Thirty years ago when I passed the cages and paddocks that held a rather limited assortment of mostly California animals at Oakland's Knowland Zoo, endangered species were very low on the priority list. Zoos displayed a dispirited collection of animals and birds in cages and small enclosures. Zoos started early. Wen Wang, a Chinese Emperor, built a 900-acre walled zoo back in 1100 BC Nebuchadnezzar had a zoo in Babylon; Roman Emperor Trajan's zoo held over 10,000 animals. Various English Kings ran zoos in the Tower of London and these lead to the now somewhat outdated, but still wonderful, Regent's Park Zoo in 1826. Zoos have served some strange purposes too. Hernado Cortez reported that Aztec Emperor Montezuma fed criminals to his zoo's animals. Cortez did not fancy this uncivilized practice. Apparently, he would forget the Roman's habit of feeding lions with Christians.
American zoos mostly opened in the second half of the 19th Century followed the European tradition of urban animal display. Things started changing in 1973 with the Endangered Species Act of 1973 when the rate of loss of the world's animals and birds became most evident. Many species had lost so many habitats to man that they were nearly extinct in the wild. So the 150+ member American Association of Zoos, Parks and Aquarium, an organization that once strove for the Victorian ideal of one of individual or species family collections, started the Species Survival Plan that began to improve genetic variety and insure the survival of endangered species.
As a result today's zoos offer more than their wonderful natural exhibits. They keep endangered species going and, in some cases have started putting endangered animals like the Arabian Oryx back into the wild. Here's my doubtless prejudiced list of the some of the best zoos in America.
SAN DIEGO ZOO
Along with it's separate but at least equal Animal Park, the San Diego Zoo's my personal favorite. To start, the weather's usually wonderful, and I am a sucker for Koalas the zoo has a lot of these cute Teddy Bears. But I would rather spend time with the gorillas and the pygmy chimpanzees. The zoo is known for its natural exhibits, which simulate life in the wild. Flowing streams, waterfalls and ponds provide stimulating setting for the animals.
One of the more interesting exhibits, the hummingbirds, is missed by most visitors who, lured by the colorful Flamingos head into the zoo or cuts to the right to the dozens of koalas. So go left, go left! As a bird nut, the Tropical Rain Forest's Aviary is a dandy place to hide from the midday heat with 200 birds representing 60 species. The brilliantly colored tropical birds are a must to see. The aviary focuses on exotic species of ferns and foliage indigenous to the Southeast region.
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