A zoo (short for zoological garden ; also called an animal park or menagerie ) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes.
193-605: Chester Zoo is a zoo in Upton-by-Chester , Cheshire , England. Chester Zoo was opened in 1931 by George Mottershead and his family. The zoo is one of the UK's largest zoos at 51 hectares (130 acres) and the zoo has a total land holding of approximately 160 hectares (400 acres). Chester Zoo is operated by the North of England Zoological Society, a registered charity founded in 1934. The zoo receives no government funding and
386-537: A bear and a bull , chained together, rolled in fierce combat across the sand ... Four hundred bears were killed in a single day under Caligula ... Under Nero , four hundred tigers fought with bulls and elephants. In a single day, at the dedication of the Colosseum by Titus , five thousand animals perished. Under Trajan ... lions , tigers, elephants, rhinoceroses , hippopotami, giraffes, bulls, stags, even crocodiles and serpents were employed to give novelty to
579-518: A "house of animals" with a large collection of birds, mammals and reptiles in a garden tended by more than 600 employees. The garden was described by several Spanish conquerors, including Hernán Cortés in 1520. After the Aztec revolt against the Spanish rule, and during the subsequent battle for the city, Cortés reluctantly ordered the zoo to be destroyed. The oldest zoo in the world still in existence
772-400: A Congolese pygmy , displayed in a cage with the chimpanzees, then with an orangutan named Dohong, and a parrot. The exhibit was intended as an example of the "missing link" between the orangutan and white man. It triggered protests from the city's clergymen, but the public reportedly flocked to see Benga. Humans were also displayed at various events, especially colonial expositions such as
965-587: A Conservation College, and a revamped main entrance that would link the zoo to a marina to be developed on zoo land, all to be completed by 2018. Plans went before the public for comment in June 2009. The projected Heart of Africa bio-dome, along with plans for the hotel, were shelved in 2011 due to the loss of £40m potential funding when the North West Regional Development Agency was abolished. In December 2012 planning permission
1158-402: A blue-green colour) and the lipophores (yellow, the most superficial layer). The colour change displayed by many species is initiated by hormones secreted by the pituitary gland. Unlike bony fish, there is no direct control of the pigment cells by the nervous system, and this results in the colour change taking place more slowly than happens in fish. A vividly coloured skin usually indicates that
1351-410: A comparatively slow diffusion rate for oxygen entering the blood. Ventilation is accomplished by buccal pumping . Most amphibians, however, are able to exchange gases with the water or air via their skin. To enable sufficient cutaneous respiration , the surface of their highly vascularised skin must remain moist to allow the oxygen to diffuse at a sufficiently high rate. Because oxygen concentration in
1544-482: A consequence, various management tools are used to preserve the space for the genetically most important individuals and to reduce the risk of inbreeding . Management of animal populations is typically through international organizations such as AZA and EAZA . Zoos have several different ways of managing the animal populations, such as moves between zoos, contraception , sale of excess animals and euthanization (culling). Contraception can be an effective way to limit
1737-610: A difference in wildlife conservation and education. Humans were occasionally displayed in cages at zoos along with non-human animals, to illustrate the differences between people of European and non-European origin. In September 1906, William Hornaday , director of the Bronx Zoo in New York—;with the agreement of Madison Grant , head of the New York Zoological Society —had Ota Benga ,
1930-716: A dramatic decline in amphibian populations for many species around the globe. The earliest amphibians evolved in the Devonian period from tetrapodomorph sarcopterygians (lobe-finned fish with articulated limb -like fins ) that evolved primitive lungs, which were helpful in adapting to dry land. They diversified and became ecologically dominant during the Carboniferous and Permian periods, but were later displaced in terrestrial environments by early reptiles and basal synapsids (predecessors of mammals). The origin of modern lissamphibians, which first appeared during
2123-625: A dry savannah , and the two outside contain rivers and pools so that the jaguars can exercise their swimming skills. A new breeding pair of Jaguar , Napo (Spotted male) and Goshi (Black female) arrived from separate French zoos in Spring 2013. Spirit of the Jaguar is also home to a colony of leaf-cutter ants , Azara's agoutis , bush dogs , sloths, and an aquarium featuring numerous rainforest fish such as Discus fish and shoals of tetra . The exhibit went through another makeover in late 2011, and now has
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#17327723351672316-564: A former kune kune pig enclosure has been demolished in favour of a food stall. Zoo The term zoological garden refers to zoology , the study of animals. The term is derived from the Ancient Greek ζῷον , zōion , 'animal', and the suffix -λογία , -logia , 'study of'. The abbreviation zoo was first used of the London Zoological Gardens , which was opened for scientific study in 1828, and to
2509-676: A gas station. The animals may be trained to perform tricks, and visitors are able to get closer to them than in larger zoos. Since they are sometimes less regulated, roadside zoos are often subject to accusations of neglect and cruelty . In June 2014 the Animal Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit against the Iowa-based roadside Cricket Hollow Zoo for violating the Endangered Species Act by failing to provide proper care for its animals. Since filing
