![World zoo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/World_zoo.png)
![Rhinoceros unicornis - Tiergarten Schönbrunn](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Rhinoceros_unicornis_-_Tiergarten_Sch%C3%B6nbrunn.jpg)
A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which
animal
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...
s are kept within enclosures for public
exhibition and often bred for
conservation
Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws.
Conservation may also refer to:
Environment and natural resources
* Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...
purposes.
The term ''zoological garden'' refers to
zoology
Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...
, the study of animals. The term is derived from the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
, , 'animal', and the suffix , , 'study of'. The abbreviation ''zoo'' was first used of the
London Zoological Gardens
London Zoo, also known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for scientific study. In 1831 or 1832, ...
, which was opened for scientific study in 1828 and to the public in 1847.
["Landmarks in ZSL History"]
, Zoological Society of London. In the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
alone, zoos are visited by over 181 million people annually.
Etymology
![Siperiantiikeri Korkeasaari](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Siperiantiikeri_Korkeasaari.jpg)
The
London Zoo, which was opened in 1828, was initially known as the "Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological Society of London", and it described itself as a
menagerie or "zoological forest".
[Blunt 1976; Reichenbach 2002, pp. 151–163.] The abbreviation "zoo" first appeared in print in the United Kingdom around 1847, when it was used for the
Clifton Zoo, but it was not until some 20 years later that the shortened form became popular in the rhyming song "
Walking in the Zoo" by music-hall artist
Alfred Vance.
[ The term "zoological park" was used for more expansive facilities in ]Halifax, Nova Scotia
Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...
, Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, and the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
in New York, which opened in 1847, 1891 and 1899 respectively.
Relatively new terms for zoos in the late 20th century are "conservation
Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws.
Conservation may also refer to:
Environment and natural resources
* Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...
park" or "bio park". Adopting a new name is a strategy used by some zoo professionals to distance their institutions from the stereotypical and nowadays criticized zoo concept of the 19th century. The term "bio park" was first coined and developed by the National Zoo in Washington D.C. in the late 1980s. In 1993, the New York Zoological Society
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...
changed its name to the Wildlife Conservation Society
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a non-governmental organization headquartered at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, that aims to conserve the world's largest wild places in 14 priority regions. Founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological ...
and re branded the zoos under its jurisdiction as "wildlife conservation parks".
History
Royal menageries
The predecessor of the zoological garden is the menagerie, which has a long history from the ancient world to modern times. The oldest known zoological collection was revealed during excavations at Hierakonpolis
Nekhen ( egy, nḫn, ); in grc, Ἱεράκων πόλις Hierakonpolis ( either: City of the Hawk, or City of the Falcon, a reference to Horus or ''Hierakōn polis'' "Hawk City" in arz, الكوم الأحمر, el-Kōm el-Aḥmar, lit=the ...
, Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
in 2009, of a ca. 3500 BCE menagerie. The exotic animals included hippopotami
The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...
, hartebeest
The hartebeest (; ''Alcelaphus buselaphus''), also known as kongoni or kaama, is an African antelope. It is the only member of the genus ''Alcelaphus''. Eight subspecies have been described, including two sometimes considered to be independ ...
, elephant
Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...
s, baboon
Baboons are primates comprising the genus ''Papio'', one of the 23 genera of Old World monkeys. There are six species of baboon: the hamadryas baboon, the Guinea baboon, the olive baboon, the yellow baboon, the Kinda baboon and the chacma ...
s and wildcat
The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...
s. King Ashur-bel-kala
Aššūr-bēl-kala, inscribed m''aš-šur-''EN''-ka-la'' and meaning “ Aššur is lord of all,” was the king of Assyria 1074/3–1056 BC, the 89th to appear on the ''Assyrian Kinglist''. He was the son of Tukultī-apil-Ešarra I, succeeded his ...
of the Middle Assyrian Empire created zoological and botanical gardens in the 11th century BCE. In the 2nd century BCE, the Chinese Empress Tanki had a "house of deer" built, and King Wen of Zhou kept a zoo called ''Ling-Yu,'' or the Garden of Intelligence. Other well-known collectors of animals included King Solomon of the Kingdom of Israel and Judah, queen Semiramis
''Samīrāmīs'', hy, Շամիրամ ''Šamiram'') was the semi-legendary Lydian- Babylonian wife of Onnes and Ninus, who succeeded the latter to the throne of Assyria, according to Movses Khorenatsi. Legends narrated by Diodorus Siculus, who dr ...
and King Ashurbanipal of Assyria
Assyria ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the ...
, and King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. By the 4th century BCE, zoos existed in most of the Greek city states; Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
is known to have sent animals that he found on his military expeditions back to Greece. The Roman emperors kept private collections of animals for study or for use in the arena,[ the latter faring notoriously poorly. The 19th-century historian W. E. H. Lecky wrote of the ]Roman games
The ''Ludi Romani'' ("Roman Games"; see ''ludi'') was a religious festival in ancient Rome. Usually including multiple ceremonies called ''ludi''. They were held annually starting in 366 BC from September 12 to September 14, later extended to S ...
, first held in 366 BCE:
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...
had an elephant named Abul-Abbas
Abul-Abbas ( – 810) was an Asian elephant brought back to the Carolingian emperor Charlemagne by his diplomat Isaac the Jew. The gift was from the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid and symbolizes the beginning of Abbasid–Carolingian relati ...
that was given to him by the Abbasid Caliph. Henry I of England kept a collection of animals at his palace in Woodstock
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...
which reportedly included lions, leopards, and camels.[Blunt, Wilfred. ''The Ark in the Park: The Zoo in the Nineteenth Century''. Hamish Hamilton, 1976, pp. 15–17.] The most prominent collection in medieval England was in the Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...
, created as early as 1204 by King John I.
Henry III received a wedding gift in 1235 of three leopards from Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, and in 1264, the animals were moved to the Bulwark, renamed the Lion Tower, near the main western entrance of the Tower. It was opened to the public during the reign of Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...
in the 16th century. During the 18th century, the price of admission was three half-pence, or the supply of a cat or dog for feeding to the lions.[ The animals were moved to the London Zoo when it opened.
