THE EVOLUTION OF THE ZOO
Helen Cowie questions whether the ethos of the modern zoo has improved since they first opened
“On the face of it, modern zoos have evolved significantly from the first zoos that were open to the public. Zoos no longer take animals from the wild, but generally secure them through breeding or exchanges with other zoos, putting an end to the environmental destruction associated with the wild animal trade. Most have embraced the rhetoric of conservation, contributing to international breeding programmes and giving some of their profits to wildlife protection initiatives overseas. Animal husbandry has also improved considerably since the 19th century, with better nutrition, larger enclosures and better veterinary care resulting in a longer life expectancy for zoo animals.
“While there have certainly been significant changes in the exhibition of exotic animals, however, the continuities across time are perhaps equally striking and offer some important caveats to the ‘improvement’ narrative. First, despite a shift in emphasis, zoos continue to exert power over animals, and some species (especially pandas) still function as diplomatic gifts. Second, while the range of animals on display has increased over the centuries, audiences continue to gravitate towards a few ‘charismatic’ mammals, with the result that many modern zoos still stock them for entertainment purposes. Elephants, great apes and big cats have almost always been popular, while reptiles and birds have generally drawn fewer crowds. Third, though staged animal performances may have fallen out of fashion in the 20th century, the desire to see zoo animals being active, or to interact with them in some way, has not abated, as evidenced by the continued popularity of sea lion displays, feeding exhibitions and immersive enclosures where visitors can enter the habitats of selected non-aggressive animals. The chimpanzee’s tea party of the early 20th century (which persisted in London Zoo until 1972) was in many ways a sanitised version of feeding time at the Tower Menagerie in the 17th century, when, according to the diarist Samuel Pepys, visitors could gain free entry if they brought along a live dog or cat to feed to the lions! Although the official ethos of the zoo has changed, some elements of animal display remain the same.”