Lord Swraj Paul: 1931 – 2025
For more than 60 years, Lord Paul was a steadfast and devoted supporter of London Zoo.
Lord Paul’s love for both his family and wildlife was closely entwined: he first came to London Zoo with his family in the 1960s, while his youngest daughter Ambika was being treated for leukaemia in the city. They brought Ambika to visit between treatments, to spend time together surrounded by nature.
Ambika died aged 4 in 1968; Lord Paul often said London Zoo held a special place in his family’s hearts, describing how in her final days Ambika ‘got much happiness from visiting this zoo and sharing its ambience.’ After Ambika’s tragic death, Lord Paul commissioned the Ambika Paul Fountain, which immortalised his daughter’s love of the Zoo and remains a place of reflection for our visitors to this day.
In the mid-1990s, his generosity helped save London Zoo from the prospect of closure; it was Lord Paul who stepped in to donate a £1 million lifeline. His support was recognised in the Ambika Paul Children’s Zoo, connecting children and their families to wildlife.
In 2022 Lord Paul and the Aruna and Ambika Paul Foundation generously donated £1 million to help restore the Grade II* listed Snowdon Aviary, transforming it into Monkey Valley – a new home for colobus monkeys – and revitalising the surrounding area. In 2019, in recognition of his extraordinary commitment to ZSL, we were proud to award Lord Paul an Honorary Fellowship – the highest honour ZSL can bestow. It was an accolade he accepted with pride, reflecting the depth of his long and devoted association with ZSL.
For Lord Paul, London Zoo was a place of joy and connection. He delighted in the memories it held for his family and believed it to be a place where people could come together through their shared love of nature. Speaking at his annual summer party in 2019, he told guests “In my view, the Zoo is the best place for parents and children to enjoy being with each other.”
Thanks to his generosity, millions of families have been able to share those same moments of wonder, creating memories that will last a lifetime. Lord Paul’s legacy lives on in the countless connections with wildlife he made possible, and he will be remembered with deep gratitude and admiration by all of us at ZSL.