Chester Zoo is a zoological garden located in Cheshire in north west England. It was opened in 1931 by George Mottershead and his family, who used as a basis some animals reported to have come from an earlier zoo in Shavington. It is the one of the UK's largest zoos at 111 acres (0.45 km2). The zoo has a total land holding of approximately 400 acres (1.6 km2). Chester Zoo is currently operated by the North of England Zoological Society, a registered charity founded in 1934. The Zoo receives no government funding. It is the most-visited wildlife attraction in Britain with more than 1.3 million visitors in 2007. In the same year Forbes described it as one of the best fifteen zoos in the world.