Vote of no confidence in chairman of crisis-hit zoo

But the society's board of directors survived a vote of no confidence by just over 100 votes.

About 500 members attended an emergency meeting at Murrayfield Stadium last night to discuss management difficulties over three senior executives, which led to two suspensions and a sacking, followed by one re-instatement.

Also on the agenda was the future of the zoo and fears that the recent turmoil could put at risk the deal to bring two pandas from China to the city.

Members had demanded the meeting to get answers on why Iain Valentine, director of animals, and the man responsible for brokering the panda deal, had been suspended. They also wanted to know why Anthony McReavy, director of development, had been sacked. Gary Wilson, interim chief operating officer, who was suspended in March, was re-instated on Wednesday.

However, while it was stated that Mr Wilson had been cleared, the other two cases were not discussed.

Jim McLean, from Linlithgow, one of the RZSS members who demanded the emergency meeting, said: "This has been a sad night for such a prestigious organisation which is held in such high esteem throughout the UK.

"The members are clearly bitterly upset at the lack of direction shown by the chairman. The vast majority of members gave a very responsible, coherent, measured show of displeasure at how things are being run."

Mr McLean said members were told a "strategy was in hand" to deal with the zoo's financial plight. "Great emphasis was being laid on the pandas and that we would have to pay the Chinese $1 million a year and would need 80,000 new customers a year coming through the gate," he said.

A spokeswoman for the RZSS said a statement on behalf of the zoo's management would not be released until later today.