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Animals

Pigs in the medieval city. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Visitors promenade alongside a lake with Surrey Zoological Gardens in the background, 1844 (Photo by Guildhall Library & Art Gallery/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Victorian zoosAnimal attraction in the 19th century. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Manchester dog show, c1909

The surprising history of Victorian dog shows. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The race to identify all living creatures. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Author/veterinarian Dr. James Alfred Wight (pen name James Herriot) holding up a black cat that he is examining at his veterinary surgery.

Who was the real James Herriot?The true story behind All Creatures Great and Small

Video podcastBeastly Victorians: preventing animal cruelty in the 19th century. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Beastly Victorians: preventing animal cruelty in the 19th century. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Beastly Victorians. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Cat crazy: the Victorian mania for moggies. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Jonah being devoured by a whale

QuizMedieval manuscript animals. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A horse ambulance in the 19th century, and (inset, above) an advert for an RSPCA fund for horses. The number of beasts of burden working in cities rose rapidly in the Victorian era. (Photo by Alamy)

Beastly Victorians: the 19th-century fight for animal rights. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Close up of grey and red squirrels in autumn

Britain’s squirrel wars: the 150-year battle between reds and greys. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Ravenmaster Chris Skaife at the Tower of London with a Raven

General History

What's it like to be Ravenmaster at the Tower of London?

A photo of a giant tortoise, with branches in the background.

General History

9 extinct animals you should know about

Gravestones displaying the names of pets

Pet cemeteries: where have beloved animals been laid to rest through the centuries?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

General History

Cat history: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Dog history: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A goat pokes its head over the fence at a city farm near Greenland Dock, London, which is still home to the Surrey Docks Farm

Urban animals: the growth of city farms in 20th-century Britain. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Parachuting monkeys & volcanic eruptions: an extraordinary Victorian zoo. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

City of fur and feather: the animals of medieval London. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

St George lances a dragon

Tips from historyHow do you really kill a dragon?

Saint Michael and the DragonSaint Michael and the Dragon

DragonsFrom mythological beasts of history to the firebreathers of fantasy. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

David Attenborough with mountain gorillas in Rwanda, in a famous scene from 1979’s Life on Earth

BBC at 100The rise of natural history television and David Attenborough. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An emu stares into the camera

Q&AWhat was the Emu War?

Mowgli is surrounded by wolves in a 1937 illustration from Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book

General History

Raised by wolves: the history of feral children

Cockfighting pit with crown surrounding a fight

Feather beds, cockfights and midnight flights to the moon: 5 fascinating chapters in avian history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Pets, pests & portents: birds through time. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A United Arab Emirates postage stamp issued in 1971 commemorating Laika, the Soviet dog who in 1957 became the first animal in orbit

Animals in space: the creatures who paved the way for human travel beyond Earth. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Louis Wain, c1900, with one of his pet cats. Photo by Ernest H. Mills/Getty Images)

Louis Wain: the cat-loving artist who forever changed the way that we see our feline friends. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Extinct animals of medieval Britain. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.