A zoo is perhaps one of the most exciting places for a child to visit. Very few are those who do not have some memory of visiting a zoo as a child. In 2022, the number of zoos and aquariums in America is 368, putting a zoo within easy driving distance of every American household. Zoos have become so common, in fact, that it is rare to find someone in America or Europe who has not seen an elephant, tiger, lion, or giraffe in person. But this has not always been the case.
There is some debate over which zoo was the first. It all depends upon your definition of the word 'zoo'. What is a zoo? The word itself is a shortened form of 'zoological park'. It is usually agreed that the difference between a 'zoo' and a 'menagerie' is that a zoo is a collection of animals for public education or scientific research, while a menagerie is a private collection.
The Menagerie du Jardin des Plantes in Paris is technically a zoo, but it began as a menagerie. Kings and Queens have kept exotic animals as symbols of wealth and power throughout history. There are several animal collections which all claim the title of 'first'.
Of course, the very first recorded collection of animals was indisputably done by Noah, though whether this falls under the category of 'zoo' or 'menagerie' is up for debate. About a thousand years later, Queen Hatshepsut founded a royal menagerie by collecting animals from across Egypt and Africa, making this the first menagerie. Five-hundred years later, Emperor Wen Wang collected animals from all across China. Since Wen Wang's collection was more specifically noted as being used for scientific research, his 'Garden of Intelligence' was the first official zoo. The Vienna Zoo claims to be the “World's Oldest Zoo”, since Queen Hatshepsut's menagerie and Wen Wang's zoo are long gone. The Vienna Zoo is therefore the oldest zoo still in existence, founded in 1752. The Menagerie in Paris also makes a play for the title. They claim to be the “World's First Modern Zoo”, founded in 1793. Finally, there is the London Zoo. Not to be outdone, they make the claim of being the “World's oldest Scientific Zoo”, even though they weren't founded until 1828. Well, perhaps there is something to that claim, since the London Zoo did make significant advancements towards the improvements of animal care. In this article, we will focus primarily on the two most recent: the London Zoo and the Menagerie du Jardin des Plantes.
Menagerie du Jardin des Plantes
In Grayscale, the first novel in the Callahan Chronicles, Reginald Whitaker is working as the Chief Veterinarian at the Menagerie. Though there was likely someone in charge of the animals during this time, the position is an invented one. However, Reginald's mention of the Menagerie's upcoming centennial and his respect for the work of Bernardin de Saint-Pierre are historically accurate.
The Menagerie had a rocky start. The original animals belonged to the Royal Menagerie of the King of France, Louis XVI, and were housed at his palace in Versailles. This royal menagerie had been kept and expanded for over a hundred years, and by the time of Louis XVI, contained hundreds of animals, including 239 species of birds, and 123 species of mammals, in addition to reptiles and amphibians. This all changed when his palace was stormed by French anarchists during the French Revolution. Louis XVI and his wife, Marie-Antoinette, both lost their heads over this, and never regained them, thanks to a new invention known as the 'guillotine'. Many of the Royal animals fared no better. Most were either driven off or killed as symbols of royal tyranny. The edible ones were cooked and eaten.
Finally, Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre could take no more, and denounced further slaughter as a crime against science. Only five animals were saved from the slaughter, including one rhinoceros and one lion. These five were taken to the Jardin des Plantes, which had originally been a medicinal garden for the king, but was turned into a public botanical garden. Not long after, Paris banned any performing show involving animals, and confiscated several. These were also sent to the Menagerie, including trained monkeys, a panther, two eagles, and several dancing bears. The Menagerie's newly appointed Professor of Zoology, Etienne Geofroy Saint-Hilaire, found himself incapable of caring for all these animals, and suggested the Menagerie hire several of the animal's previous caretakers to help manage the growing collection.
The Menagerie continued to grow. Two years later, it acquired an elephant, and in 1804, the large Rotunde was built. The Bear Ditch was built in the following year, and several years later, a building specifically for carnivores was built, which housed the big cats. The Volieren was built in 1825 to house birds of prey, and in 1837 a house specifically for monkeys and apes was added. The Reptile house was not added until 1870, but all of these would have been firmly established as a standard part of the Menagerie by 1893, when the fictional Reginald Whitaker arrives. By then, most of the animals the Menagerie housed would have lost their novelty. Artists were encouraged to use the Menagerie's animals as models for their work, and many could be found on any given day, sitting in front of the cages with their easels, drawing the various animals. By then, most of the excitement would have worn off for the average Parisian, but in 1827, such was not the case.
