Life at the Zoo

by Phillip T. Robinson

  David Hancocks. Animals and Architecture. New York: Praeger, 1971.

  This is a well-illustrated history of zoological garden architecture, from old menageries to contemporary zoos at the time of its publication. It remains a classic in the literature of zoo design, in which Hancocks continues to play a prominent role.

  David Hancocks. A Different Nature: The Paradoxical World of Zoos and Their Uncertain Futures. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001.

  An architect with diverse experience in designing and managing zoos, Hancocks has written perhaps the most important book to date on the history of animal exhibition and offers detailed opinions on the task before zoos that aspire to be important cultural institutions. Placing himself as an outsider, he takes some well-deserved shots at the tradition-bound leadership of the zoo profession, with the notable exception of specific individuals whom he holds out as innovators in the field of modern zoological gardens. Considerable discussion is devoted to the evolution of “landscape immersion” as the pinnacle of zoo exhibit methodology and how inept attempts to emulate it are fostering a new generation of failed animal displays, despite the rising costs of mega-exhibits. Taking zoos to task for their lack of vision, originality, narrow perspectives, and overstated accomplishments about their contributions to wildlife conservation, he describes the best and worst examples of animal displays and how opportunities are routinely missed to improve public awareness of real-world problems of environmental degradation and species extinctions.

  Elizabeth Hanson. Animal Attractions: Nature on Display in American Zoos. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002.

  A historian provides a very readable analysis of the role of zoos in American culture and how some of the larger institutions arose and changed over time. The activities of several zoo animal suppliers, such as Frank Buck and Carl Hagenbeck, are reviewed, as well as some of the larger collecting expeditions undertaken by zoos themselves. A discussion of moatless animal displays interestingly compares Hagenbeck’s pseudo-geologic attempts at exhibit rock work to the detailed castings used in De Boer’s efforts at the Denver and St. Louis Zoos in the early 1900s.

  Heini Hediger. Wild Animals in Captivity. New York: Dover, 1950.

  The former director of the Basel Zoo in Switzerland, Hediger is regarded as the pioneer grandfather of zoo animal psychology, writing numerous papers and books about the responses of wild animals to captivity. This book is a classic text for zoo animal behavior and discusses how exhibit design and environmental enrichment can exacerbate or blunt the behavioral aberrations brought on by confinement. In making his case for the effects of captivity on normal behaviors, Hediger points to the natural behavior of wild counterparts to encourage zoos to emulate more natural activities for animals in captivity.

  R. J. Hoage and William A. Deiss, eds. New Worlds, New Animals: From Menagerie to Zoological Park in the Nineteenth Century. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996.

  Compiled largely from papers presented at the symposium entitled History and Evolution of the Modern Zoo, sponsored by the National Zoological Park and the Smithsonian Institution in 1989, this is a thorough analysis of the development of zoos in the nineteenth century as well as their predecessors in the menageries and zoos of antiquity. The overall depiction of modern zoos as institutions of education and science is emphasized, as well as some of the seldom recollected successes of animal keeping that predated modern technology and medicine. Interesting black and white historical illustrations complement many of the contributions.

  Devra G. Kleiman, Mary E. Allen, Katerina V. Thompson, Susan Lumpkin, and Holly Harris, eds. Wild Mammals in Captivity: Principles and Techniques. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997.

  This is among the most useful single reference books on zoo animal care, medicine, nutrition, reproduction, genetics, and research to date. Several authors summarize strategies for unbarred, more naturalistic exhibit strategies. Each chapter carries detailed references to published literature, and the volume contains an annotated bibliography appendix to the major works and journals related to the science of captive animal management, now known as “zoo biology.”

  Linda Koebner. Zoo Book: The Evolution of Wildlife Conservation Centers. New York: Forge, 1995.

  This well-illustrated book displays many examples of old and new zoo exhibits. It is a picture tour of many of the larger zoos in North America and features keepers, veterinarians, and zoo directors going about their duties running a zoo. The work of a number of notable zoo field workers is featured in the section on wildlife conservation initiatives being under taken by zoos in nature.

