Does anyone know of zoos with lots of history behind them, such as London Zoo, and Berlin Zoo. If you do could you show me a way to see some more about their history.
How much history do you want? Look at The New York Zoological Society (Bronx Zoo) and Philadelphia Zoo, Antwerp, Jardin des Plantes. There are loads of books to get you started. You could start here Zoo and Aquarium History
The ZooChat thread Zoo History Books Iists many books about zoo history. And anybody interested in zoo history should consider joining the Bartlett Society; see link below for details The Bartlett Society
If you want to learn more about the history of the Antwerp Zoo, here you have an image database with many photos from the opening in 1843 to about the 00's of the 21st century: Historische Beeldbank The site is in Dutch but can be translated by using Google Translate.
Just do it. I was joining all sorts of things at that age. You don’t actually have to get to meetings, just enjoy the journals, newsletters and other publications. Clinton Keeling’s books (two of them republished in recent years by the Bartlett Society) just might fascinate you. Enjoy.
Count yourself lucky that you are "only thirteen" as you have a lifetime to explore zoo history if you wish. Read what you can; there is a Bibliography on the previously mentioned Bartlett Society website www.zoohistory.co.uk which should help you select books that catch your interest. Although you may find it difficult to locate many books some older titles can be downloaded for free - just search the internet (for example books such as the 1828 "Tower Menagerie" about the animals kept in the Tower of London can be found to download) and others may be on the free Kindle list. And join a Society or two when you can.
Visiting older zoos is a great way of experiencing their history first-hand (I assume old is defined as pre-1900s given some of the examples in this thread). The oldest zoos that I’ve visited, London and Bristol, still have a lot of old buildings, remnants of old exhibits and signage about what they looked like many years ago.
It would be worth "@Bengal Tiger" checking the Biodiversity Heritage Library. This provides on-line access to a number of hard to find zoo books, for example: Le Jardin des Plantes. Description et Moeurs des Mammiferes de la Menagerie et du Museum D'Histoire Naturelle. (M. Boitard; 1845) The Zoological Gardens of Europe, Their History and Chief Features. ( C. V. A. Peel; 1903) The Zoological Society of London: A Sketch of Its Foundation and Development and the Story of Its Farm, Museum, Gardens, Menagerie and Library (Henry Scherren; 1905)
If I had to name a few from the top of my head I would say London, Berlin, Vienna, Artis, Antwerp, Jardin des Plantes, Bronx, Central Park, Bristol, Hagenbeck, Philadelphia... Not a comprehensive list at all and even some zoos which aren't super old are surely going to be considered historically important in the future such as Jersey.
I’d agree with everyone else with Bronx, Antwerp, London, Philadelphia. I would also add Hagenbeck who created the first panorama, predator and prey, and natural exhibits. San Diego for their work in the grotto style exhibit, and their extremely important collection. Here is a thread I made that lists the old collection San Diego Zoo/Safari Park Old Collection I’m probably going to update it later with pinnipeds.
Gathering of animals is a great book from the 70's that tells the history of of the Bronx zoo, highly recommend it
If youre looking for a old Zoo outside of Europe or America, I'd go for Pretoria Zoo, You can read about it's history on WZD and their Website.
What about Milwaukee? One of the first North American zoos to adopt the Hagenbeck style, including North America's first predator-prey exhibits. Milwaukee was also the first zoo to breed Polar Bears in captivity. Many of Milwaukee's original enclosures still stand today.
I'd argue that Paris is perhaps the most historically 'important' zoo as it was more or less the first to serve as more of a research facility than one for public (or aristocratic) entertainment. It would be interesting to think about what direction zoos would have taken without Paris under the management of Frederic Cuvier, who more or less pioneered the study of animal behaviour within zoos. But that's just my opinion, and I'm sure arguments could be made for London, Vienna, Hamburg - even Bronx?
