A zoo (short for zoological garden, also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept in enclosures for public display, often for conservation purposes.
The term zoo refers to zoology, the study of animals. This term is of Greek origin. The abbreviation zoo was first used at the London Zoo, which was opened to scientific research in 1828 and opened to the public in 1847. In the United States alone, more than 181 million people visit zoos each year.
Etymology
Opened in 1828, the London Zoo was first known as the 'Gardens and Zoos of the Zoological Society of London' and called itself the Zoo or 'Zoo Forest'. The abbreviation 'Zoo' first appeared in print around 1847 when it was used for the Clifton Zoo in England. Variety artist Alfred Vance. The term "zoo" applies to the larger facilities in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Washington, D.C., and the Bronx, New York, which he opened in 1847, 1891, and 1899 respectively.
A relatively new term for zoos in the late 20th century is 'nature reserve' or 'biopark'. Adopting a new name is a strategy some zoo experts use to distance the facility from the stereotypical his 19th-century zoo notions that are being criticized today. The term "biopark" was first used in the late 1980s by the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. formed and developed. In 1993, the Zoological Society of New York changed its name to the Wildlife Conservation Society and renamed the zoos under its jurisdiction to Wildlife Conservation Parks.
History
The predecessor of the zoo is a zoo with a long history from ancient times to the present day. The oldest known zoological collection was discovered in 2009 during excavations at Hierakonpolis, Egypt. BC Menagerie. Exotic animals included hippos, hartebeests, elephants, baboons, and wild cats. King Ashur-bel-Kala of the Middle Assyrian Empire, 11th century BC. BC Zoo and Botanical Gardens. 2nd century BC. In 300 BC, Empress Tanqi of China built the "Deer House" and King Wen of Zhou maintained her 6.1 km2 menagerie. Other famous animal collectors include King Solomon of Israel and Judah, Queen Semiramis and King Ashurbanipal of Assyria, and King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. By the 4th century BC, BC zoos existed in most Greek city-states. It is known that Alexander the Great sent back to Greece animals found on military expeditions. Roman emperors kept private collections of animals for study and use in the arena, but they were notorious for their poor performance in the arena. 19th-century historian W. E. H. Lecky wrote of the Roman games, first held in 366 BCE:
At one time, bear and a bull, chained together, rolled in fierce combat across the sand . Four hundred bears were killed in a single day under Caligula . Under Nero, four hundred tigers fought with bulls and elephants. When Titus completed the Colosseum, 5,000 animals died in one day. Under Trajan. Lions, tigers, elephants, rhinos, hippos, giraffes, bulls, deer and even crocodiles and snakes were used to add something new to the spectacle.
Charlemagne had an elephant named Abul Abbas, gifted to him by the Abbasid caliph. Henry I of England reportedly kept a collection of animals in his palace at Woodstock, including lions, leopards and camels. The most important collection of medieval England was in the Tower of London, built by King John I in 1204.
Henry III received a wedding gift of his three leopards from Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in 1235, and in 1264 the leopards were brought to the breakwater renamed Lowenturm near the tower's western main entrance. Sixteenth-century Elizabeth opened to the public during her first reign. In the 18th century, the entrance fee was three-and-a-halfpence, the delivery of a cat or dog to feed the lions. The animals were taken to the London Zoo at the opening.
The Aztec emperor Moctezuma owned an "animal house" in his capital, Tenochtitlan, with a large collection of birds, mammals and reptiles in its gardens, cared for by a staff of over 600 people. The garden was described by several Spanish conquistadors, including Hernán Cortés, in 1520. After the Aztec rebellion against Spanish rule, during the ensuing battle of the city, Cortes reluctantly ordered the destruction of the menagerie.
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