Zoo Facts
For thousands of years, zoos have have held a special place in the hearts of animal lovers, from the ancient Egyptians to modern-day sightseers.
Fascination with wild animals has led to the development of roughly 3,000 zoos in the United States alone, which are visited by 12 million people a year.
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Zoo Timeline
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1500BC - Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt built the worlds first zoo.
1000BC - Chinese Emperor Wen Wang founded the Ling-Yu, or "garden of intelligence", an enormous zoo that covered more than 1,500 acres.
300BC - The Greeks were the first civilisation to establish public zoos.
1752 - The first modern zoos were the Imperial Menagerie, established in 1752 (opened to the public in 1765), and the zoo established in connection with the Jardin des Plantes (Botanical garden) in Paris.
1874 - The first zoo in the United States opened in Philadelphia.
1880 - The first Elephant was born in captivity to "Hebe", a member of the Great London Circus. In captivity, Elephants eat approximately 100 pounds of food and drink 40 gallons of water daily.
1895 - On March 2nd, Grover Cleveland signed a bill establishing the National Zoo, the first zoo established with the purpose of saving animals on the brink of extinction. Known today as the Smithsonian Zoo, it is home to more than 5,800 animals.
1895 - Hluhluwe Game Reserve, located in Northern Zululand and one of the worlds oldest animal reserves,was established.
1911 to 1965 - Life span of Adonis, the worlds longest-living Hippopotamus, who was housed at the Memphis Zoo. Adonis lived for 54 years and sired 26 offspring, giving Memphis the tilte "Hippo Capitle of the World"
1916 - Founded by Dr.Harry Wegeforth, the San Diego Zoo spends almost ,000 on animal food a year, and it's weekly shopping list is five pages long.
1926 - Established at an elevation of 6,800 feet, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is the only Mountain zoo in America.
1927 - The Edinburgh Zoo was established in Scotland and today remains home to the worlds largest captive Penguin colony. In the wild, Penguins inhabit Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the Arctic.
1960s to 1970s - The birth of the natural habitat exhibits in zoos demonstrated the need for holistic approach to zoo construction and maintenance.
2001 - Microsoft Corp. introduces Zoo Tycoon, the first Tycoon style game to celebrate the worlds fascination with zoos. YEAH!
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