2702-458: A greenhouse with an aviary, aquarium, and museum of stuffed animals and birds), a pond, a bridge over a waterfall, an artificial lake with a fountain, a wood-ornamented greenhouse, a forest area, and enclosures and buildings. The first zoological garden in Australia was Melbourne Zoo in 1860. In German states leading roles came Berlin (1841), Frankfurt (1856), and Hamburg (1863). In 1907,
2895-578: A group of lar gibbons. Animals and plants from Indonesia are exhibited inside Realm of the Red Ape in a rainforest-themed setting. Birds on display include blue-crowned hanging parrots , Timor sparrows , chestnut-backed thrushes , roul-roul partridges , superb fruit doves and black-naped fruit doves . Crocodile monitors , reticulated pythons , red-tailed racers , Bell's Angle-Head Lizards , Chinese water dragons , emerald tree monitors , white-lipped tree vipers and green tree pythons feature among
3088-509: A lack of natural wild habitat in which to reintroduce animals. This highlights the importance of in situ conservation, or preservation of natural spaces, in addition to the utility of zoo captive breeding and reintroduction programs. In situ conservation and reintroduction programs are key elements to obtaining certification by reputable organisations such as the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). Efforts to clone endangered species in
3281-500: A lake, giving uninterrupted views of the birds. In addition to the 100-strong flock of flamingos, the aviary is home to scarlet ibis , roseate spoonbill , black-necked stilt , Orinoco goose , Muscovy duck , ringed teal , black-bellied whistling duck and other waterfowl species. Fruit Bat Forest is the largest free-flying bat cave in Europe. The cave holds two species of bat: Rodrigues fruit bats , and Seba's short-tailed bats . It
3474-486: A long time the public entrance was at the east end off Caughall Road. In Summer 1995 the public entrance moved to the north side with dedicated access off the A41 Chester By-Pass. A brown sign which gave visitors directions to the new entrance was installed at the junction of the former entrance, and curiously it remained there until the 2010s. Thus the zoo is entered in the 'newer' part west of Flag Lane, near
3667-461: A matter of public interest in the 1970s, a few zoos began to consider making conservation their central role, with Gerald Durrell of the Jersey Zoo , George Rabb of Brookfield Zoo , and William Conway of the Bronx Zoo ( Wildlife Conservation Society ) leading the discussion. From then on, zoo professionals became increasingly aware of the need to engage themselves in conservation programs, and
3860-551: A membranous skin which allows them to absorb water directly through it. Some semi-aquatic animals also have similarly permeable bladder membrane. As a result, they tend to have high rates of urine production to offset this high water intake, and have urine which is low in dissolved salts. The urinary bladder assists such animals to retain salts. Some aquatic amphibian such as Xenopus do not reabsorb water, to prevent excessive water influx. For land-dwelling amphibians, dehydration results in reduced urine output. The amphibian bladder
4053-448: A model of cooperation for conservation. Loaned animals usually remain the property of the original park, and any offspring yielded by loaned animals are usually divided between the lending and holding institutions. For decades the capture of wild animals or purchasing of animals has been broadly considered unethical and has not been practiced by reputable zoos. Especially in large animals, a limited number of spaces are available in zoos. As
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#17327723351674246-406: A moulting process controlled by the pituitary and thyroid glands. Local thickenings (often called warts) are common, such as those found on toads. The outside of the skin is shed periodically mostly in one piece, in contrast to mammals and birds where it is shed in flakes. Amphibians often eat the sloughed skin. Caecilians are unique among amphibians in having mineralized dermal scales embedded in
4439-418: A new strategy that sets out the aims and mission of zoological gardens of the 21st century. When studying behaviour of captive animals, several things should however be taken into account before drawing conclusions about wild populations. Including that captive populations are often smaller than wild ones and that the space available to each animal is often less than in the wild. Conservation programs all over
4632-417: A pair of short tentacles near the eye that can be extended and which have tactile and olfactory functions. Most caecilians live underground in burrows in damp soil, in rotten wood and under plant debris, but some are aquatic. Most species lay their eggs underground and when the larvae hatch, they make their way to adjacent bodies of water. Others brood their eggs and the larvae undergo metamorphosis before
4825-434: A place of refuge . Today, many zoos are improving enclosures by including tactile and sensory features in the habitat that allow animals to encourage natural behaviors. These additions can prove to be effective in improving the lives of animals in captivity. The tactile and sensory features will vary depending on the species of animal. There are animals that are injured in the wild and are unable to survive on their own, but in
5018-481: A population's breeding. However it may also have health repercussions and can be difficult or even impossible to reverse in some animals. Additionally, some species may lose their reproductive capability entirely if prevented from breeding for a period (whether through contraceptives or isolation), but further study is needed on the subject. Sale of surplus animals from zoos was once common and in some cases animals have ended up in substandard facilities. In recent decades