  Terry L. Maple and Erika F. Archibald. Zooman: Inside the Zoo Revolution. Marietta, GA: Longstreet Press, 1993.

  Dr. Maple’s account details the trials and tribulations of the Atlanta Zoo, and his efforts as its director to rebuild the entire reputation and physical zoo facility from its nadir in the mid-1980s. Aside from the specifics of Zoo Atlanta, Dr. Maple discusses his philosophy of zoo management and the changes that he has strived to implement in Atlanta’s exhibit methods, animal enrichment, education, and applied research programs. There are useful insights into keeping great apes in captivity and addressing the special social needs of these challenging, intelligent creatures. In his discussions comparing American zoos, he provides some intriguing statistics on their budgets, scientific accomplishments, and physical sizes.

  Bob Mullan and Garry Marvin. Zoo Culture. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 1998.

  Hopscotching around the world from zoo to zoo, this book looks at how people view zoos and how zoos exhibit animals. The authors, one a social anthropologist, the other a sociologist, offer insights into how animals have been displayed and how regional culture has resulted in different interpretations of zoos in diverse places. Among the interesting topics are synopses of historical efforts to display native peoples in “ethnographic exhibitions” and some of the royal menageries that pre-dated modern zoos.

  Bryan G. Norton, Michael Hutchins, Elizabeth F. Stevens, and Terry L. Maple, eds. Ethics on the Ark. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995.

  This multiauthor text draws upon the experience of many knowledgeable spokespersons in the zoo field to review the state of zoos today and the issues of animal acquisition, exhibit design, captive well-being, breeding genetics, research, and euthanasia. The problems of surplus animals, animals as entertainment, and monetary vs. altruistic motives receive needed analysis, as do realistic expectations of zoos’ roles in contributing to conservation of wildlife in the wild.

  C. T. Robbins. Wildlife Feeding and Nutrition, 2d ed. San Diego: Academic Press, 1993.

  A standard in the small library of works on zoo animal nutrition. Includes overviews of feeding strategies for both captive and free-ranging wild animals.

  Nigel Rothfels. Savages and Beasts: The Birth of the Modern Zoo. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002.

  A well-researched account of the history of animal exhibition from early times to the birth of the trend-setting Hagenbeck Tierpark, near Hamburg, Germany, in 1907. Rothfels provides a detailed analysis of the Hagenbeck family, a long line of animal dealers and menagerie owners, and its extensive enterprises for supplying zoos and circuses and even exhibiting aboriginal humans. The returning themes of the book reveal the contradictions between self-promoted Hagenbeck images of the altruistic motives and methods of the family’s animal activities and the well-documented evidence to the contrary (aggressive animal capture and training methods). Although patriarch Carl Hagenbeck has been widely credited for creating the model for the twentieth-century trends toward zoos without bars, the author concludes that his innovations in animal display techniques, such as open-moat panoramas of bioclimatic animal assemblies, were more for the promotion of animal sales and entertaining displays for the viewing public than for the benefit of the animals.

  Colin Tudge. Last Animals at the Zoo: How Mass Extinction Can Be Stopped. Washington,
DC: Island Press, 1992.

  The thesis of this book is that zoos are an essential part of modern conservation strategy through their efforts at conservation breeding. The methods of breeding wild animals and the conservation of their genetic and behavioral diversity occupy most of this book, which provides overviews of a number of zoo projects related to propagating and reintroducing endangered species.

  INDEX

  adrenaline

  Adventureland Jungle Cruise

  aggression: interspecies; intraspecies; toward people. See also behavior, of animals

  albinos

  Albuquerque, New Mexico

  Animal Welfare Act (AWA); implementation in zoos; in research institutions

  American Association of Zoo Keepers (AAZK)

  American Association of Zoo Veterinarians (AAZV)

  American College of Zoological Medicine (ACZM)

