How did zoos develop
Increasingly, modern zoos today are not just seen as a place to see local and exotic animals, but they are treated as places of conservation. However, we can see that in relatively recent history that was not the case, as many older zoos have display areas and cages that clearly were intended to simply display animals to a curious public. The history of zoos has changed, from one of limited display to upper society, to one that was accessible to many. Furthermore, the importance of the animals and how they were seen has changed.
Development of the Concept of a Zoo
Both ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia had a concept of zoos developed in their ancient societies by at least around 2500 BC. In Egypt, including in Saqqara, a zoo has been found, where exotic animals such as antelopes, baboons, hyenas, cheetahs, cranes, storks and falcons were likely kept. In southern Mesopotamia, royal figures seem to have kept wild animals. However, the reasons for keeping these animals may have varied. In Egypt, some of these animals may have been seen as sacred as well as a form of royal pet, while in Mesopotamia taming wild animals was seen as demonstrating the power of kings and the royal line. In fact, a king fighting a lion or tiger, at least shown as a symbolic depiction, indicated the power of royalty. Keeping such animals may have been done to even eventually have a type of royal combat with these animals. By 13th century BC, larger animals, such as elephants and giraffes, and even more exotic species were being kept. In Egypt, giraffes and pet lions were recorded to have been kept by Ramses II.
In the period of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, from the 9th to 7th centuries BC, tigers were being kept in enclosures and often were depicted in wall reliefs. What may have differed in some of these enclosures is there seems to have been an attempt to also reconstruct the ecosystem in which tigers. Sennacherib, king of Assyria from 704 – 682 BC, created a marsh-like environment and garden in his royal city of Nineveh that not only contained exotic plants but also was intended to recreate the marsh and wider environment of certain tiger species.
In China, during the Zhou Dynasty between 2000-1000 BC, parks were created that had walled enclosures that also kept a menagerie of animals. In the Han Dynasty, late in the 1st millennium BC (around 200 BC), records indicate private menageries were kept, where animals included birds, bears, tigers, alligators, rhinoceroses, deer, and elephants.
In ancient Greece, private menageries were also known. The most famous was the one owned by Aristotle. Here, he kept a variety of animals for study. In fact, it was this menagerie that led to the first book dedicated to studying animals, called The History of Animals, written in the 4th century BC. While Aristotle used his own collection of animals, he also observed animals in the wild such as in the island of Lesbos.
Rise of Zoos
The Roman Period reflects a mixture of wonderment, where many exotic animals were collected as the Roman Empire expanded. This included elephants, leopards, lions, ostriches, and parrots, in addition to bears and other native animals to Italy. However, the Romans are also well known for the cruelty towards animals in the colosseum. Nevertheless, the Romans were very fascinated by wild animals, where they seem to have promoted the use of animals in public display, such as parading elephants, showing animal tricks, and even dressing animals (e.g., monkeys were dressed as soldiers and even rode in chariots pulled by goats). Rome's experience with Carthage led them to respect the power of the elephant, even if it had relatively little military value. However, it was a symbolic animal to the Romans as a powerful animal that could be used to frighten their enemies, similar to how they were frightened by the animal when they first encountered it against Carthage.
What the Roman period shows is that animals were now beginning to be seen not just as wonderment for the wealth or powerful, but now animals were beginning to be shown in more public settings and displayed for their wonder and power. While clearly animals were often treated with cruelty, the period of Rome also began a process where people increasingly came into closer contact with wild animals and those that were very exotic.