]Aztec
The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl ...
emperor Moctezuma had in his capital city of Tenochtitlan
, ; es, Tenochtitlan also known as Mexico-Tenochtitlan, ; es, México-Tenochtitlan was a large Mexican in what is now the historic center of Mexico City. The exact date of the founding of the city is unclear. The date 13 March 1325 was ...
a "house of animals" with a large collection of birds, mammals and reptiles in a garden tended by more than 600 employees. The garden was described by several Spanish conquerors, including Hernán Cortés in 1520. After the Aztec revolt against the Spanish rule, and during the subsequent battle for the city, Cortés reluctantly ordered the zoo to be destroyed.
Enlightenment Era
The oldest zoo in the world still in existence is the Tiergarten Schönbrunn
Tiergarten (German for "zoo") may refer to:
* Tiergarten (park)
The Tiergarten ( en, Animal Garden; formal German name: ( en, Greater Animal Garden)) is Berlin’s most popular inner-city park, located completely in the district of the same ...
in Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, Austria. It was constructed by Adrian van Stekhoven
Adrian is a form of the Latin language, Latin given name Adrianus (given name), Adrianus or Hadrianus (disambiguation), Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria (river), Adria from the Venetic language, Venetic and ...
in 1752 at the order of Emperor Francis I, to serve as an imperial menagerie as part of Schönbrunn Palace
Schönbrunn Palace (german: Schloss Schönbrunn ; Central Bavarian: ''Schloss Scheenbrunn'') was the main summer residence of the Habsburg rulers, located in Hietzing, Vienna. The name ''Schönbrunn'' (meaning “beautiful spring”) has its root ...
. The menagerie was initially reserved for the viewing pleasure of the imperial family and the court, but was made accessible to the public in 1765.
In 1775, a zoo was founded in Madrid, and in 1795, the zoo inside the '' Jardin des Plantes'' in Paris was founded by Jacques-Henri Bernardin, with animals from the royal menagerie at Versailles, primarily for scientific research and education. The planning about a space for the conservation and observation of animals was expressed in connection with the political construction of republican citizenship.
The Kazan Zoo, the first zoo in Russia was founded in 1806 by the Professor of Kazan State University
Kazan (Volga region) Federal University (russian: Казанский (Приволжский) федеральный университет, tt-Cyrl, Казан (Идел буе) федераль университеты) is a public research uni ...
Karl Fuchs.
The modern zoo
Until the early 19th century, the function of the zoo was often to symbolize royal power, like King Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Ver ...
's menagerie at Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...
. Major cities in Europe set up zoos in the 19th century, usually using London and Paris as models. The transition was made from princely menageries designed to entertain high society with strange novelties into public zoological gardens. The new goal was to educate the entire population with information along modern scientific lines. Zoos were supported by local commercial or scientific societies.
British Empire
The modern zoo that emerged in the 19th century in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, was focused on providing scientific study and later educational exhibits to the public for entertainment and inspiration.
A growing fascination for natural history and zoology
Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...
, coupled with the tremendous expansion in the urbanization of London, led to a heightened demand for a greater variety of public forms of entertainment to be made available. The need for public entertainment, as well as the requirements of scholarly research, came together in the founding of the first modern zoos. Whipsnade Park Zoo in Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...
, England, opened in 1931. It allowed visitors to drive through the enclosures and come into close proximity with the animals.
The Zoological Society of London
The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained the London Zoo, and since 1931 Whipsnade Park.
History
On 29 ...
was founded in 1826 by Stamford Raffles
Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British statesman who served as the Lieutenant-Governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816, and Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen between 1818 and 1824. He is ...
and established the London Zoo in Regent's Park
Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...
two years later in 1828. At its founding, it was the world's first scientific zoo. Originally intended to be used as a collection for scientific study, it was opened to the public in 1847. The Zoo was located in Regent's Park
Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...
- then undergoing development at the hands of the architect John Nash. What set the London zoo apart from its predecessors was its focus on society at large. The zoo was established in the middle of a city for the public, and its layout was designed to cater for the large London population. The London zoo was widely copied as the archetype of the public city zoo. In 1853, the Zoo opened the world's first public aquarium
A public aquarium (plural: ''public aquaria'' or ''public Water Zoo'') is the aquatic counterpart of a zoo, which houses living aquatic animal and plant specimens for public viewing. Most public aquariums feature tanks larger than those kept b ...
.
Dublin Zoo
Dublin Zoo ( ga, Zú Bhaile Átha Cliath), in Phoenix Park, Dublin, is a zoo in Ireland, and one of Dublin's most popular attractions. Established and designed in 1830 by Decimus Burton, it opened the following year. Today it focuses on conserv ...
was opened in 1831 by members of the medical profession interested in studying animals while they were alive and more particularly getting hold of them when they were dead.
Downs' Zoological Gardens
Downs' Zoological Gardens is the oldest North American scientific zoo north of Mexico, and opened to the public the same year as the London Zoo.
Opening
It was opened in Nova Scotia in 1847, and was originally intended to be used as a collection ...
created by Andrew Downs and opened to the Nova Scotia public in 1847. It was originally intended to be used as a collection for scientific study. By the early 1860s, the zoo grounds covered 40 hectares with many fine flowers and ornamental trees, picnic areas, statues, walking paths, The Glass House (which contained a greenhouse with an aviary, aquarium, and museum of stuffed animals and birds), a pond, a bridge over a waterfall, an artificial lake with a fountain, a wood-ornamented greenhouse, a forest area, and enclosures and buildings.
The first zoological garden in Australia was Melbourne Zoo
Melbourne Zoo is a zoo in Melbourne, Australia. It is located within Royal Park in Parkville, approximately north of the centre of Melbourne. It is the primary zoo serving Melbourne. The zoo contains more than 320 animal species from Austr ...
in 1860.
Germany
In German states leading roles came Berlin (1841), Frankfurt (1856), and Hamburg (1863). In 1907, the entrepreneur Carl Hagenbeck founded the Tierpark Hagenbeck
The Tierpark Hagenbeck is a zoo in Stellingen, Hamburg, Germany. The collection began in 1863 with animals that belonged to Carl Hagenbeck Sr. (1810–1887), a fishmonger who became an amateur animal collector. The park itself was founded by Ca ...
in Stellingen, now a quarter of Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
. His zoo was a radical departure from the layout of the zoo that had been established in 1828. It was the first zoo to use open enclosures surrounded by moats, rather than barred cages, to better approximate animals' natural environments. He also set up mixed-species exhibits and based the layout on the different organizing principle of geography, as opposed to taxonomy.
Poland
The Wrocław Zoo
The Wrocław Zoological Garden, known simply as the Wrocław Zoo ( pl, Ogród Zoologiczny we Wrocławiu), is a zoo on Wróblewskiego Street in Wrocław, Poland. It is the oldest zoo in Poland, having been opened in 1865 as the Breslau Zoological G ...