La Belle Africaine
Giraffes might not seem all that exciting to zoo-goers today, but by 1827, there had not been a giraffe seen in Europe for over three-hundred years. The vast majority of France had never seen a giraffe outside of paintings, nor had their parents or grandparents. It is no surprise then, that the arrival of a giraffe caused excitement all across France. When Charles X gained the throne in 1825, he was sent a gift by Muhammad Ali. No, not Muhammad Ali, the famous pugilist. This was Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha, the Ottoman Viceroy of Egypt. Ali Pasha sent three giraffes to Europe: one to Charles X in Paris, one to George IV in London, and one to Francis I in Vienna.
As can be imagined, the job of transporting a giraffe over such long distances was quite a challenge. The journey took two and a half years, from the Sudan, where the young giraffe was transported by camel, to Khartoum, where a barge took her to Alexandria. From there, she traveled by cargo ship to Marseilles. The ship's hold was too small for her, however, and a hole had to be cut in the hold to allow her head through. The rocking of the ship posed a considerable risk while she was being transported in this manner, however, and they decided to transport her from Marseilles to Paris by land. This was before any significant railroads were seen in France, and the journey was made on foot. Three cows had been sent, which provided the young giraffe with milk, and these were also sent to Paris, after spending the winter in Marseilles. The journey took 41 days, and caused a massive stir of interest in each town they passed.
News traveled faster than the travelers, and by the time 'La Belle Africaine', as she was titled, reached Lyon, thirty thousand people were assembled to see her. She took up residence in the Jardin des Plantes in July of 1827. After her arrival, giraffe madness swept France faster than the fires of revolution had done. Hairdos were worn high in 'la mode a la girafe', yellow and black spotted print fabric became a best-seller, plates, dishes, books, and paintings were inspired by her journey across France, and images of the giraffe could be seen everywhere. The other two giraffes had equally impressive responses in London and Vienna, but sadly, did not live over two years after their arrival. However, 'Zarafa' (as she was named long after her death), lived for eighteen years after her arrival in Paris, and remained popular. After her death, she was stuffed, and eventually found her way to the Museum of Natural History in La Rochelle, where she can still be seen today. Her long life indicates that she was well-cared for at the Paris Menagerie, but other animals were not so lucky.
Cats in Cages
The founder of the Menagerie, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, was centuries ahead of his time regarding the care of animals. He advocated to have animals placed in confinement that closely resembled their natural habitats, and some of the animals at the Menagerie did receive this treatment, but not all. Others did not share Saint-Pierre's views, and the purpose of the Menagerie was the education of people, rather than the comfort of the animals, so environments took second place to presentation. The big cats especially suffered. I try to remain as accurate to history as possible in my novels, but I have fudged a bit in depicting the Menagerie, since I found it especially difficult to reconcile the common practices of zoos during the 19th century to Reginald's love of animals.
While many of the large herbivores had access to outside pens and room to walk about, the lions and other large cats were kept in small cages, without access to the outside or fresh air. The vast majority of French depictions of lions during this era show them lying down. The reason for this is simply because this is the posture artists always found these lions at the Menagerie, since they had little room to do much else. Ideas at the time thought that confinement would make the large predators more docile, but later experiments proved the exact opposite to be the case, as Reginald mentions. There were others who voiced concerns over the living conditions of the animals, but monetary and spatial constraints kept any significant changes from being made until after the turn of the century. Perhaps if Reginald had actually become Chief Veterinary Consultant at the Menagerie, these changes would have come far sooner.
The Zoological Society of London
Reginald's original plan after completing his studies in India (as told in Blue Tiger, available for free on the Traitor Books Members Page), was to gain a position at the London Zoo. Despite being the last 'first' zoo on our list, it quickly became the most prominent zoo of the century, and it is easy to see why it was Reginald's first choice.
When Muhammad Ali's giraffe arrived in London, the London Zoo had not even officially opened yet. The idea for the zoo came from Sir Stamford Raffles and Sir Humphrey Davies in 1826, in connection with the establishment of the London Zoological Society. The arrival of Ali Pasha's giraffe did not cause the same continued excitement in London as it did in Paris, since the London Zoo was then only open to members of the Zoological Society. It was not totally opened to the public until 1847. By then the menagerie from the Tower of London had been added to its collection, and it had an extensive collection of animals. Despite its late start, the London Zoo quickly outpaced its competitors in Paris and Vienna. Only two years after its opening, it opened the first Reptile House, then the first Aquarium in 1853, coining the term from the two Latin words 'aqua', meaning 'water', and 'arium', which means 'a place to relate to'. In 1881, the first Insect House was opened.
While the Menagerie in Paris was focused on art and education, the London Zoo's primary focus was on scientific learning. They kept a wide variety of species there, including two which are now extinct: the quagga, a relative of the Horse and Zebra, and the thylacine, also known as the Tasmanian Wolf. There are only a few photographs of the quagga, and all of them were taken at the London Zoo.
