zoo

zoo
/zooh/, n., pl. zoos.
1. Also called zoological garden. a parklike area in which live animals are kept in cages or large enclosures for public exhibition.
2. Informal. a place, activity, or group marked by chaos or unrestrained behavior.
[1840-50; first two syllables of zoological garden taken as one syllable]

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Place where wild and sometimes domesticated animals are exhibited in captivity.

Aquatic zoological gardens are called aquariums. The first zoos were perhaps associated with domestication. Pigeons were kept in captivity as early as 4500 BC; other animals (e.g., elephants and antelopes) have also been kept in captivity since antiquity. Animal collections were kept by Charlemagne and other European monarchs. Hernán Cortés described a zoo in Mexico (1519) so large that it required a staff of 300. Modern zookeeping started in 1752 with the founding of the Imperial Menagerie at Vienna's Schönbrunn Palace. Open-range zoos were first established in the early 1930s, some so large that visitors drive through in cars, as on an African safari. There are now more than 1,000 animal collections open to the public throughout the world (e.g., in the U.S., the Bronx Zoo and San Diego Zoo).

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Introduction
also called  Zoological Garden , or  Zoological Park 
 place where wild animals and, in some instances, domesticated animals are exhibited in captivity. In such an establishment animals can generally be given more intensive care than is possible in nature reserves or sanctuaries. Most long-established zoos exhibit general collections of animals, but some formed more recently specialize in particular groups—e.g., primates, big cats, tropical birds, or waterfowl. Marine invertebrates, fishes, and marine mammals often are kept in separate establishments known as aquariums (see aquarium). The word zoo was first used in the late 19th century as a popular abbreviation for the zoological gardens in London.

      For information on particular zoos, see articles at their specific names, e.g. Basel Zoological Garden, Lincoln Park Zoological Gardens (Lincoln Park Zoo), Prague Zoological Gardens (Prague Zoological Garden).

      It is not known when the earliest zoos were established, but it is possible that they were associated with the first attempts at animal domestication. Pigeons were kept in captivity as early as 4500 BC in what is now Iraq, and 2,000 years later elephants were semi-domesticated in India. Antelopes, including the addax, ibex, oryx, and gazelle, are depicted wearing collars on Egyptian tomb pictures at Saqqara, dating from 2500 BC. In China, the Empress Tanki, who probably lived about 1150 BC, built a great marble “house of deer”; and Wen Wang (Wenwang), who apparently reigned just before 1000 BC, established a zoo of 1,500 acres in extent, which he named the Ling-Yu, or Garden of Intelligence.

      The biblical king Solomon, who also reigned about 1000 BC, was a farmer-zoologist, and he was followed, for at least the next 600 years, by other royal zookeepers, including Semiramis and Ashurbanipal of Assyria and King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylonia.

      Collections of captive animals were in existence in Greece (ancient Greek civilization) by the 7th century BC, and by the 4th century BC it is probable that such collections existed in most, if not all, of the Greek city-states. Aristotle (384–322 BC) was obviously well acquainted with zoos; his most famous pupil, Alexander the Great, sent back to Greece many animals that were caught on his military expeditions.

      The earlier Egyptian and Asian zoos were kept mainly as public spectacles and only secondarily for study, but the Greeks of Aristotle's time were more concerned with study and experiment. The Romans (ancient Rome) had two types of animal collections: those destined for the arena and those kept as private zoos and aviaries.

      With the end of the Roman Empire, zoos went into a decline, but animal collections were maintained by the emperor Charlemagne in the 8th century AD and by Henry I in the 12th century. In Europe Philip VI had a menagerie in the Louvre, Paris, in 1333, and many members of the House of Bourbon kept collections of animals at Versailles.

      In the New World Hernán Cortés discovered a magnificent zoo in Mexico in 1519. The collection, which included birds of prey, mammals, and reptiles, was so large that it needed a staff of 300 keepers.

      Modern zookeeping may be said to have started in 1752 with the founding of the Imperial Menagerie at the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna. This menagerie, which still flourishes, was opened to the public in 1765. In 1775 a zoo was founded in a Royal Park in Madrid, and 18 years later the zoological collection of the Jardin des Plantes, Paris, was begun. The Zoological Society of London established its collection in Regent's Park in 1828, two years after the society itself was founded.

      By the mid-19th century zoos were being opened all over the world; among those existing today, more than 40, most of which are in Europe, are more than 100 years old. Since the end of World War II there has been a rapid and worldwide proliferation of zoos, many of which have as their aim not the study of animals but public entertainment and commercial gain. The total number of animal collections open to the public in the world today is not accurately known but exceeds 1,000.