5211-489: A process known as autotomy . Certain species in the Plethodontidae have a weak zone at the base of the tail and use this strategy readily. The tail often continues to twitch after separation which may distract the attacker and allow the salamander to escape. Both tails and limbs can be regenerated. Adult frogs are unable to regrow limbs but tadpoles can do so. Amphibians have a juvenile stage and an adult stage, and
5404-736: A pump action in which air is first drawn into the buccopharyngeal region through the nostrils. These are then closed and the air is forced into the lungs by contraction of the throat. They supplement this with gas exchange through the skin. The order Anura (from the Ancient Greek a(n)- meaning "without" and oura meaning "tail") comprises the frogs and toads. They usually have long hind limbs that fold underneath them, shorter forelimbs, webbed toes with no claws, no tails, large eyes and glandular moist skin. Members of this order with smooth skins are commonly referred to as frogs, while those with warty skins are known as toads. The difference
5597-557: A reduction in both the amphibians' size and their importance in the biosphere . According to the fossil record, Lissamphibia , which includes all modern amphibians and is the only surviving lineage, may have branched off from the extinct groups Temnospondyli and Lepospondyli at some period between the Late Carboniferous and the Early Triassic. The relative scarcity of fossil evidence precludes precise dating, but
5790-432: A secondary respiratory interface and some small terrestrial salamanders and frogs lack lungs and rely entirely on their skin. They are superficially similar to reptiles like lizards , but unlike reptiles and other amniotes , require access to water bodies to breed. With their complex reproductive needs and permeable skins, amphibians are often ecological indicators to habitat conditions; in recent decades there has been
5983-431: A single ventricle and two atria. When the ventricle starts contracting, deoxygenated blood is pumped through the pulmonary artery to the lungs. Continued contraction then pumps oxygenated blood around the rest of the body. Mixing of the two bloodstreams is minimized by the anatomy of the chambers. The nervous system is basically the same as in other vertebrates, with a central brain, a spinal cord, and nerves throughout
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6176-405: A slower growth and development rate compared to other vertebrates. Another reason for their size is associated with their rapid metamorphosis, which seems to have evolved only in the ancestors of lissamphibia; in all other known lines the development was much more gradual. Because a remodeling of the feeding apparatus means they do not eat during the metamorphosis, the metamorphosis has to go faster
6369-688: A small number of zoos. To solve this organizations like EAZA and AZA have begun to develop husbandry manuals. Many modern zoos attempt to improve animal welfare by providing more space and behavioural enrichments . This often involves housing the animals in naturalistic enclosures that allow the animals to express more of their natural behaviours, such as roaming and foraging. Whilst many zoos have been working hard on this change, in some zoos, some enclosures still remain barren concrete enclosures or other minimally enriched cages. Amphibian (partial list) Amphibians are ectothermic , anamniotic , four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute
6562-449: A snake- or worm-like form. The adults vary in length from 8 to 75 centimetres (3 to 30 inches) with the exception of Thomson's caecilian ( Caecilia thompsoni ), which can reach 150 cm (59 in). A caecilian's skin has a large number of transverse folds and in some species contains tiny embedded dermal scales. It has rudimentary eyes covered in skin, which are probably limited to discerning differences in light intensity. It also has
6755-419: A sticky tip and drawing it back into the mouth before seizing the item with their jaws. Some use inertial feeding to help them swallow the prey, repeatedly thrusting their head forward sharply causing the food to move backwards in their mouth by inertia . Most amphibians swallow their prey whole without much chewing so they possess voluminous stomachs. The short oesophagus is lined with cilia that help to move
6948-547: A suitable alternative. Off-site conservation relies on zoos, national parks, or other care facilities to support the rehabilitation of the animals and their populations. Zoos benefit conservation by providing suitable habitats and care to endangered animals. When properly regulated, they present a safe, clean environment for the animals to increase populations sizes. A study on amphibian conservation and zoos addressed these problems by writing, Whilst addressing in situ threats, particularly habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation,
7141-553: A suitable environment for wild native animals such as herons to live in or visit. A colony of black-crowned night herons has regularly summered at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. for more than a century. Some zoos may provide information to visitors on wild animals visiting or living in the zoo, or encourage them by directing them to specific feeding or breeding platforms. In modern, well-regulated zoos, breeding
7334-565: A temnospondyl-like ancestor, and even that caecilians are the sister group of the advanced reptiliomorph amphibians, and thus of amniotes. Although the fossils of several older proto-frogs with primitive characteristics are known, the oldest "true frog", with hopping adaptations is Prosalirus bitis , from the Early Jurassic Kayenta Formation of Arizona. It is anatomically very similar to modern frogs. The oldest known caecilians are Funcusvermis gilmorei (from
7527-399: A theme focusing on human/wildlife conflict. An outdoor enclosure for two-toed sloths is currently under-going construction. Realm of the Red Ape is a GBP 3.5 million extension to the existing orangutan house, home to Bornean orangutans , and was the most expensive capital project in the zoo's history before the construction of Islands. The exhibit opened to the public on 26 May 2007 after
