European zoos throughout the ages
Why did monarchs display captive animals?
Across Eurasia, individuals or private organisations have owned menageries of wild animals for hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of years. Zoos are another beast altogether.
To be classified as a zoo in the modern understanding of the word, a collection of animals needs to fulfil two criteria. First, it must be located at least partly outdoors in a garden or park, and second, generally be open to the public.
What are the motivations for holding captive animals? Owners of private menageries no doubt exhibited scientific curiosity in their acquisitions. But the opportunity to impress their peers and subjects was an irrefutable bonus.
As detailed in the following accounts, monarchs across Europe built menageries as a demonstration of wealth and power, with ostentatious furnishings to amaze their peers, in which the animals were only accessories.
While money-making was a motivating factor in public zoos, they also served as places of scientific learning and education. Writing about the proliferation of zoos in the 1830s, Tim Brown of the Independent Zoo Enthusiasts Society splits the establishment into two distinct camps. The zoological society models sought to embrace “the spirit of learning and enlightenment that was de…
