ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS (ZOOLOGICAL PARKS), insti tutions in which wild animals are kept in captivity. The first zoological garden of which we have information was founded in China by the first emperor of the Chou dynasty, who reigned about I roo B.C. This was called the "Intelligence Park," and ap pears to have had a scientific and educational object. The ancient Greeks and Romans kept in captivity large numbers of leopards, lions, bears, elephants, antelopes, giraffes, camels, rhinoceroses and hippopotami, as well as ostriches and crocodiles, but these were destined for slaughter at the gladiatorial shows. In later times royal persons and great feudal magnates frequently kept menag eries of wild animals, aviaries and aquaria, and it is from these that the modern public gardens have taken their origin. Henry I. (1 roo-35) established a menagerie at Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. This was transferred to the Tower of London appar ently in the reign of Henry III., and kept up there until at least 2828. Philip VI. had a menagerie in the Louvre at Paris in 1333, Charles V. maintained collections at Conflans, Tournelles and in Paris, and Louis XI. formed a menagerie at Plessis les Tours in Touraine, which after his death was re-established at the Louvre in Paris and enlarged by collections obtained in North Africa. It was destroyed by Henry III. Henry IV. had a small collection, which included an elephant. Louis XIII. kept some animals at Versailles, whilst his son Louis XIV. founded the famous "Menag erie du Parc" at Versailles, which received many animals from Cairo, was maintained for over a century, and furnished much valuable material to French naturalists and anatomists. It grad ually decayed, however, and was almost extinguished by the mob in 1789. In 1793, the Paris museum of natural history was re established by law, and Buffon's idea of attaching to it a menag erie was carried out ; the latter, as the collection in the Jardin des Plantes, still survives. In Germany the elector Augustus I.
cording to Prescott, King Nezahualcoyotl had zoological gardens at Tezcuco in Mexico in the middle of the 15th century, whilst in the next century Cortes found aviaries and fishponds at Izta palapan, and Montezuma II., emperor of Mexico in the beginning of the 16th century, maintained large collections of animals.
Africa.—The zoological gardens at Giza, Cairo, a government institution, are beautifully laid out and particularly rich in African animals. The Khartum zoological gardens are free to the public and are under the control of the municipality, but the collection of animals is under the game preservation department. The Trans vaal zoological gardens at Pretoria are a government institution.
America, North.—The zoological park at Bronx Borough, New York, opened in 1899, is one of the largest in the world. It is controlled by the Zoological Society of New York, with repre sentatives of the municipality of the City of New York, is financed largely out of municipal funds, and is open free to the public five days a week. The park occupies nearly 3ooac. and con tains many fine buildings, but its special feature is a series of spa cious enclosures for large herds of bison and deer. The na tional zoological park at Washington (D.C.), was founded by Congress in 1889-90 "for the advancement of science and the in struction and recreation of the people." The site was purchased by the United States Government, and all the expenses come from national funds, the management being vested in the Smithsonian Institution. The park consists of about 265ac. of undulating land with natural woods and rocks, traversed by a gorge cut by Rock Creek, a small tributary of the Potomac. The zoological gardens in Fairmount park, Philadelphia, resemble the gardens of the Zoological Society of London, on which they were modelled. They are controlled by the Zoological Society of Philadelphia, founded in 1859. There are many other good collections in the United States and several in Canada.