7720-400: A two-year construction period. It comprises a new two-story building linked to the existing orangutan house with three indoor and two outdoor enclosures, providing accommodation for a larger number of apes. The outdoor areas can be viewed from a first floor public gallery and feature mesh roofs supported by tree-like structures which act as climbing frames for the apes. A further enclosure houses
7913-613: A variety of waterfowl , amongst other species. At the other side of the Bird Safari is a Large pen for wattled cranes and Black Crowned Cranes . The former Caribbean flamingo exhibit has been redeveloped as a mixed-species netted aviary for Latin American wetland birds. The new exhibit opened in June 2021, coinciding with the Zoo's 90th anniversary. Visitors enter the aviary along a walkway and viewing platform which project out over
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8106-557: A variety of fish species. That phase including Monsoon Forest is now complete and open with the installation of the Sumatran orangutans and the arrival of a breeding pair of Javan silvery gibbons in December 2015. A third phase for Islands opened in summer 2017. The third phase included new exhibits for Malayan sun bear , Palawan binturongs , Malayan tapir , and a new songbird aviary featuring various birds from Indonesia as well as
8299-400: A walk-through bird aviary featuring the critically endangered Bali starling , as well as Java sparrows , pied imperial pigeons and purple-naped lories . Phase two opened later in the summer and includes Sumatran tigers , Sunda gharials , and other reptiles (such as tentacled snakes and brown tortoises ), birds ( Javan rhinoceros hornbills , and Indonesian songbirds) invertebrates and
8492-518: A wide variety of habitats , with most species living in freshwater , wetland or terrestrial ecosystems (such as riparian woodland , fossorial and even arboreal habitats). Their life cycle typically starts out as aquatic larvae with gills known as tadpoles , but some species have developed behavioural adaptations to bypass this. Young amphibians generally undergo metamorphosis from an aquatic larval form with gills to an air-breathing adult form with lungs . Amphibians use their skin as
8685-589: A year and have special programs for schools. They are organized by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums . Japan's first modern zoo, Tokyo's Ueno Imperial Zoological Gardens , opened in 1882 based on European models. In World War II it was used to teach the Japanese people about the lands recently conquered by the Army. In 1943, fearing American bombing attacks, the government ordered the zoo to euthanize dangerous animals that might escape. When ecology emerged as
8878-406: A £90 million, 56-hectare (140-acre) enclosed African-rainforest-themed sanctuary containing a band of gorillas and a troop of chimpanzees , as well as okapi and a variety of tropical birds, amphibians , reptiles, fishes, and invertebrates , moving freely among lush vegetation. It included a water ride to take visitors through the exhibit. Natural Vision was to eventually include a 90-room hotel,
9071-992: Is "the advancement of Zoology and Animal Physiology and the introduction of new and curious subjects of the Animal Kingdom." It maintains two research institutes, the Nuffield Institute of Comparative Medicine and the Wellcome Institute of Comparative Physiology. In the United States, the Penrose Research Laboratory of the Philadelphia Zoo focuses on the study of comparative pathology . The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums produced its first conservation strategy in 1993, and in November 2004, it adopted
9264-475: Is a polyparaphyletic group without unique defining features apart from shared primitive characteristics . Classification varies according to the preferred phylogeny of the author and whether they use a stem-based or a node-based classification. Traditionally, amphibians as a class are defined as all tetrapods with a larval stage, while the group that includes the common ancestors of all living amphibians (frogs, salamanders and caecilians) and all their descendants
9457-427: Is a suburb of Chester . He bought Oakfield Manor for £3,500 in 1930. The house had 9 acres (3.6 ha) of gardens and provided easy access to the railways and to Manchester and Liverpool . There were local objections, but Mottershead prevailed, and Chester Zoo opened to the public on 10 June 1931. The first animals were displayed in pens in the courtyard. An Ordnance Survey inch-a-mile map published in 1936 shows
9650-728: Is also found in Central America and South America north of the Amazon basin ; South America was apparently invaded from Central America by about the start of the Miocene , 23 million years ago. Urodela is a name sometimes used for all the extant species of salamanders. Members of several salamander families have become paedomorphic and either fail to complete their metamorphosis or retain some larval characteristics as adults. Most salamanders are under 15 cm (5.9 in) long. They may be terrestrial or aquatic and many spend part of
9843-492: Is also home to a varied collection of other species including, common tenrecs and blind cave fish . Monkey Islands was opened in 1997, replacing the old monkey house, and is currently home to four monkey species: Colombian spider monkeys , mandrills , lion-tailed macaques and Buffy-headed capuchins . Campbell's guenons and porcupines were formerly housed with the mandrills, and Sulawesi crested macaques were kept here until they moved to 'Islands' in 2015. Visitors enter
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#173277233516710036-492: Is approximately 8,000, of which nearly 90% are frogs. The smallest amphibian (and vertebrate) in the world is a frog from New Guinea ( Paedophryne amauensis ) with a length of just 7.7 mm (0.30 in). The largest living amphibian is the 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) South China giant salamander ( Andrias sligoi ), but this is dwarfed by prehistoric temnospondyls such as Mastodonsaurus which could reach up to 6 m (20 ft) in length. The study of amphibians
