THE BOARD of London Zoo has demanded the resignation of Joe Gipps, the director and the man most closely identified with the revival in the fortunes of the troubled institution in Regent's Park.

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Michael Stuart Laverack, zoologist and marine biologist: born Croydon 19 March 1931; scientific officer, Nature Conservancy, Merlewood Research Station 1959-60; University Lecturer, Zoology Department, St Andrews University 1960-68, Senior Lecturer 1968, Professor of Marine Biology 1969-91; Director, Gatty Marine Laboratory 1969-85; Australian Senior Research Fellow, Zoology department, University of Melbourne 1991-93; married 1961 Maureen Cole (two sons, one daughter); died Queensland 28 July 1993.

WHAT makes a happy marriage? A recent research paper, Correlates of Satisfaction in British Marriages by G E Weisfeld, R J H Russell, C C Weisfeld and P A Wells (Ethology & Sociobiology, Vol 13, 1992,) studied 1,000 couples to find out. Their resulting recipe for a contented marriage is that similarity breeds contentment, that husbands should largely be responsible for the decision-making, and that wives should be a little more attractive than their mates, writes William Hartston.

Witty, high-jinks social satire with a serious moral purpose is provided by this farcical story-line: the last surviving member of the Xique Xique people of Brazil (aka Charlie Duckworth) is brought to England by a well-meaning zoologist. Charlie's choppy career as Innocent Abroad is not helped by his appearance and physical attributes (bright yellow eyes and orange skin, a single tuft of hair on his head and a penis like a corkscrew); more devastating, though, is the human intolerance he encounters. Thoughtful as well as funny.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Ling-Ling, the National Zoo's female giant panda, has died of heart failure, but about 100 of her eggs have been saved for possible test-tube fertilisation, zoo officials said.

LONDON ZOO has rejected a pounds 61m City-backed plan to rejuvenate its Regent's Park site and opted for an in-house scheme centred on animal breeding. The zoo's ruling council said yesterday that the ambitious City plan, led by David Laing, of the Laing construction family, threatened the zoo's 'sovereignty'.

Sir: The search for extraterrestrial intelligence may be worthwhile because of the improbability of success. As Ken Manley clearly explains (Letters, 2 October), the chances are slim because the windows through which signals may reach us are limited.

The secretary and treasurer of the Zoological Society of London, Sir Barry Cross and Peter Holwell, announced they would resign at yesterday's annual meeting of the society, held on the day the zoo had been destined to close.

Starring eyes: London Zoo's Layang Layang is made up as Ganesh, a Hindu god, as part of a weekend of activities in celebration of elephants.

A majority of London Zoo's ruling council have said they will resign - with their departure staggered while replacements are found.

Sir: I read with concern Susan Watts's article (19 September) about David Laing's proposal to build an aquarium at London Zoo. While I agree that such an aquarium would make a most interesting display and that Sir David Attenborough is right to suggest that it would be a way of maintaining contact with the excitement and drama of the natural world, there are two reasons why an aquarium on such a scale would be undesirable at London Zoo.

Maurice Burton, zoologist, born London 28 March 1898, biology master Latymer Foundation Hammersmith 1924-27, Curator of Sponges British Museum (Natural History) 1927-58 and Deputy Keeper of Zoology 1949-58, Science Editor Illustrated London News 1946-64, Nature Correspondent Daily Telegraph 1949-90, married 1929 Margaret Maclean (died 1990; two sons, one daughter), died Albury Surrey 9 September 1992.

DAVID LAING, the driving force behind the pounds 61m bid to revitalise London Zoo, has said he will go ahead with plans to build a national aquarium elsewhere in London if the zoo rejects his proposal.