zoological garden

zoological garden or zoo, public or private park where living animals are kept for exhibition and study. The menageries and aviaries of China, Egypt, and Rome were famous in ancient times. From the late medieval period many rulers had private menageries, some of which later formed the nucleus of public exhibits. Nearly all large cities now have zoological reserves. Notable ones include those of London (Regent's Park), Paris (Jardin des Plantes and Jardin d'Acclimatation, Bois de Boulogne), Berlin (Tiergarten), Toronto (Metro), New York City (Bronx), Chicago (Lincoln Park and Brookfield), Cincinnati, Detroit, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and San Diego (Balboa Park). Modern trends include breeding endangered animals in captivity (some have been reintroduced into the wild), exhibiting animals in enclosures simulating their natural habitat rather than in cages (open-range zones or safari parks), and educating the public about the principles of ecology.

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zoo

 or zoological garden

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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zoological garden

A park, often quite large, designed for exhibiting wild animals.