Function and purpose.
      The primary object of zoos that are in the charge of scientific societies is the study of animals. Thus, the purpose of the Zoological Society of London, as stated in its Royal Charter, is “the advancement of zoology and Animal Physiology and the introduction of new and curious subjects of the Animal Kingdom.” This society has been the model for many other zoological societies throughout the world. In the 19th century the emphasis of the investigations carried out in scientific zoos was mainly on taxonomy, comparative anatomy, and pathology. Today, the opportunities for scientific inquiry are much wider, and a few societies have established special research institutions. In the United States the Penrose Research Laboratory, of the Philadelphia Zoo (Philadelphia Zoological Gardens) is particularly concerned with comparative pathology. The New York Zoological Society maintains an Institute for Research in Animal Behavior and, in Trinidad, the William Beebe Tropical Research Station. In Great Britain the Zoological Society of London maintains, in addition to a modern hospital and pathology laboratories, two general research institutes—the Nuffield Institute of Comparative Medicine and the Wellcome Institute of Comparative Physiology.

      Many zoos publish scientific journals and periodicals, which range in their contents from the popular to the highly technical. Again, the Zoological Society of London led the way. Its “Proceedings,” now known as the Journal of Zoology, has appeared uninterruptedly since 1830.

      In recent years a few zoos have intensified their efforts, frequently in cooperation with educational authorities, to provide an educational program (elementary education) for school children and students. Some zoos have full-time or voluntary guides on their staff, whose job it is to provide more information for visitors than can be given on labels attached to cages. Others meet this need by providing “talking labels,” prerecorded tapes operated by the visitor himself.

      Since World War II a number of zoos have been developed as breeding (animal breeding) centres for animal species in danger of becoming extinct (extinction) in the wild. Many threatened species (endangered species) have been saved by breeding in captivity. For example, in 1947 it was estimated that there were only 50 nenes (nene), or Hawaiian geese, left on Hawaii and none anywhere else in the world. In 1950 two nenes were housed at the Wildfowl Trust at Slimbridge, Eng., and in 1951 a gander was hatched. The birds continued to breed successfully, and gradually the captive stock in Europe was spread over a dozen different menageries to minimize the risk of losses from disease or predators. Another species that has been saved by breeding in zoos is the European bison, or wisent, the last wild specimen of which died in 1925. Other species that zoos have helped to survive include Père David's deer and many rare game birds. The increasing number of zoo births gives hope that zoos, rather than capturing wild animals for exhibition, will perhaps be able to restock the wild with zoo-born animals.

Design and architecture.
      Zoo design and architecture must meet two often conflicting needs: those of the animals (and the menagerie staff caring for them) and those of the visiting public. Zoos vary so widely in site, size, layout, age, and climatic conditions that there can hardly be a standard form of architecture.

      Urban zoos (perhaps 80 percent of all zoos) are necessarily limited in size and have to make the best possible use of the available space. The animals are usually kept in houses, sometimes with associated outdoor enclosures. Cages, or some form of barrier, are usually necessary to prevent the animals from escaping and to discourage the public from getting too close to the animals. In addition to the simplest equipment in cages, such as scratching posts for the lions and tigers and branches and suspended chains or ropes for the monkeys, modern materials are increasingly used for the construction of backgrounds, artificial rocks, and trees to simulate a more natural habitat.

      Elephants and rhinoceroses, which are among the largest mammals, are often accommodated within the same building, which is sometimes designed also to house hippopotamuses and tapirs. These animals are usually also provided with outdoor paddocks, always incorporating a pool for the hippopotamuses and often for the other species. Giraffes, whose height may exceed 4 1/2 metres (15 feet), obviously need buildings that provide proper headroom, and also outdoor enclosures where they can exercise. Horses, zebras, okapis, camels, pigs, cattle, and antelopes require both houses and paddocks. Only the small mammals can be conveniently housed under one roof without outdoor paddocks.

      Nocturnal animals (photoperiodism) are exhibited successfully in a number of zoos in buildings in which the normal cycle of daylight is reversed by means of artificial light. During daylight hours, when the animals would normally be asleep but when zoos are open to the public, the building is illuminated by dim white light or red light and the animals become active. At nightfall the houses are fully illuminated and the animals go to sleep.

      Aviaries (aviary) in urban zoos can take a number of forms. They may be a collection of small cages, each containing one or a pair of birds (bird), within a building. They may be considerably larger cages, containing a number of species either representing closely related forms or providing a habitat display of, for example, seashore or woodland birds. There are various ways to keep birds within the aviary and still display them to the public. Wire mesh is the most common means, but a less visible barrier consists of vertically placed piano wire at one-half inch to one inch intervals. Glass is sometimes used, but unless it is very carefully positioned it may give unwanted reflections. Birds can also be confined in aviaries that are “enclosed” simply and effectively by brightly lighting certain portions of the enclosure and darkening the public area. The “walk-through” aviary is one in which the birds are given free run of a large space into which visitors are admitted through “air-lock” type doors. Such aviaries can simulate a natural environment with vegetation and streams.