  American Museum of Natural History

  American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA); accreditation; membership; mission

  anesthesia: advances in; complications of; early methods; experiments; ideal characteristics of; purposes of; risks; variations by available space. See also drugs

  anesthetics: carfentanyl; chloroform; curare; ether; etorphine; diprenorphine; fentanyl; ketamine; nicotine alkaloids; phencyclidine; M-99; M50–50; succinyl choline; xylazine

  animal births

  animal-capture equipment: blow pipe; Cap-Chur gun; squeeze cages; Telinject

  animal collecting; Frank Buck; gorillas; chimpanzees; Martin and Osa Johnson; methods; mortalities; orangutans

  animal enrichment

  animal husbandry

  animal introductions

  animal rights/welfare; and adequate veterinary care; Animal Liberation; Animal Welfare Act; biomedical research; bioterrorism; definitions; Disneyland; farming; fish; Jamieson, Dr. Dale; lawsuits; lesser species; media dynamics; People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA); Rattling the Cage; sentience; Silver Spring Monkeys; Peter Singer; Tijuana Humane Society; Steven Wise; Zoo Check

  animals: dangerous (see deaths, of keepers); escapes; transporting

  animals, mentioned by name: Abe; Albert; Barney; Big Al; Bob; Boo Boo; Bullwinkle; Caspar; Checkers; Chopper; Chuny; Diablo; Diarrhea; Dinah; Dolly; Dudley Duplex; Freckles; Frieda; George; Godzilla; Gonnorhea; Iki; Kakowet; Ken Allen; King Kong; King Tut; Komo; La Petite; Linda; Lisette; Lucky; Maya; Mbongo; Ngagi; Pyorrhea; Rocky; Sally; Sanetti; Snowflake; Timon; Thelma and Louise; Topper; Victoria; Yogi; Zeya

  animals, mentioned by species: alligator; alpaca; Amazon parrot; Arabian oryx; baboon; bat; beaver; California condor; Canada goose; chimpanzee; coatimundi; cockatoo; desert tortoise; douc langur monkey; Eclectus parrot; elephant; emu; flamingo; Galapagos tortoise; gibbon; giraffe; golden eagle; gorilla; hippopotamus; hyena; impala antelope; Jamaican boa; javelina; Jentink’s duiker; koala; kangaroo; kookaburra; Komodo dragon; leopard; llama; lion; meerkat; Mongolian wild horse; naked mole rat; North American moose; okapi; orangutan; ostrich; peccary; penguin; platypus; polar bear; porcupine; pronghorn antelope; pygmy chimpanzee; pygmy hippopotamus; pygmy shrew; python; quagga; rhea; rhinoceros; sea lion; scarlet ibis; Somali wild ass; South American bush dog; spider monkey; swift fox; tahr; tiger; Weddell seal; wildebeest

  animal “string”

  Annual Snake Contest

  anthropocentrism

  antivenin

  architects; exhibit design; Charles Faust; Jones and Jones; and landscape immersion; and master planning; and naturalistic exhibits; programming

  ascorbic acid

  attention deficit disorder

  autopsy. See also necropsy

  bear pits

  bedding materials

  bedroom, animal

  behavior, of animals: abnormal; aggression; bachelor males; benevolent; cooperative; endocrinology of; and environmental enrichment; in exhibit design; feces flinging; modification; normal; observing; predatory; regurgitation; research; Hans Selye and; sexual; stereotypical; during stress; territorial

  behavior, of personnel; architects; bus drivers; in city government; curators; docents; keepers; trustees; veterinarians; zoo directors

  behavior, of visitors; on bus tours; as compulsive patrons; observing animals; and staff interactions; vacationing demeanors; vandalism

  blood tests

  blow pipes

  body temperature

  budgets, in zoos

  Bulletin of the N.Y. Zoological Society

  bullfighting

  bus drivers

  buzkashi (“goat grabbing”)

  cage paralysis

  cages

  captive breeding; Conservation Breeding Specialist Group; and American Zoo and Aquarium Association

  captivity; acclimating animals to; births in; caging, fences, moats; diseases caused by; extinctions in; foreign bodies; longevity in; malnutrition; nutrition in; objections to; reproduction in; stress; toxins; trauma; vs. wild

  catch pens

  Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species (CRES)

