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SUBMITTED BY
ARCHANA M.R
NATURAL SCIENCE

RG.NO: 18114386003
YEAR: 2014-15

Introduction
A zoo (short

for zoological

park, zoological

garden,

or animal

park, and also called a menagerie) is a facility in which animals are

confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may
also be bred.
The term zoological garden refers to zoology, the study of animals, a
term deriving from the Greek zon (, "animal") and logos (,
"study"). The abbreviation "zoo" was first used of the London Zoological
Gardens, which opened for scientific study in 1828 and to the public in
1857.The number of major animal collections open to the public around the
world now exceeds 1,000, around 80 percent of them in cities.London Zoo,
which opened in 1826, first called itself a menagerie or "zoological forest,"
which is short for "Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological Society of
London." The abbreviation "zoo" first appeared in print in the UK 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 song "Walking in
the Zoo on Sunday" by music-hall artist Alfred Vance.The term "zoological
park" was used for more expansive facilities in Washington, D.C., and the
Bronx in New York, which opened in 1891 and 1899 respectively.Relatively
new terms for zoos coined in the late 20th century are "Conservation Park" or
"biopark". 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 "biopark" was
first coined and developed by the National Zoo in Washington D.C. in the late
1980s. In 1993, the New York Zoological Society changed its name to

the Wildlife

Conservation

Society and

rebranded

the

zoos

under

its

jurisdiction as "wildlife conservation parks."

History
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, Egypt in 2009, of a ca. 3500 B.C. menagerie. The exotic

animals

included hippos, hartebeest, elephants, baboons and

wildcats. King Ashur-bel-kala of

the Middle

Assyrian

Empire created

Zoological and Botanical Gardens in the 11th century BC. In the 2nd century
BCE, the Chinese Empress Tanki had a "house of deer" built, and King Wen of
Zhou kept a 1,500-acre (6.1 km2) 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 and

king Ashurbanipal of Assyria, and King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. The

oldest

zoo

in

the

world

still

in

existence

is

the TiergartenSchnbrunn in Vienna, Austria. It was constructed by Adrian

van Stekhovenin 1752 at the order of the Holy Roman Emperor Francis I,
husband of Maria Theresa of Austria, to serve as an imperial menagerie as
part of Schnbrunn Palace. 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.

The modern zoo

Until the early 19th century, the function of the zoo was often to
symbolize royal power, like King Louis XIV's menagerie at Versailles. The
modern

zoo

that

emerged

in

the

early

19th

century

at London, Paris and Dublin, was focused on providing educational exhibits to

the public for entertainment and inspiration.A growing fascination for natural
history and zoology,

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.

London Zoo, 1835

Type
Safari park
Some zoos keep animals in larger, outdoor enclosures, confining them
with moats and fences, rather than in cages. Safari parks, 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.

Giraffes in the West Midland Safari Park

Road side zoo

Roadside zoos are found throughout North America, particularly in remote

locations. They are small, unregulated, 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 and cruelty.

Petting zoos
A petting zoo, also called petting farms or children's zoos, features a
combination of domestic animals 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

parks such

entertaining

and

as Sea

commercial

purposes. Marine

World andMarine

elaborate dolphinariums keeping whales,

and

entertainment attractions.

Top 10 Zoos in the world

The Berlin Zoological Garden, Germany

land are
containing

mammal
more
additional

The
The
The
The
The
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Columbus Zoo, Ohio

Toronto Zoo, Canada
Beijing Zoo, China
Henry Doorly Zoo, Nebraska
Moscow Zoo, Europe
National Zoological Garden of South Africa
Bronx Zoo, New York
London Zoo
San Diego Zoo, California

One of the most famous zoos

in the world, the San Diego
Zoo houses an outstanding
number of animals: over 4,500
animals from over 900
different species!!

The Top 10 zoos in India

Arignar Anna Zoological Park

Nandankanan Zoo
Indira Gandhi Zoological Park
SakkarbaugZoologicalGarden
Nehru Zoological Park
Mysore Zoo
Delhi Zoo
Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park
Sanjay Gandhi Zoological Park
Lucknow Zoo

If you combine land area and

number of species, one of the
largest zoos has to be the
Henry Doorly zoo in Omaha,
Nebraska

Best Zoos of Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram Zoo
Thrissur Zoo
Parassinikkadavu snake park, Kannur

Conservation and Research

The position of most modern zoos in Australasia, Europe, and North
America, particularly those with scientific societies, is that they display wild
animals primarily for the conservation of endangered species, as well as
for research purposes and education, and secondarily for the entertainment
of visitors, an argument disputed by critics. The Zoological Society of London
states in its charter that its aim is "the advancement of Zoology and Animal
Physiology 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 Welcome Institute of Comparative Physiology.

In the U.S., the Penrose Research Laboratory of the Philadelphia Zoo focuses
on the study of comparative pathology. 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.
The breeding of endangered species is coordinated by cooperative
breeding programs containing international studbooks and coordinators, who
evaluate the roles of individual animals and institutions from a global or
regional perspective, and there are regional programs all over the world for
the conservation of endangered species.

Animal welfare concerns

The welfare of zoo animals varies widely. Many zoos work to improve
their animal enclosures and make it fit the animals' needs, although
constraints such as size and expense make it difficult to create ideal captive
environments for many species.
A study examining data collected over four decades found that polar
bears, lions, tigers and cheetahs show evidence of stress in captivity. Zoos
can be internment camps for animals, but also a place of refuge. A zoo can
be considered an internment camp due the insufficient enclosures that the
animals have to live in. When an elephant is placed in a pen that is flat, has
no tree, no other elephants and only a few plastic toys to play with; it can
lead to boredom and foot problems. Also, animals can have a shorter life
span when they are in these types of enclosures. Causes can be human
diseases, materials in the cages, and possible escape attempts. When zoos

take time to think about the animals 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. In recent years, some zoos have chosen to stop showing
their larger animals because they are simply unable to provide an adequate
enclosure for them.