( pl, Ogród Zoologiczny we Wrocławiu) is the oldest zoo in Poland, opened in 1865 when the city was part of Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
, and was home to about 10,500 animals representing about 1,132 species (in terms of the number of animal species, it is the third largest in the world). In 2014 the Wrocław Zoo opened the Africarium, the only themed oceanarium
An oceanarium can be either a marine mammal park, such as Marineland of Canada, or a large-scale aquarium, such as the Lisbon Oceanarium, presenting an ocean habitat with marine animals, especially large ocean dwellers such as sharks.
First ma ...
devoted solely to exhibiting the fauna of Africa
The fauna of Africa, in its broader sense, is all the animals living in Africa and its surrounding seas and islands. The more characteristic African fauna is found in the Afrotropical realm. Lying almost entirely within the tropics, and equally to ...
, comprehensively presenting selected ecosystems from the continent of Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
. Housing over 10 thousand animals, the facility's breadth extends from housing insects such cockroaches to large mammals like elephants on an area of over 33 hectare
The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ...
s.
United States
In the United States, the Philadelphia Zoo
The Philadelphia Zoo, located in the Centennial District of Philadelphia on the west bank of the Schuylkill River, is the first true zoo in the United States. It was chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on March 21, 1859, but its openin ...
, opened July 1, 1874, earning its motto "America's First Zoo." The Lincoln Park Zoological Gardens in Chicago and the Cincinnati Zoo opened in 1875. In the 1930s, federal relief programs provided financial aid to most local zoos. The Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
and similar New Deal government agencies helped greatly in the construction, renovation, and expansion of zoos when the Great Depression severely reduced local budgets. It was "a new deal for animals."
The Atlanta Zoo
Zoo Atlanta (sometimes referred as Atlanta Zoo) is an Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) accredited zoological park in Atlanta, Georgia. The current president and CEO of Zoo Atlanta is Raymond B. King.
History
Zoo Atlanta was founded in ...
, founded in 1886, suffered neglect. By 1984 it was ranked among the ten worst zoos in the United States. Systematic reform by 2000 put it on the list of the ten best.
By 2020, the United States featured 230 accredited zoos and aquariums across 45 states, accommodating 800,000 animals, and 6,000 species out of which about 1,000 are endangered. The zoos provide 208,000 jobs, and with an annual
budget of $230 million for wildlife conservation. They attract over 200 million visits a year and have special programs for schools. They are organized by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums
The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), originally the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums, is an American 501(c)(3)
nonprofit organization founded in 1924 and dedicated to the advancement of zoos and public aquariums in ...
.
Japan
Japan's first modern zoo, Tokyo's Ueno Imperial Zoological Gardens, opened in 1882 based on European models. In World War II it was used to teach the Japanese people about the lands recently conquered by the Army. In 1943, fearing American bombing attacks, the government ordered the zoo to destroy dangerous animals that might escape.
Environmentalism
When ecology
Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...
emerged as a matter of public interest in the 1970s, a few zoos began to consider making conservation their central role, with Gerald Durrell
Gerald Malcolm Durrell, (7 January 1925 – 30 January 1995) was a British naturalist, writer, zookeeper, conservationist, and television presenter. He founded the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Jersey Zoo on the Channel Island o ...
of the Jersey Zoo, George Rabb of Brookfield Zoo
Brookfield Zoo, also known as the Chicago Zoological Park, is a zoo located in the Chicago suburb of Brookfield, Illinois. It houses around 450 species of animals in an area of . It opened on July 1, 1934, and quickly gained international recogn ...
, and William Conway of the Bronx Zoo
The Bronx Zoo (also historically the Bronx Zoological Park and the Bronx Zoological Gardens) is a zoo within Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York. It is one of the largest zoos in the United States by area and is the largest metropolitan zoo in ...
(Wildlife Conservation Society
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a non-governmental organization headquartered at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, that aims to conserve the world's largest wild places in 14 priority regions. Founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological ...
) leading the discussion. From then on, zoo professionals became increasingly aware of the need to engage themselves in conservation programs, and the American Zoo Association soon said that conservation was its highest priority. In order to stress conservation issues, many large zoos stopped the practice of having animals perform tricks for visitors. The Detroit Zoo
The Detroit Zoo is a zoo located in Royal Oak, Michigan, spanning 125 acres and housing more than 2,000 animals and more than 245 different species. It was the first U.S. zoo to feature bar-less habitats, and is regarded to be an international ...
, for example, stopped its elephant show in 1969, and its chimpanzee show in 1983, acknowledging that the trainers had probably abused the animals to get them to perform.
Mass destruction of wildlife habitat has yet to cease all over the world and many species such as elephants, big cats, penguins, tropical birds, primates, rhinos, exotic reptiles, and many others are in danger of dying out. Many of today's zoos hope to stop or slow the decline of many endangered species and see their primary purpose as breeding endangered species in captivity and reintroducing them into the wild. Modern zoos also aim to help teach visitors the importance on animal conservation, often through letting visitors witness the animals firsthand.[Masci, David. "Zoos in the 21st Century." CQ Researcher 28 Apr. 2000: 353–76. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.] Some critics and the majority of animal rights activists say that zoos, no matter what their intentions are, or how noble they are, are immoral and serve as nothing but to fulfill human leisure at the expense of the animals (which is an opinion that has spread over the years). However, zoo advocates argue that their efforts make a difference in wildlife conservation and education.
Human exhibits
Human beings were occasionally displayed in cages at zoos along with non-human animals, to illustrate the differences between people of Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
an and non-European origin. In September 1906, William Hornaday, director of the Bronx Zoo
The Bronx Zoo (also historically the Bronx Zoological Park and the Bronx Zoological Gardens) is a zoo within Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York. It is one of the largest zoos in the United States by area and is the largest metropolitan zoo in ...
in New York—with the agreement of Madison Grant
Madison Grant (November 19, 1865 – May 30, 1937) was an American lawyer, zoologist, anthropologist, and writer known primarily for his work as a eugenicist and conservationist, and as an advocate of scientific racism. Grant is less noted f ...
, head of the New York Zoological Society
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...
—had Ota Benga
Ota Benga ( – March 20, 1916) was a Mbuti ( Congo pygmy) man, known for being featured in an exhibit at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri, and as a human zoo exhibit in 1906 at the Bronx Zoo. Benga had been pur ...
