The first zoo dates back to 1500 BC in ancient Egypt. The tradition was passed down, all the way to the 1400s AD, when Columbus discovered “The New World.” A new world meant new creatures, and his discoveries renewed interest in zoos all across Europe. Today, there are over 2,800 zoos in the world, and over 6 million people visit them each year.
Zoo
A zoo (short for zoological park or zoological garden, 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 zoon ('animal') and lógos ('study'). The abbreviation 'zoo' was first used of the London Zoological Gardens, which opened for scientific study in 1828 and to the public in 1847. The number of major animal collections open to the public around the world now exceeds 1,000, around 80 percent of them in cities.
However, keeping animals in zoos raises concerns for animals rights.
Zoos typically house more wild animals than domesticated ones.
Zoo animals usually live in enclosures that attempt to replicate their natural habitats, for the benefit of the animals and the visitors. They may have special buildings for nocturnal animals, with dim white or red lighting used during the day, so the animals will be active when visitors are there, and brighter lights at night to help them sleep. Special climate conditions are created for animals living in radical environments, such as penguins. Special enclosures for birds, insects, reptiles, fish, 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 lemurs, marmosets, birds, lizards, and turtles. Visitors are asked to keep to paths and avoid showing or eating foods that the animals might snatch.