10229-430: Is called batrachology , while the study of both reptiles and amphibians is called herpetology . The word amphibian is derived from the Ancient Greek term ἀμφίβιος ( amphíbios ), which means 'both kinds of life', ἀμφί meaning 'of both kinds' and βίος meaning 'life'. The term was initially used as a general adjective for animals that could live on land or in water, including seals and otters. Traditionally,
10422-787: Is called Lissamphibia. The phylogeny of Paleozoic amphibians is uncertain, and Lissamphibia may possibly fall within extinct groups, like the Temnospondyli (traditionally placed in the subclass Labyrinthodontia) or the Lepospondyli, and in some analyses even in the amniotes. This means that advocates of phylogenetic nomenclature have removed a large number of basal Devonian and Carboniferous amphibian-type tetrapod groups that were formerly placed in Amphibia in Linnaean taxonomy , and included them elsewhere under cladistic taxonomy . If
10615-414: Is controlled to maintain a self-sustaining, global captive population. This is not the case in some less well-regulated zoos, often based in poorer regions. Overall "stock turnover" of animals during a year in a select group of poor zoos was reported as 20%-25% with 75% of wild caught apes dying in captivity within the first 20 months. The authors of the report stated that before successful breeding programs,
10808-519: Is divided into three suborders that are broadly accepted by the scientific community, but the relationships between some families remain unclear. Future molecular studies should provide further insights into their evolutionary relationships. The suborder Archaeobatrachia contains four families of primitive frogs. These are Ascaphidae , Bombinatoridae , Discoglossidae and Leiopelmatidae which have few derived features and are probably paraphyletic with regard to other frog lineages. The six families in
11001-518: Is free for people to enter. In October 2018, two Indian elephant calves (Nandita Hi Way, age 3 years, and Aayu Hi Way, age 18 months), died of elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV). From 1995 on this virus disease has caused many deaths of Indian elephants across the world in zoos and in the wild. On 15 December 2018, an electrical fault caused a fire to break out at the Monsoon Forest Habitat. The zoo had to be evacuated and
11194-531: Is home to 26 Western chimpanzees . This is the largest colony of chimps in Europe, housed in the Roundhouse, a conical indoor enclosure linked to an outside moated island. The island is planted with many bushes and has large poles for the chimps to climb on. The inside area has a climbing frame that allows the chimps to stay close together on several levels of platform. There are seven interconnected off-show dens. The zoo's black rhinoceros exhibit, modelled on
11387-498: Is likely to be external as sirenids lack the cloacal glands used by male salamandrids to produce spermatophores and the females lack spermathecae for sperm storage. Despite this, the eggs are laid singly, a behaviour not conducive for external fertilisation. The order Gymnophiona (from the Greek gymnos meaning "naked" and ophis meaning "serpent") or Apoda comprises the caecilians. These are long, cylindrical, limbless animals with
11580-402: Is low and as a result, their food and energy requirements are limited. In the adult state, they have tear ducts and movable eyelids, and most species have ears that can detect airborne or ground vibrations. They have muscular tongues, which in many species can be protruded. Modern amphibians have fully ossified vertebrae with articular processes . Their ribs are usually short and may be fused to
11773-654: Is not a formal one taxonomically and there are numerous exceptions to this rule. Members of the family Bufonidae are known as the "true toads". Frogs range in size from the 30-centimetre (12 in) Goliath frog ( Conraua goliath ) of West Africa to the 7.7-millimetre (0.30 in) Paedophryne amauensis , first described in Papua New Guinea in 2012, which is also the smallest known vertebrate. Although most species are associated with water and damp habitats, some are specialised to live in trees or in deserts. They are found worldwide except for polar areas. Anura
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#173277233516711966-462: Is of primary importance; for many amphibian species in situ conservation alone will not be enough, especially in light of current un-mitigatable threats that can impact populations very rapidly such as chytridiomycosis [an infectious fungal disease]. Ex situ programmes can complement in situ activities in a number of ways including maintaining genetically and demographically viable populations while threats are either better understood or mitigated in
12159-584: Is the Tiergarten Schönbrunn in Vienna , Austria. It was constructed by Adrian van Stekhoven in 1752 at the order of Emperor Francis I , to serve as an imperial menagerie as part of Schönbrunn Palace . The menagerie was initially reserved for the viewing pleasure of the imperial family and the court, but was made accessible to the public in 1765. In 1775, a zoo was founded in Madrid, and in 1795,
12352-404: Is the columella-operculum complex adjoining the auditory capsule which is involved in the transmission of both airborne and seismic signals. The ears of salamanders and caecilians are less highly developed than those of frogs as they do not normally communicate with each other through the medium of sound. The eyes of tadpoles lack lids, but at metamorphosis, the cornea becomes more dome-shaped,