, a Congolese pygmy
In anthropology, pygmy peoples are ethnic groups whose average height is unusually short. The term pygmyism is used to describe the phenotype of endemic short stature (as opposed to disproportionate dwarfism occurring in isolated cases in a pop ...
, displayed in a cage with the chimpanzees, then with an orangutan
Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genu ...
named Dohong, and a parrot. The exhibit was intended as an example of the "missing link" between the orangutan and white man. It triggered protests from the city's clergymen, but the public reportedly flocked to see Benga.["Man and Monkey Show Disapproved by Clergy"]
, ''The New York Times'', September 10, 1906.
Human beings were also displayed at various events, especially colonial expositions such as the 1931 Paris Colonial Exposition
The Paris Colonial Exhibition (or "''Exposition coloniale internationale''", International Colonial Exhibition) was a six-month colonial exhibition held in Paris, France, in 1931 that attempted to display the diverse cultures and immense resour ...
, with the practice continuing in Belgium at least to as late as 1958 in a "Congolese village" display at Expo '58
Expo 58, also known as the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (french: Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles de 1958, nl, Brusselse Wereldtentoonstelling van 1958), was a world's fair held on the Heysel/Heizel Plateau in Brussels, Bel ...
in Brussels. These displays, while sometimes called "human zoos", usually did not take place in zoos or use cages.
Type
Zoo animals live in enclosures that often attempt to replicate their natural habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
s or behavioral patterns, for the benefit of both the animals and visitors. Nocturnal animals are often housed in buildings with a reversed light-dark cycle, i.e. only dim white or red lights are on during the day so the animals are active during visitor hours, and brighter lights on at night when the animals sleep. Special climate conditions may be created for animals living in extreme environments, such as penguins. Special enclosures for bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...
s, mammals, insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...
s, reptiles, fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...
, and other aquatic life forms have also been developed. Some zoos have walk-through exhibits where visitors enter enclosures of non-aggressive species, such as lemur
Lemurs ( ) (from Latin ''lemures'' – ghosts or spirits) are wet-nosed primates of the superfamily Lemuroidea (), divided into 8 families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 existing species. They are endemic to the island of Madagas ...
s, marmoset
The marmosets (), also known as zaris or sagoin, are 22 New World monkey species of the genera '' Callithrix'', '' Cebuella'', '' Callibella'', and ''Mico''. All four genera are part of the biological family Callitrichidae. The term "marmoset" ...
s, birds, lizards, and turtle
Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...
s. Visitors are asked to keep to paths and avoid showing or eating foods that the animals might snatch.
Safari park
Some zoos keep animals in larger, outdoor enclosures, confining them with moats and fences, rather than in cages. Safari park
A safari park, sometimes known as a wildlife park, is a zoo-like commercial drive-in tourist attraction where visitors can drive their own vehicles or ride in vehicles provided by the facility to observe freely roaming animals.
A safari park ...
s, also known as zoo parks and lion farms, allow visitors to drive through them and come in close proximity to the animals.[ Sometimes, visitors are able to feed animals through the car windows. The first safari park was Whipsnade Park in Bedfordshire, England, opened by the ]Zoological Society of London
The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained the London Zoo, and since 1931 Whipsnade Park.
History
On 29 ...
in 1931 which today (2014) covers 600 acres (2.4 km2). Since the early 1970s, an 1,800 acre (7 km2) park in the San Pasqual Valley near San Diego has featured the San Diego Zoo Safari Park
The San Diego Zoo Safari Park, originally named the San Diego Wild Animal Park until 2010, is an 1,800 acre (730 ha) zoo in the San Pasqual Valley area of San Diego, California, near Escondido. It is one of the largest tourist attractions in S ...
, run by the Zoological Society of San Diego. One of two state-supported zoo parks in North Carolina is the North Carolina Zoo
The North Carolina Zoo is a zoo in Asheboro, North Carolina, housing 1,800 animals of more than 250 species, primarily representing Africa and North America. It is one of two state-supported zoos in the United States, with the other being the ...
in Asheboro. The Werribee Open Range Zoo
Werribee Open Range Zoo is an African themed zoo in Werribee, about south-west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is part of the Zoological Parks and Gardens Board or Zoos Victoria which also includes Melbourne Zoo and Healesville Sanctuary ...
in Melbourne, Australia, displays animals living in an artificial savannah.
Aquaria
The first public aquarium
A public aquarium (plural: ''public aquaria'' or ''public Water Zoo'') is the aquatic counterpart of a zoo, which houses living aquatic animal and plant specimens for public viewing. Most public aquariums feature tanks larger than those kept b ...
was opened at the London Zoo in 1853. This was followed by the opening of public aquaria in continental Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
(e.g. Paris in 1859, Hamburg in 1864, Berlin in 1869, and Brighton in 1872) and the United States (e.g. Boston in 1859, Washington in 1873, San Francisco Woodward's Garden in 1873, and the New York Aquarium at Battery Park
The Battery, formerly known as Battery Park, is a public park located at the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City facing New York Harbor. It is bounded by Battery Place on the north, State Street on the east, New York Harbor to ...
in 1896).
Roadside zoos
Roadside zoos are found throughout North America, particularly in remote locations. They are often small, for-profit zoos, often intended to attract visitors to some other facility, such as a gas station. The animals may be trained to perform tricks, and visitors are able to get closer to them than in larger zoos. Since they are sometimes less regulated, roadside zoos are often subject to accusations of neglect
In the context of caregiving, neglect is a form of abuse where the perpetrator, who is responsible for caring for someone who is unable to care for themselves, fails to do so. It can be a result of carelessness, indifference, or unwillingness an ...
and cruelty
Cruelty is the pleasure in inflicting suffering or inaction towards another's suffering when a clear remedy is readily available. Sadism can also be related to this form of action or concept. Cruel ways of inflicting suffering may involve ...
.
In June 2014 the Animal Legal Defense Fund
The Animal Legal Defense Fund is an animal law advocacy organization. Its stated mission is to protect the lives and advance the interests of animals through the legal system. It accomplishes this by filing high-impact lawsuits to protect an ...
filed a lawsuit against the Iowa-based roadside Cricket Hollow Zoo for violating the Endangered Species Act by failing to provide proper care for its animals. Since filing the lawsuit, ALDF has obtained records from investigations conducted by the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services; these records show that the zoo is also violating the Animal Welfare Act.
