned new wildlife health facility.

The zoo, which celebrates its 200th anniversary this week, has announced plans to build a new medical center that will feature a viewing gallery for visitors, thanks to a donation of £20 million ($27 million) from a long-term supporter who is not being identified.

Artists’ impressions produced by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), the international conservation charity that runs the zoo, show how children and adults will be able to watch through a large window in the operating theater as veterinary staff treat a variety of creatures, from penguins to tigers.

The clinic is being built thanks to what ZSL — which also runs Whipsnade Zoo, about 35 miles north of London — has described as the “most significant donation” in its history. There is no indication yet of when it will open.

The world’s first scientific zoo was set up on April 29, 1826. It offered most Britons their first opportunity to see giraffes, zebras and pandas in real life. This, according to ZSL’s website, is where Charles Darwin “developed his thinking,” where Beatrix Potter sketched animals and the place that provided author AA Milne with inspiration for Winnie the Pooh — after his son named his teddy for a real resident, a bear called Winnipeg.

In a short video posted on ZSL’s site, Stefan Saverimuttu, a vet at the zoo, said the new facility would be a “fantastic opportunity to really let the public in and see what we do day-to-day and how veterinary medicine can contribute to care of animals in our zoo, but also conservation outside of our zoos.”

He added: “We’re really hoping that letting people to the wildlife center will be an inspiration to people to get involved in conservation, but particularly the veterinary side of things — whether that’s becoming a veterinarian, becoming a veterinary nurse, getting involved in molecular biology, microbiology or any number of the other things that contribute to the health and welfare of animals in our zoos and beyond.”

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