12545-639: Is the most-visited wildlife attraction in Britain with more than 2 million visitors in 2019. In 2007 Forbes described the zoo as one of the fifteen best zoos in the world. In 2017 and more recently, 2024, the zoo was named as the best zoo in the UK and as also regarded as the third best in the world by TripAdvisor . The Mottershead family's market garden business was based in Shavington near Crewe . George Mottershead collected animals such as lizards and insects that arrived with exotic plants imported by
12738-607: Is the organisation that runs Chester Zoo. It was formed in 1931 by the zoo's founder, George Mottershead . The zoo is managed by a team led by CEO Jamie Christon DL and he reports to the Board of Trustees. Christian is tasked with focusing on the unified strategy which supports the Strategic Development Plan and Conservation Plan. The plan includes the development of Heart of Africa, The Reserve Hotel, new education facilities, The Square wedding venue, and from 2028
12931-432: Is usually highly distensible and among some land-dwelling species of frogs and salamanders may account for between 20% and 50% of their total body weight. Urine flows from the kidneys through the ureters into the bladder and is periodically released from the bladder to the cloaca. The lungs in amphibians are primitive compared to those of amniotes, possessing few internal septa and large alveoli , and consequently having
13124-690: The Africarium , the only themed oceanarium devoted solely to exhibiting the fauna of Africa , comprehensively presenting selected ecosystems from the continent of Africa . Housing over 10 thousand animals, the facility's breadth extends from housing insects such cockroaches to large mammals like elephants on an area of over 33 hectares . In the United States, the Philadelphia Zoo , opened on July 1, 1874, earning its motto "America's First Zoo." The Lincoln Park Zoological Gardens in Chicago and
13317-541: The American Zoo Association soon said that conservation was its highest priority. In order to stress conservation issues, many large zoos stopped the practice of having animals perform tricks for visitors. The Detroit Zoo , for example, stopped its elephant show in 1969, and its chimpanzee show in 1983, acknowledging that the trainers had probably abused the animals to get them to perform. Mass destruction of wildlife habitat has yet to cease all over
13510-513: The Chinese giant salamander ( Andrias davidianus ), which has been reported to grow to a length of 1.8 metres (5 ft 11 in), to the diminutive Thorius pennatulus from Mexico which seldom exceeds 20 mm (0.8 in) in length. Salamanders have a mostly Laurasian distribution, being present in much of the Holarctic region of the northern hemisphere. The family Plethodontidae
13703-587: The Japanese giant salamander ( Andrias japonicus ) and the hellbender ( Cryptobranchus alleganiensis ) from North America. These large amphibians retain several larval characteristics in their adult state; gills slits are present and the eyes are unlidded. A unique feature is their ability to feed by suction, depressing either the left side of their lower jaw or the right. The males excavate nests, persuade females to lay their egg strings inside them, and guard them. As well as breathing with lungs, they respire through
13896-740: The Middle Assyrian Empire created zoological and botanical gardens in the 11th century BCE. In the 2nd century BCE, the Chinese Empress Tanki had a "house of deer" built, and King Wen of Zhou kept a 1,500-acre (6.1 km ) zoo called Ling-Yu, or the Garden of Intelligence. Other well-known collectors of animals included King Solomon of the Kingdom of Israel and Judah , Queen Semiramis and King Ashurbanipal of Assyria , and King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia . By
14089-626: The OBE , an honorary degree of MSc, and served as President of the International Union of Zoo Directors. He died in 1978 aged 84. Mottershead wanted to build a zoo without the traditional Victorian iron bars to cage the animals. He was influenced by the ideas of Carl Hagenbeck , who invented the modern zoo concept and by Heini Hediger , a pioneer of ethology . At Chester, Mottershead took Hagenbeck's idea for moats and ditches as an alternative to cage bars, and extended their use throughout
14282-598: The Wildlife Conservation Society and re branded the zoos under its jurisdiction as "wildlife conservation parks". The predecessor of the zoological garden is the menagerie , which has a long history from the ancient world to modern times. The oldest known zoological collection was revealed during excavations at Hierakonpolis , Egypt in 2009, of a c. 3500 BCE menagerie. The exotic animals included hippopotami , hartebeest , elephants , baboons and wildcats . King Ashur-bel-kala of
14475-1025: The Zoological Society of London in 1931 which today (2014) covers 600 acres (2.4 km ). Since the early 1970s, an 1,800 acre (7 km ) park in the San Pasqual Valley near San Diego has featured the San Diego Zoo Safari Park , run by the Zoological Society of San Diego. One of two state-supported zoo parks in North Carolina is the 2,000-acre (8.1 km ) North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro. The 500-acre (2.0 km ) Werribee Open Range Zoo in Melbourne, Australia, displays animals living in an artificial savannah . The first public aquarium
14668-429: The axolotl ) retaining gills as aquatic adults. For the purpose of reproduction , most amphibians require fresh water although some lay their eggs on land and have developed various means of keeping them moist. A few (e.g. Fejervarya raja ) can inhabit brackish water, but there are no true marine amphibians. There are reports, however, of particular amphibian populations unexpectedly invading marine waters. Such
14861-482: The class Amphibia . In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all tetrapods excluding the amniotes (tetrapods with an amniotic membrane , such as modern reptiles , birds and mammals ). All extant (living) amphibians belong to the monophyletic subclass Lissamphibia , with three living orders : Anura ( frogs ), Urodela ( salamanders ), and Gymnophiona ( caecilians ). Evolved to be mostly semiaquatic , amphibians have adapted to inhabit