Petting zoos
A petting zoo, also called petting farms or children's zoos, features a combination of domestic animal
This page gives a list of domesticated animals, also including a list of domestication of animals, animals which are or may be currently undergoing the process of domestication and animals that have an extensive relationship with humans beyond simp ...
s and wild species that are docile enough to touch and feed. To ensure the animals' health, the food is supplied by the zoo, either from vending machines or a kiosk nearby.
Animal theme parks
An animal theme park is a combination of an amusement park and a zoo, mainly for entertaining and commercial purposes. Marine mammal park
A marine mammal park (also known as marine animal park and sometimes oceanarium) is a commercial theme park or aquarium where marine mammals such as dolphins, beluga whales and sea lions are kept within water tanks and displayed to the publ ...
s such as Sea World and Marineland are more elaborate dolphinarium
A dolphinarium is an aquarium for dolphins. The dolphins are usually kept in a pool, though occasionally they may be kept in pens in the open sea, either for research or public performances. Some dolphinariums consist of one pool where dolphins pe ...
s keeping whale
Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...
s, and containing additional entertainment attractions. Another kind of animal theme park contains more entertainment and amusement elements than the classical zoo, such as stage shows, roller coasters, and mythical creatures. Some examples are Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is a animal theme park located in Tampa, Florida, United States, with the entire park landscaped and designed around themes of Africa and Asia. Owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, the park opened on Ju ...
in Tampa, Florida
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...
, both Disney's Animal Kingdom
Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park is a zoological theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. Owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division, it is the l ...
and Gatorland
Gatorland is a theme park and wildlife preserve in Florida, located along South Orange Blossom Trail south of Orlando. It was founded by Owen Godwin on former cattle land in 1949, and is privately owned by his family.
Billed as the "Alligator ...
in Orlando, Florida, Flamingo Land
Flamingo Land is a theme park, zoo, and resort located in Kirby Misperton, North Yorkshire, England. Opened in 1959, it has been owned and operated by the Gibb family since 1978.
History
Flamingo Land Resort was established in 1959 when a cin ...
in North Yorkshire, England, and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (formerly known as Six Flags Marine World, Marine World, The New Marine World Theme Park, and Marine World Africa USA) is a 135-acre (55 ha) animal theme park located in Vallejo, California, off of Interstate 80 ...
in Vallejo, California
Vallejo ( ; ) is a city in Solano County, California and the second largest city in the North Bay region of the Bay Area. Located on the shores of San Pablo Bay, the city had a population of 126,090 at the 2020 census. Vallejo is home to th ...
.
Zoo population management
Sources of animals
By 2000 most animals being displayed in zoos were the offspring of other zoo animals. This trend, however was and still is somewhat species-specific. When animals are transferred between zoos, they usually spend time in quarantine, and are given time to acclimatize to their new enclosures which are often designed to mimic their natural environment. For example, some species of penguins may require refrigerated enclosures. Guidelines on necessary care for such animals is published in the ''International Zoo Yearbook
The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained the London Zoo, and since 1931 Whipsnade Park.
History
On 29 ...
''.["Zoo: Procurement and care of animals," ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 2008.] Animal exchanges between facilities are usually made voluntarily, based on a model of cooperation for conservation. Loaned animals usually remain the property of the original park, and any offspring yielded by loaned animals are usually divided between the lending and holding institutions. For decades the capture of wild animals or purchasing of animals has been broadly considered unethical and has not been practiced by reputable zoos.
Dealing with space constraints and surplus animals
Especially in large animals, a limited number of spaces are available in zoos. As a consequence, various management tools are used to preserve the space for the genetically most important individuals and to reduce the risk of inbreeding
Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders and o ...
. Management of animal populations is typically through international organizations such as AZA
Aza or AZA may refer to:
Places
*Aza, Azerbaijan, a village and municipality
*Azadkənd, Nakhchivan or Lower Aza, Azerbaijan
*Aza, medieval name of Haza, Province of Burgos, Spain
*Aźa, a Tibetan name for the Tuyuhun kingdom
*Aza, a Hebrew roman ...
and EAZA
The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA), is an organisation for the European zoo and aquarium community that links over 340 member organisations in 41 countries. EAZA membership is open to all zoos and aquaria across Europe that compl ...
.[ Zoos have several different ways of managing the animal populations, such as moves between zoos, ]contraception
Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...
, sale of excess animals and euthanization (culling).[
Contraception can be an effective way to limit a population's breeding. However it may also have health repercussions and can be difficult or even impossible to reverse in some animals. Additionally, some species may lose their reproductive capability entirely if prevented from breeding for a period (whether through contraceptives or isolation), but further study is needed on the subject.] Sale of surplus animals from zoos was once common and in some cases animals have ended up in substandard facilities. In recent decades the practice of selling animals from certified zoos has declined. A large number of animals are culled each year in zoos, but this is controversial. A highly publicized culling as part of population management was that of a healthy giraffe at Copenhagen Zoo in 2014. The zoo argued that its genes already were well-represented in captivity, making the giraffe unsuitable for future breeding. There were offers to adopt it and an online petition to save it had many thousand signatories, but the culling proceeded. Although zoos in some countries have been open about culling, the controversy of the subject and pressure from the public has resulted in others being closed.[ This stands in contrast to most zoos publicly announcing animal births.][ Furthermore, while many zoos are willing to cull smaller and/or low-profile animals, fewer are willing to do it with larger high-profile species.][
Many animals breed readily in captivity. Zoos frequently are forced to intentionally limit captive breeding because of a lack of natural wild habitat in which to reintroduce animals. This highlights the importance of in situ conservation, or preservation of natural spaces, in addition to the utility of zoo captive breeding and reintroduction programs. In situ conservation and reintroduction programs are key elements to obtaining certification by reputable organisations such as the AZA.
]
Justification
Conservation and research
The position of most modern zoos in Australasia
Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologi ...
, Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
, Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
, and North America, particularly those with scientific societies, is that they display wild animals primarily for the conservation
Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws.
Conservation may also refer to:
Environment and natural resources
* Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...
of endangered species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
, as well as for research purposes and education, and secondarily for the entertainment of visitors. The Zoological Society of London states in its charter that its aim is "the advancement of Zoology
Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...
and Animal Physiology
Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...
and the introduction of new and curious subjects of the Animal Kingdom." It maintains two research institutes, the Nuffield Institute of Comparative Medicine and the Wellcome Institute of Comparative Physiology. In the U.S., the Penrose Research Laboratory of the Philadelphia Zoo focuses on the study of comparative pathology
Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...
