We recently featured some pictures of Chester Zoo in days gone by and it was so popular, we were inspired to search for more.

The zoo is one of our city’s proudest achievements and its huge popularity with people from all over the world shows no sign of waning - it’s still going strong after 86 years.

The pictures here range from the 1960s-2000s and they show just how much the zoo has evolved over the decades.

By the 1960s, Chester Zoo had reached a huge milestone by welcoming one million visitors in a year.

But owner George Mottershead wasn’t slowing down - and the zoo continued to expand throughout the decade, welcoming more and more animals, including two gibbons from Thailand and a zebriod - a cross between a zebra and a horse.

Zebriod Charlie Brown was brought to the zoo in the 1970s by a travelling circus who asked if he could stay there temporarily. The circus-folk said they would be back to collect Charlie in a few weeks, but he ended up staying for 30 years, and was a big favourite with visitors and keepers.

By the 1980s, Chester Zoo was regularly featuring on TV adverts and continued to grow even bigger as the years went by. Famous names opened new sections of the zoo, including Princess Diana, astronomer Sir Patrick Moore and even Sir David Attenborough.

And with the new millenium came new achievements for the zoo, as did an influx of accolades recognising its groundbreaking work. They continue to this day.