15054-427: The dermis between the furrows in the skin. The similarity of these to the scales of bony fish is largely superficial. Lizards and some frogs have somewhat similar osteoderms forming bony deposits in the dermis, but this is an example of convergent evolution with similar structures having arisen independently in diverse vertebrate lineages. Amphibian skin is permeable to water. Gas exchange can take place through
15247-617: The fossil record , the discovery of the dissorophoid temnospondyl Gerobatrachus from the Early Permian in Texas in 2008 provided a missing link with many of the characteristics of modern frogs. Molecular analysis suggests that the frog–salamander divergence took place considerably earlier than the palaeontological evidence indicates. One study suggested that the last common ancestor of all modern amphibians lived about 315 million years ago, and that stereospondyl temnospondyls are
15440-418: The lens becomes flatter, and eyelids and associated glands and ducts develop. The adult eyes are an improvement on invertebrate eyes and were a first step in the development of more advanced vertebrate eyes. They allow colour vision and depth of focus. In the retinas are green rods, which are receptive to a wide range of wavelengths. Many amphibians catch their prey by flicking out an elongated tongue with
15633-463: The parotoids , produce the neurotoxin bufotoxin and are located behind the ears of toads, along the backs of frogs, behind the eyes of salamanders and on the upper surface of caecilians. The skin colour of amphibians is produced by three layers of pigment cells called chromatophores . These three cell layers consist of the melanophores (occupying the deepest layer), the guanophores (forming an intermediate layer and containing many granules, producing
15826-494: The stapes of the amphibian ear, an adaptation necessary for hearing on dry land. An affinity between the amphibians and the teleost fish is the multi-folded structure of the teeth and the paired supra-occipital bones at the back of the head, neither of these features being found elsewhere in the animal kingdom. At the end of the Devonian period (360 million years ago), the seas, rivers and lakes were teeming with life while
16019-517: The 1931 Paris Colonial Exposition , with the practice continuing in Belgium at least to as late as 1958 in a "Congolese village" display at Expo '58 in Brussels. These displays, while sometimes called "human zoos", usually did not take place in zoos or use cages. Zoo animals live in enclosures that often attempt to replicate their natural habitats or behavioral patterns, for the benefit of both
16212-519: The 4th century BCE, zoos existed in most of the Greek city states; Alexander the Great is known to have sent animals that he found on his military expeditions back to Greece. The Roman emperors kept private collections of animals for study or for use in the arena, the latter faring notoriously poorly. The 19th-century historian W. E. H. Lecky wrote of the Roman games , first held in 366 BCE: At one time,
16405-637: The Albanerpetontidae, is now considered part of Lissamphibia alongside the superorder Salientia. Furthermore, Salientia includes all three recent orders plus the Triassic proto-frog, Triadobatrachus . The first major groups of amphibians developed in the Devonian period, around 370 million years ago, from lobe-finned fish which were similar to the modern coelacanth and lungfish . These ancient lobe-finned fish had evolved multi-jointed leg-like fins with digits that enabled them to crawl along
16598-541: The Asian Forest opened in Easter 2006, as a major alteration of the zoo's previous elephant house. Inside the elephant house, other indigenous Asian species are exhibited, including Great hornbills , azure-winged magpies , red-billed blue magpies , prevost's squirrels , belanger's tree shrews , northern Luzon giant cloud rats , There is an aquarium for clown loach and tiger barb fish. On 10 February 2011 Sheba,
16791-552: The Cincinnati Zoo opened in 1875. In the 1930s, federal relief programs provided financial aid to most local zoos. The Works Progress Administration and similar New Deal government agencies helped greatly in the construction, renovation, and expansion of zoos when the Great Depression severely reduced local budgets. It was "a new deal for animals." The Atlanta Zoo , founded in 1886, suffered neglect. By 1984 it
16984-559: The Early Triassic, around 250 million years ago, has long been contentious. The most popular hypothesis is that they likely originated from temnospondyls , the most diverse group of prehistoric amphibians, during the Permian period. Another hypothesis is that they emerged from lepospondyls. A fourth group of lissamphibians, the Albanerpetontidae , became extinct around 2 million years ago. The number of known amphibian species
17177-645: The Late Triassic) and Eocaecilia micropodia (from the Early Jurassic), both from Arizona. The earliest salamander is Beiyanerpeton jianpingensis from the Late Jurassic of northeastern China. Authorities disagree as to whether Salientia is a superorder that includes the order Anura, or whether Anura is a sub-order of the order Salientia. The Lissamphibia are traditionally divided into three orders , but an extinct salamander-like family,
17370-624: The Millennium Cycle Path). For many years, a single bridge (now called Elephants' Bridge), drivable by zoo vehicles and powered wheelchairs, near the elephant exhibit was the only crossing place within the grounds. A second crossing, passable by pedestrians and mobility scooters , called Bats' Bridge, opened in April 2008 near the Twilight Zone (now called Fruit Bat Forest), has improved the ability of visitors to circulate. For