.[ The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums produced its first conservation strategy in 1993, and in November 2004, it adopted a new strategy that sets out the aims and mission of zoological gardens of the 21st century. When studying behaviour of captive animals, several things should however be taken into account before drawing conclusions about wild populations. Including that captive populations are often smaller than wild ones and that the space available to each animal is often less than in the wild.]
Conservation programs all over the world fight to protect species from going extinct, but many conservation programs are underfunded and under-represented. Conservation programs can struggle to fight bigger issues like habitat loss and illness. It often takes a lot of funding and long time periods to rebuild degraded habitats, both of which are scarce in conservation efforts. The current state of conservation programs cannot rely solely ''on situ'' (on-site conservation) plans alone, ''ex situ'' (off-site conservation) may therefore provide a suitable alternative. Off-site conservation relies on zoos, national parks, or other care facilities to support the rehabilitation of the animals and their populations. Zoos benefit conservation by providing suitable habitats and care to endangered animals. When properly regulated, they present a safe, clean environment for the animals to increase populations sizes. A study on amphibian conservation and zoos addressed these problems by writing,
Whilst addressing ''in situ'' threats, particularly habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation, is of primary importance; for many amphibian species ''in situ'' conservation alone will not be enough, especially in light of current un-mitigatable threats that can impact populations very rapidly such as chytridiomycosis n infectious fungal disease ''Ex situ'' programmes can complement ''in situ'' activities in a number of ways including maintaining genetically and demographically viable populations while threats are either better understood or mitigated in the wild
The breeding of endangered species is coordinated by cooperative breeding programmes containing international studbooks and coordinators, who evaluate the roles of individual animals and institutions from a global or regional perspective, and there are regional programmes all over the world for the conservation of endangered species. In Africa, conservation is handled by the African Preservation Program (APP); in the U.S. and Canada by Species Survival Plans; in Australasia, by the Australasian Species Management Program; in Europe, by the European Endangered Species Program; and in Japan, South Asia, and South East Asia, by the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the South Asian Zoo Association for Regional Cooperation
The South Asian Zoo Association for Regional Cooperation (SAZARC) is an organization for South Asian zoos and aquariums. SAZARC was established on August 4, 2000, at the first meeting of South Asian Zoos, held at Central Zoo, Kathmandu, Nepal, ini ...
, and the South East Asian Zoo Association.
Positive impacts on local wildlife
Besides conservation of captive species, large zoos may form a suitable environment for wild native animals such as herons to live in or visit. A colony of black-crowned night herons has regularly summered at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
for more than a century. Some zoos may provide information to visitors on wild animals visiting or living in the zoo, or encourage them by directing them to specific feeding or breeding platforms.
Roadside zoos
In modern, well-regulated zoos, breeding is controlled to maintain a self-sustaining, global captive population. This is not the case in some less well-regulated zoos, often based in poorer regions. Overall "stock turnover" of animals during a year in a select group of poor zoos was reported as 20%-25% with 75% of wild caught apes dying in captivity within the first 20 months. The authors of the report stated that before successful breeding programs, the high mortality rate was the reason for the "massive scale of importations."
One 2-year study indicated that of 19,361 mammals that left accredited zoos in the U.S. between 1992 and 1998, 7,420 (38%) went to dealers, auctions, hunting ranches, unaccredited zoos and individuals, and game farms.
Animal welfare in zoos
The welfare of zoo animals varies widely. Many zoos work to improve their animal enclosures and make it fit the animals' needs, but constraints such as size and expense can complicate this. The type of enclosure and the husbandry are of great importance in determining the welfare of animals. Substandard enclosures can lead to decreased lifespans, caused by factors as human diseases, unsafe materials in the cages and possible escape attempts (Bendow 382). However, when zoos take time to think about the animal's welfare, zoos can become a place of refuge. There are animals that are injured in the wild and are unable to survive on their own, but in the zoos they can live out the rest of their lives healthy and happy (McGaffin). In recent years, some zoos have chosen to move out some larger animals because they do not have the space available to provide an adequate enclosure for them (Lemonic, McDowell, and Bjerklie 50).
An issue with animal welfare in zoos is that best animal husbandry practices are often not completely known. Especially for species that are only kept in a small number of zoos. To solve this organizations like EAZA and AZA have begun to develop husbandry manuals.
Behavioural restriction
Many modern zoos attempt to improve animal welfare by providing more space and behavioural enrichment
Behavioral enrichment is an animal husbandry principle that seeks to enhance the quality of captive animal care by identifying and providing the environmental stimuli necessary for optimal psychological and physiological well-being. Enrichment ca ...
s. This often involves housing the animals in naturalistic enclosures that allow the animals to express more of their natural behaviours, such as roaming and foraging. Whilst many zoos have been working hard on this change, in some zoos, some enclosures still remain barren concrete enclosures or other minimally enriched cages.
Sometimes animals are unable to perform certain behaviors in zoos, like seasonal migration or traveling over large distances. Whether these behaviors are necessary for good welfare however is unclear. Some behaviors are seen as essential for an animal's welfare whilst others aren't. It is however shown that even in limited spaces, certain natural behaviors can still be performed. A study in 2014 for example found that Asian elephants in zoos covered similar or higher walking distances then sedentary wild populations. Migration in the wild can also be related to food scarcity or other unfavorable environmental problems. However a proper zoo enclosure never runs out of food or water, and in case of unfavorable temperatures or weather animals are provided with (indoor) shelter.
Abnormal behaviour
Animals in zoos can exhibit behaviors that are abnormal in their frequency, intensity, or would not normally be part of their behavioural repertoire. Whilst these types of behaviors can be a sign of bad welfare and stress, this isn't necessarily the case. Other measurements or behavioral research is advised before determining whether an animal performing stereotypical behavior is living in bad welfare or not. Examples of stereotypical behaviors are pacing, head-bobbing, obsessive grooming and feather-plucking A study examining data collected over four decades found that polar bears, lions, tigers and cheetah
The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...
s can display stereotypical behaviors in many older exhibits. However they also noted that in more modern naturalistic exhibits, these behaviors could completely disappear.[Derr, Mark. "Big Beasts, Tight Space and a Call for Change in Journal Report," ''The New York Times'', October 2, 2003.] Elephants have also been recorded displaying stereotypical behaviours in the form of swaying back and forth, trunk swaying or route tracing. This has been observed in 54% of individuals in UK zoos. However it has been shown that modern facilities and modern husbandry can greatly decrease or even entirely remove abnormal behaviors. A study of a group of elephants in Planckendael
Planckendael is a zoo, located on the grounds of Planckendael castle in the village district of Muizen, in Mechelen, Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Eur ...
showed that the older wild-caught animals displayed many stereotypical behaviors. These elephants had spent part of their lives either in a circus or in other substandard enclosures. On the other hand, the elephants born in the modern facilities that had lived in a herd their whole life barely displayed any stereotypical behaviors at all. The life history of an animal is thus extremely important when analyzing the causes of stereotypical behavior, as this can be a historical relict instead of a result of present-day husbandry.