It was also at the London Zoo in 1887 that John Bland-Sutton discovered the importance of dietary supplements. The Zoological Society had made several attempts to raise lion cubs, but without success, as they all developed severe rickets which became ultimately fatal. Bland-Sutton remedied the problem by supplementing the cubs' diet of lean meat to include crushed bone, milk, and cod liver oil. Within three months, the cubs were healthy and strong. The results were astounding, and Bland-Sutton published his findings in 1889, causing a stir, not only in scientific circles, but in ordinary newspapers as well. I had Reginald mention this important discovery in Grayscale, regarding his own research with big cats four years later in 1893. Following this important discovery, cod liver oil became a cure-all, and its popularity as a medicine lasted for many decades.
In 1850, London Zoo acquired the first hippopotamus seen in Europe since the Roman Empire. This hippo, known as Obaysch, was another gift from Ali Pasha, who had given them a giraffe twenty-three years before. The arrival of Obaysch doubled the average number of guests to the London Zoo. Fifteen years later, another famous animal at the London Zoo came from the Menagerie du Jardin des Plantes, in Paris: Jumbo.
Jumbo
It is likely that the Menagerie simply did not have the space to keep 'Jumbo' the Elephant, while the London Zoo did. Whatever the reasons for the gift, Jumbo was an instant hit for his massive size, and the zoo quickly put him to work giving rides to ecstatic children. Sadly, the London Zoo sold Jumbo to the Barnum and Bailey Circus in 1882, which led to his tragic death in 1885 when he was struck and killed by a runaway locomotive. However, Jumbo's legacy lives on, for you may be surprised to learn that Jumbo did not get his name from his massive size, but the other way around. 'Jumbo' is likely derived from the Swahili greeting 'Jambo'. It was not even a word in the English language until the elephant arrived in Britain. Jumbo stood to nearly eleven feet at the shoulder; it is no wonder the word 'Jumbo' became a synonym for 'large', and will remain a part of our language for the foreseeable future.
It was not until 1902 that the London Zoo began to attempt more humane animal exhibits. One of the reasons that animals in European zoos were kept in small indoor cages without access to the outdoors was a false belief that the colder climate of Europe would be harmful for animals from hotter climates like Africa and South America. It was the Hamburg Zoo in Germany that first had success with keeping animals out of doors. It was Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell, a Scottish zoologist, who completely reorganized the London Zoo to allow animals more access to the open air. These improvements made a significant change in the health and temperament of the animals, and Mitchell took the idea even further. Over the next twenty years, Mitchell negotiated the purchase of a 600 acre plot outside London, and in 1931, Whipsnade Wild Animal Park was opened to the public, making it the first completely outdoor – and England's biggest – zoological park.
Whipsnade Wild Animal Park (now shortened to Whipsnade Zoo) was a huge success, and had 38,000 visitors on its second day. The early animals included pheasants, jungle fowl, muntjacs, skunks, pygmy hippos, llamas, wombats, wallabies, and a pack of wolves, which had not roamed freely in England for some time. There was much excitement when these wolves were heard howling for the first time. Since the 1930's, many improvements have been made in regard to zoos and the housing of animals. Most zoos today follow the example of Whipsnade, allowing animals to roam freely in outdoor pens, rather than small indoor rooms, though many zoos also have indoor shelters for animals during extreme weather. In recent years, 'Safari Parks' have made a rise in popularity, where all the animals mingle together in one large enclosure, while guests drive around in their own cars.
We can only hope that improvements will continue to be made that increase both public access to animals as well as comfort for the animals, themselves. Virtue will always be found between two opposing vices. Anorexia and obesity are equally bad, while the right path is found in a temperate diet kept in balance, neither starvation nor indulgence. One should not be selfish and stingy, but neither is it good to give to the point that there is nothing left, and one must then be forced to rely on others. One should not be too prideful, but one must have some self-esteem. In the same manner, while the 19th century's disinterest in the conservation of animals was certainly wrong, it is equally wrong to elevate animals to the level of humanity, and work to better the lives of animals at the expense of human life. We are to be stewards of God's creation, to preserve and protect it, but we are not to deify it. As in all things, balance is needed. While the care of animals is important, the care and comfort of humanity is more important. All too often, it seems that many people are more worried about the animals without food and shelter, rather than the people without food and shelter. Balance is only possible with proper focus, so rather than focusing on the creature, let us focus on the Creator. The rest will follow.
For More in formation on 19th Century Zoos or my novel, Grayscale, check out these links:
Grayscale - by Paul Campbell
Jardin des Plantes - official website
Animals and Animaliers at the Jardin des Plantes - by Maria P. Gindhart
Jardin des Plantes fauna - by France Today
Zarafa the Giraffe - Wikipedia article
London Zoo History - British Heritage
The First year of Whipsnade Zoo - Zoological Society of London
Jumbo the Elephant - The Cult of Weird
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