  charismatic megavertebrates

  China, People’s Republic of

  Christian faith

  Cinco de Mayo

  circuses

  cloning

  code green

  complaints: of animal welfare advocates; of city administrators; of curators; of keepers; of old-timers; of trustees; of visitors; of zoo directors

  concession sales, in zoos

  conservation: captive breeding; of habitat; in local communities; in situ

  cryopreservation

  curator, animal

  deaths: of keepers; of visitors

  dentistry/dental disease

  diagnostic methods: biotelemetry; blood tests; imaging; International Species Inventory System; limitations of; MedArks; normal values; observing disease signs; rule outs; sex determination; symptoms and signs

  directors

  diseases: African swine fever; brucellosis; canine distemper; in captivity; exotic; foot and mouth; of foreign animals; inadvertent introduction of; knowledge of; malnutrition (see feeding; nutrition); neonatal; Newcastle disease; Penrose Laboratory; Plum Island Foreign Animal Disease Center; prevention; quarantine; rinderpest; and sanitation; tuberculosis; Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine (Fowler)

  Disneyland

  DNA

  docents

  drugs: aromatic spirit of ammonia; corrosive sublimate; efficacy of; experimentation with; metabolism of; safety; street names; Tincture of myrrh. See also anesthetics

  duration of productive life (DPL)

  education; animal shows; college courses; internships and residencies. See also entertainment

  endangered species; Red Data Book; role of zoos in conserving; captive breeding of

  entertainment: animal rides; bus tours; circus acts; edzootainment; genetic/developmental anomalies; trained animals. See also education

  environments, animal

  escapes; bears; chimpanzee; orangutan; tigers

  euthanasia; Chuny; circus elephant

  exhibitions, early: of bears; of carnivores; Cross’s Menagerie; Hagenbeck; Jardin des Plantes; of koalas; London Zoo; menageries; of people; of platypus

  exhibits: barriers; carnivore; cost overruns; designing; great apes; and Hagenbeck Zoo; human; moated; hoofed-animal; mixed-species; naturalistic; Northern Trail; old; public perceptions of; sponsors; tiger; Urban Man; water hazards; zoological theater. See also architects

  extinctions and near extinctions. See also conservation

  fatalities, in zoos. See also deaths; suicides

  feeding: of baby animals; beta carotene; of big cats; of birds; cafeteria style; fallen livestock; fasting practices; food puzzles; of gray whale; in mixed exhibits; milk formulas; of platypus; prohibitions to; regurgitation; of reptiles; of zoo animals. See also nutrition

  fencing

  Field Veterinary Program of The Wildlife Conservation Society

  firsts: American zoo; animal reintroductions in
U.S.; comprehensive zoo medical text; giraffe birth in American zoo; gorilla birth in captivity; urban zoo in modern times; veterinarian fired from a zoo; veterinarian zoo director in U.S.; veterinary school; westerner to see a wild gorilla; woman zoo veterinarian; zoo animal health program; zoo nutritionist; zoo veterinarian, contemporary; zoo veterinary book

  Foreign Animal Disease Laboratory (Plum Island)

  Gallup Poll

  Gombe Stream Reserve

  Grand Rapids, Michigan

  Great Depression. See also Works Progress Administration

  green polar bear syndrome

  holistic medicine

  homosexual zoo animals

  hunting

  husbandry

  hybrids

  immunosupression

  injuries: to animals; occupational risk of; to personnel; to visitors

  in situ conservation work

  Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)

  International Symposium on the Diseases of Zoo Animals

  in vitro fertilization

  Jennings Center for Zoological Medicine, color plate 1

  Judas goats

  keepers

  Kruger National Park

  landscape immersion. See also architects; exhibits

  longevity

  management, of zoos. See also zoo administration

  marketing

  maternal neglect

  MedARKs

  medical procedures/problems: abscesses; dentistry; fractures; immobilization; parasitism; tuberculosis. See also diseases; husbandry

  medications/medicines. See drugs; anesthetics

  menageries

  MetaZoo Education Center

  milk: clostrum; elephant; formula choice; gorilla; gray whale. See also nursery care

  mission statements