Some zoos have used psychoactive drugs, such as Prozac
Fluoxetine, sold under the brand names Prozac and Sarafem, among others, is an antidepressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class. It is used for the treatment of major depressive disorder, obsessive–compulsive disorde ...
, in attempting to stop animals from exhibiting the behaviors.
Longevity
The influence on a zoological environment on animal's longevity is not straightforward. A study of 50 mammal species found that 84% of them lived longer in zoos than they would in the wild on average. On the other hand, some research claims that elephants in Japanese zoos would live shorter than their wild counterparts at just 17 years. This has been refuted by other studies however. Such studies might not yet fully represent recent improvements in husbandry. For example, studies show that captive-bred elephants already have a lower mortality risk then wild-caught ones.
Climate conditions
Climatic conditions can make it difficult to keep some animals in zoos in some locations. For example, Alaska Zoo
The Alaska Zoo is a zoo in Anchorage, Alaska, located on of the Anchorage Hillside. It is a popular attraction in Alaska, with nearly 200,000 visitors per year.
The zoo is currently home to more than 100 birds and mammals representing some 50 ...
had an elephant named Maggie. She was housed in a small, indoor enclosure because the outdoor temperature was too low.
Epidemiology
Tsetse flies
Tsetse ( , or ) (sometimes spelled tzetze; also known as tik-tik flies), are large, biting flies that inhabit much of tropical Africa. Tsetse flies include all the species in the genus ''Glossina'', which are placed in their own family, Glos ...
have invaded zoos that have been established in the tsetse zone. More concerning, tsetse-borne species of trypanosomes have entered zoos outside the traditional tsetse zone in infected animals imported and added to their collections. Whether these can be controlled depends on several factors: Vale 1998 found that the technique used in placing attractant
An attractant is any chemical that attracts an organism, e.g. i) synthetic lures; ii) aggregation and sex pheromones (intraspecific interactions); and iii) synomone (interspecific interactions)
Synomone
An interspecific semiochemical that is b ...
s was important; and Green 1988, Torr 1994, Torr et al. 1995, and Torr et al. 1997 found the availability for specifically needed attractants for the specific job to also vary widely.
Moral criticism
Some critics and many animal rights activists claim that zoo animals are treated as voyeuristic objects, rather than living creatures, and often suffer due to the transition from being free and wild to captivity. However, ever since imports of wild-caught animals became more regulated by organizations like CITES and national laws zoos have started sustaining their populations via breeding. This change started around the 1970s. Many cooperations in the form of breeding programs have been set up since, for both common and endangered species. Emma Marris, writing an opinion piece for The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
, suggested zoos "stopped breeding all their animals, with the possible exception of any endangered species with a ''real'' chance of being released back into the wild ... Eventually, the only animals on display would be a few ancient holdovers from the old menageries, animals in active conservation breeding programs and perhaps a few rescues. Such zoos might even be merged with sanctuaries."
Live feeding
In some countries, feeding live vertebrates to zoo animals is illegal under most circumstances. The UK Animal Welfare Act of 2006, for example, states that prey must be killed for feeding, unless this threatens the health of the predator. Some zoos had already adopted such practices prior to the implementation of such policies. London Zoo, for example, stopped feeding live vertebrates in the 20th century, long before the Animal Welfare Act.[ Despite being illegal in China, some zoos have been found to still feed live vertebrates to their predators. In some parks like Xiongsen Bear and Tiger Mountain Village, live chickens and other livestock were found to be thrown into the enclosures of tigers and other predators. In Guilin, in south-east China, live cows and pigs are thrown to tigers to amuse visitors. Other Chinese parks like Shenzhen Safari Park have already stopped this practice after facing heavy criticism.]
Regulation
United States
In the United States, any public animal exhibit must be licensed and inspected by the Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration'' (OSHA ) is a large regulatory agency of the United States Department of Labor that originally had federal visitorial powers to inspect and examine workplaces. Congress established the agenc ...
. Depending on the animals they exhibit, the activities of zoos are regulated by laws including the Endangered Species Act, the Animal Welfare Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 and others.[Grech, Kali S]
"Overview of the Laws Affecting Zoos"
, Michigan State University College of Law, Animal Legal & Historical Center, 2004.
Additionally, zoos in several countries may choose to pursue accreditation by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums
The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), originally the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums, is an American 501(c)(3)
nonprofit organization founded in 1924 and dedicated to the advancement of zoos and public aquariums in ...
(AZA), which originated in the U.S. To achieve accreditation, a zoo must pass an application and inspection process and meet or exceed the AZA's standards for animal health and welfare, fundraising, zoo staffing, and involvement in global conservation efforts. Inspection is performed by three experts (typically one veterinarian, one expert in animal care, and one expert in zoo management and operations) and then reviewed by a panel of twelve experts before accreditation is awarded. This accreditation process is repeated once every five years. The AZA estimates that there are approximately 2,400 animal exhibits operating under USDA license as of February 2007; fewer than 10% are accredited.
Europe
The European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
introduced a directive to strengthen the conservation role of zoos, making it a statutory requirement that they participate in conservation and education, and requiring all member states to set up systems for their licensing and inspection.[ Zoos are regulated in the UK by the Zoo Licensing Act of 1981, which came into effect in 1984. A zoo is defined as any "establishment where wild animals are kept for exhibition ..to which members of the public have access, with or without charge for admission, seven or more days in any period of twelve consecutive months", excluding circuses and pet shops. The Act requires that all zoos be inspected and licensed, and that animals kept in enclosures are provided with a suitable environment in which they can express most normal behavior.]["The Zoo Licensing Act 1981"]
, Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs.
