Elephants walking through the city's streets and a rhino escaping because the keeper was drunk were just some of the amateurish mishaps that happened in the early days of London Zoo, a new book has revealed.

Author Isobel Charman's book charts the eventful first 25 years of the zoo as it grew from an exclusive scientific club into a major tourist attraction.

It tells amazing stories of elephants being walked through the city knocking off ladies' bonnets and animals escaping because of drunk keepers.