#2 The First Cities That Had a Zoo
#2 The First Cities That Had a Zoo
People have collected animals long before ‘the zoo’ claimed its place among the urban amenities that a bigger city can possibly have. Exotic animals were exchanged as wedding gifts among members of different royal families. In ancient Rome, new animals retrieved from annexed territories were publicly exhibited at the Colosseum so that everyone can see them as a sort of new attraction. The giraffe was a particularly interesting case. When the troops of Julius Caesar brought the first giraffes to Europe, the Romans called this animal a “cameleopard.”
But whether one is looking for the oldest traces of menageries, they can well be found in the ruins of ancient Sumer and Egypt. In the ancient Middle East, it would have been Shulgi, the king of Ur who reigned for 48 years (from c. 2029-1982 B.C.), who had one of the earliest known collections of animals at his disposal. This was, however, a private collection, not accessible to the public.
Aerial view of Vienna’s Tiergarten Schönbrunn, the world’s oldest zoo in existence at the moment, Photo by Manfred Werner, CC BY-SA 3.0
If someone can claim ownership of the first real zoo, that is probably the Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt, who allegedly opened a zoo that housed animals from various parts of Africa around 1480 B.C.
In the case of ancient China, at least one emperor is remembered for building a zoo to show off his authority, that being Emperor Wen Wang who ruled from 1152 until 1156 B.C. According to the Times of India, his zoo occupied a space of 1,500 acres and homed animals from all parts of the country. The venue also had a very beautiful name–the Garden of Intelligence.
London currently has the third oldest zoo in the world. This is a bird’s eye view drawing of the gardens of the Zoological Society, circa 1828
Nowadays, the oldest zoo in existence is in Vienna, Austria and was built under Emperor Franz Josef as a gift for his wife in 1752. Called Tiergarten Schönbrunn, this is not only the current world’s oldest zoo in existence but also one of the best in terms of developed scientific programs. It is also a great attraction among tourists, with over two million people checking in each year.
The only photographs taken of a living quagga were taken of a mare at London Zoo between 1864 and 1870.
Next, it was Paris to claim ownership of the second oldest zoo garden in Europe and the world. The first zoo was there in the French capital by 1770, however, only 24 years later the venture was relocated to a new improved facility, that is the Menagerie du Jardin des Plantes. Third on the list is London, with its ZSL London Zoo, started April 1828. Nevertheless, Britons can take pride in having a zoo garden that first began conducting more serious scientific research. As well as the first reptile house in 1849, the first public aquarium four years later, and the first insect house by 1881–all of these milestones of the London Zoo.
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