      Water birds and birds of prey are usually housed in outdoor aviaries with an attached shelter. Modern aviaries for these species are very large so that the birds can exercise sufficiently.

      One of the most magnificent aviaries in the world is in the San Diego Zoo, in California, where it has proved possible to roof over natural canyons, of which one, used as a walk-through aviary, is about 25 m high, 46 m long, and 21 m wide. The walk-through Snowdon Aviary, at the London Zoo, is of a similar size but built over a man-made cliff. Opened in 1965, it is of unique design. Galvanized steel tension cables and aluminum tube shear legs support mesh on tetrahedral frames held in midair. The walk-through path cantilevers 12 m out from the cliff top.

      Reptiles (reptile) may be kept in individual cages in an enclosed reptile house. In subtropical and tropical zoos they are often kept outdoors in semi-natural enclosures or pits.

      When animals are confined in houses, conditions such as ventilation, light, temperature, and humidity are adjusted to the particular needs of the species involved. Central heating plants and humidifiers may have to be installed in each building, with separate control systems for different cages. Many animals like to bask in a “hot spot” and feed in surroundings at a lower temperature. Infrared lamps are sometimes used to this end, and, in species such as desert-living reptiles, ultraviolet light also is used. Direct sunlight is adequate if the windows allow passage of ultraviolet rays.

      A number of open-range zoos have been established since the early 1930s in rural surroundings. The prototype is Whipsnade Park, established by the Zoological Society of London in 1932. Fewer species of animals are exhibited in such zoos than in urban zoos, but they are kept in more natural conditions in large paddocks. Animals are confined by a variety of methods including water-filled moats, dry moats, and wire-mesh fences.

      While many open-space zoos exhibit their animals in paddocks containing only a single species—e.g., a pride of lions or a herd of wildebeest or llamas—some try to create habitat displays consisting of mixed groups of animals. One of the best of these is at Borasparken, Sweden, where the African exhibit contains elephants, white rhinoceroses, Grant's zebras, reticulated giraffes, white-tailed gnus, crowned cranes, ground hornbills, ostriches, and guinea fowl.

      In some modern zoo parks, sometimes called safari parks or lion farms, the animals are confined in very large paddocks through which visitors drive in their cars. While this practice is based on that observed in African nature reserves, it can prove dangerous when the density of traffic is high and when visitors fail to keep the windows of their cars closed or leave their cars. Provided that open-space zoos are run by experienced and properly trained staff, with veterinarians who have specialized in the care of exotic animals in attendance, those zoos could become very important as breeding centres for rare or endangered species.

Procurement and care of animals.
      It has been estimated that in a good modern zoo, for every 20 animals on display, only about 5 were bred in captivity, the remainder having been collected in the wild and usually purchased through dealers. Equally, for every animal that ends up in a dealer's hands, several others were probably killed in attempts at capture or died before they were sold to a zoo or other purchaser. In the interest of animal conservation, the breeding of captive animals is encouraged.

      On arrival, zoo animals are quarantined and acclimatized to their new surroundings. Information on proper nutrition is exchanged between zoos directly or published in the International Zoo Yearbook. Temperature and other environmental requirements are also studied. Certain penguins, for example, have to be kept in refrigerated rooms if they are to thrive and breed. Adequate sleeping quarters, such as dens for foxes and wolves or burrows for rodents, also are provided.

Funding.
      Zoos are funded in various ways. In the United States most zoos are supported partially or wholly out of public funds by the town, city, or state in which they are located. The National Zoological Park, in Washington, D.C., was founded by Congress in 1889–90. Its site was purchased by the U.S. government, and running expenses are provided from public funds. The Zoological Park in the Bronx, New York City, and the Philadelphia Zoological Garden are managed by zoological societies. Both are supported partly by the subscriptions of members, partly by entrance fees, and partly by annual civic subsidies. In Britain most of the older zoos are maintained by zoological societies or trusts, all of which have an educational purpose. The running costs of the zoos are met by admission charges, membership subscriptions, and gifts and bequests.

      Most European zoos, especially those in Germany, are run as civic institutions, but, in addition, entrance fees are charged. Some famous zoos, including those in Cologne and Frankfurt, are supported by the municipality but are run by zoological societies. The Paris zoo is one of the many institutions directly supported by the French Ministry of Education, in the same way as the Moscow zoo is a state organization.

      In a number of countries zoo associations or federations have been set up. The largest of these is the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums, founded in 1924. Other zoo federations include those of Great Britain and Ireland, Spain and Spanish America, Japan, Poland, and Germany. Related organizations include the International Union of Directors of Zoological Gardens and the Wild Animal Propagation Trust. Federations generally have among their objects the gathering and dissemination of facts and information relating to the management of zoological parks, the maintenance and raising of standards in zoos, the facilitation of the exchange and importation of zoological specimens, and the conservation of wildlife.

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Universalium. 2010.

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