See also
* List of zoos
This is a list of zoological gardens (zoos) around the world. For aquaria, see List of aquaria. For dolphinariums, see List of dolphinariums. For an annotated list of defunct zoos and aquariums, see List of former zoos and aquariums.
Zoos are pri ...
* Wildlife refuge
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
* List of zoo associations
This is a partial list of zoo and aquaria associations:
Global
* Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums (AMMPA)
* International Marine Animal Trainers Association (IMATA)
* Species 360 (formerly International Species Information Syst ...
* Animals in captivity
Animals that are held by humans and prevented from escaping are said to be in captivity. The term is usually applied to wild animals that are held in confinement, but may also be used generally to describe the keeping of domesticated animals suc ...
** Environmental enrichment
Environmental enrichment is the stimulation of the brain by its physical and social surroundings. Brains in richer, more stimulating environments have higher rates of synaptogenesis and more complex dendrite arbors, leading to increased brain ac ...
* Conservation
Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws.
Conservation may also refer to:
Environment and natural resources
* Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...
** Wildlife conservation
Wildlife conservation refers to the practice of protecting wild species and their habitats in order to maintain healthy wildlife species or populations and to restore, protect or enhance natural ecosystems. Major threats to wildlife include habita ...
*** ''Ex-situ'' conservation
*** ''In-situ'' conservation
** Conservation movement
The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental, and social movement that seeks to manage and protect natural resources, including animal, fungus, and plant species as well as their habitat for the ...
** Index of conservation articles
This is an index of conservation topics. It is an alphabetical index of articles relating to conservation biology and conservation of the natural environment.
A
* Abiotic stress - Adaptive management - Adventive plant - Aerial-seeding - Agreed ...
* Virtual zoo
* Extinction
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
* Endangered species
* Zoo emergency response team
* Zoology
Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...
(includes a list of prominent zoologists)
* Immersion exhibit
* Frozen zoo
A frozen zoo is a storage facility in which genetic materials taken from animals (e.g. DNA, sperm, eggs, embryos and live tissue) are stored at very low temperatures (−196 °C) in tanks of liquid nitrogen. Material preserved in this way c ...
Notes
Further reading
* Baratay, Eric, and Elizabeth Hardouin-Fugier. (2002) ''History of Zoological Gardens in the West''
* Blunt, Wilfrid (1976). ''The Ark in the Park: The Zoo in the Nineteenth Century'', Hamish Hamilton, London.
online
* Braverman, Irus (2012). ''Zooland: The Institution of Captivity'', Stanford University Press.
excerpt
* Bruce, Gary. (2017) ''Through the Lion Gate: A History of the Berlin Zoo'
excerpt
* Conway, William (1995). "The conservation park: A new zoo synthesis for a changed world", in ''The Ark Evolving: Zoos and Aquariums in Transition'', Wemmer, Christen M. (ed.), Smithsonian Institution Conservation and Research Center, Front Royal, Virginia
Front Royal is the only incorporated town in Warren County, Virginia, United States. The population was 15,011 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Warren County.
History
The entire Shenandoah Valley including the area to become F ...
.
* Donahue, Jesse C., and Erik K. Trump. (2014) ''American zoos during the depression: a new deal for animals'' (McFarland, 2014).
* Fisher, James. (1967) ''Zoos of the World: The Story of Animals in Captivity'', popular history
* Hardouin-Fugier, Elisabeth. (2004) ''Zoo: A History of Zoological Gardens in the West''
* Hyson, Jeffrey (2000).
Jungle of Eden: The Design of American Zoos
in
', Conan, Michel (ed.), Dumbarton Oaks, Washington.
* Hochadel, Oliver. "Watching Exotic Animals Next Door: 'Scientific' Observations at the Zoo (ca. 1870–1910)."''Science in Context''(June 2011) 24#2 pp 183–214
online
* Hyson, Jeffrey (2003). "Zoos," in
* ''The International Zoo Yearbook'', annual since 1959 from the Zoological Society of London
The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained the London Zoo, and since 1931 Whipsnade Park.
History
On 29 ...
.
* Kohler, Robert E. (2006). ''All Creatures: Naturalists, Collectors, and Biodiversity, 1850–1950'' (Princeton University Press).
* Kisling, Vernon N., ed. (2001) ''Zoo and Aquarium History: Ancient Animal Collections to Zoological Gardens'' (2001
excerpt
.
* Maddeaux, Sarah-Joy. (2014) "A 'delightful resort for persons of all ages, and more especially for the young': Children at Bristol Zoo Gardens, 1835–1940." ''Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth'' 7.1 (2014): 87–10
excerpt
* Maple, Terry (1995). "Toward a Responsible Zoo Agenda", in ''Ethics on the Ark: Zoos, Animal Welfare, and Wildlife Conservation'', Norton, Bryan G., Hutchins, Michael, Stevens, Elizabeth F. and Maple, Terry L. (ed.), Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington.
* Meuser, Natascha (2019). ''Zoo Buildings. Construction and Design Manual''. DOM publishers, Berlin.
* Miller, Ian Jared, and Harriet Ritvo. ''The Nature of the Beasts: Empire and Exhibition at the Tokyo Imperial Zoo'' (2013
excerpt
* Murphy, James B. (2007) ''Herpetological History of the Zoo & Aquarium World''
* Reichenbach, Herman (2002). "Lost Menageries: Why and How Zoos Disappear (Part 1)"
April–May 2002.
* Robinson, Michael H. (1987a). "Beyond the zoo: The biopark", Defenders of Wildlife
Defenders of Wildlife is a 501(c)(3) non-profit conservation organization based in the United States. It works to protect all native animals and plants throughout North America in their natural communities.
Background
Defenders of Wildlife is a n ...
Magazine, Vol. 62, No. 6.
* Robinson, Michael H. (1987b). "Towards the Biopark: The Zoo That Is Not", American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums, Annual Proceedings.
* Rothfels, Nigel. (2008) ''Savages and Beasts: The Birth of the Modern Zoo'
excerpt
* Woods, Abigail. (2018) "Doctors in the Zoo: Connecting Human and Animal Health in British Zoological Gardens, c. 1828–1890." In ''Animals and the Shaping of Modern Medicine'' (Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2018), pp. 27–69.
External links
Zoos Worldwide
Zoos, aquariums, animal sanctuaries and wildlife parks
Zoological Gardens keeping Asian Elephants
The Bartlett Society: Devoted to studying yesterday's methods of keeping wild animals
download page
{{Authority control
Animal rights
Animal welfare
Zoology