17563-597: The Tsavo National Park in Kenya, was opened in 2003 at a cost of GBP2 million. The zoo has a successful rhinoceros breeding programme and currently keeps eight rhinos. Meerkats and crested porcupines are kept in a co-habitated enclosure nearby, and a nearby paddock is home to warthogs . In 2009, a walk-through bird safari with African bird species opened. It currently houses von der decken's hornbills , lilac-breasted rollers , hammerkops , weaver birds and
17756-972: The U.S. and Canada by Species Survival Plans; in Australasia, by the Australasian Species Management Program; in Europe, by the European Endangered Species Program; and in Japan, South Asia, and South East Asia, by the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the South Asian Zoo Association for Regional Cooperation , and the South East Asian Zoo Association. Besides conservation of captive species, large zoos may form
17949-744: The United Kingdom around 1847, when it was used for the Clifton Zoo , but it was not until some 20 years later that the shortened form became popular in the rhyming song " Walking in the Zoo " by music-hall artist Alfred Vance . The term "zoological park" was used for more expansive facilities in Halifax, Nova Scotia , Washington, D.C. , and the Bronx in New York, which opened in 1846, 1891 and 1899 respectively. Relatively new terms for zoos in
18142-550: The United States, Europe, and Asia are frequently embedded in zoos and zoological parks. The position of most modern zoos in Australasia , Asia , Europe , and North America , particularly those with scientific societies, is that they display wild animals primarily for the conservation of endangered species , as well as for research purposes and education, and secondarily for the entertainment of visitors. The Zoological Society of London states in its charter that its aim
18335-429: The adult, passing through the tadpole stage within the egg. Reproductive success of many amphibians is dependent not only on the quantity of rainfall, but the seasonal timing. In the tropics, many amphibians breed continuously or at any time of year. In temperate regions, breeding is mostly seasonal, usually in the spring, and is triggered by increasing day length, rising temperatures or rainfall. Experiments have shown
18528-737: The animals and visitors. Nocturnal animals are often housed in buildings with a reversed light-dark cycle, i.e. only dim white or red lights are on during the day so the animals are active during visitor hours, and brighter lights on at night when the animals sleep. Special climate conditions may be created for animals living in extreme environments, such as penguins. Special enclosures for birds , mammals , insects , reptiles , fish , and other aquatic life forms have also been developed. Some zoos have walk-through exhibits where visitors enter enclosures of non-aggressive species, such as lemurs , marmosets , birds, lizards , and turtles . Visitors are asked to keep to paths and avoid showing or eating foods that
18721-493: The animals might snatch. Some zoos keep animals in larger, outdoor enclosures, confining them with moats and fences, rather than in cages. Safari parks , also known as zoo parks and lion farms, allow visitors to drive through them and come in close proximity to the animals. Sometimes, visitors are able to feed animals through the car windows. The first safari park was Whipsnade Park in Bedfordshire, England, opened by
18914-671: The animals were moved to the Bulwark, renamed the Lion Tower, near the main western entrance of the Tower. It was opened to the public during the reign of Elizabeth I in the 16th century. During the 18th century, the price of admission was three half-pence, or the supply of a cat or dog for feeding to the lions. The animals were moved to the London Zoo when it opened. Aztec emperor Moctezuma had in his capital city of Tenochtitlan
19107-434: The animals' needs, but constraints such as size and expense can complicate this. The type of enclosure and the husbandry are of great importance in determining the welfare of animals. Substandard enclosures can lead to decreased lifespans, caused by factors as human diseases, unsafe materials in the cages and possible escape attempts (Bendow 382). However, when zoos take time to think about the animal's welfare, zoos can become
19300-476: The area around as farmland and villages and marks the present Zoo area north of Oakfield as "Butter Hill". Rapid expansion followed after the Second World War, despite the difficulty of sourcing materials. Mottershead had to be resourceful; the polar bear exhibit (1950) was built from recycled wartime road blocks and pillboxes . "Always building" was the zoo's slogan at the time. Mottershead received
19493-406: The body. The amphibian brain is relatively simple but broadly the same structurally as in reptiles, birds and mammals. Their brains are elongated, except in caecilians, and contain the usual motor and sensory areas of tetrapods. The pineal body , known to regulate sleep patterns in humans, is thought to produce the hormones involved in hibernation and aestivation in amphibians. Tadpoles retain
19686-639: The breeding male Aung-Bo, ageing female Maya, Thi Hi Way, her daughters Sithami Hi Way and Nandita Hi Way and Sithami's son, Aayu Hi Way who was born in January 2017 and daughter Sundara Hi Way and her daughter Indali Hi Way who was born in December 2016. The elephant house also used to house African elephants , rhinos , hippos and tapirs . Motty , a hybrid African-Asian elephant calf was born in July 1978, but died in infancy. A £2 million breeding facility modelled on an Assam (India) rainforest called Elephants of
19879-638: The building. It now currently houses spiny turtles in one side and the critically endangered Mountain Chicken Frogs with some Caribbean Hermit Crabs in the other. Dragons in Danger also houses various Indonesian and Philippine rainforest birds, such as Palawan peacock-pheasants , pheasant pigeons , Montserrat Orioles and Visayan tarictic hornbills . Recently added was a pair of Philippine Mouse Deer which have successfully bred. Also housed here are Montserrat Tarantulas which Chester bred in 2016 for
20072-538: The business. A visit to Belle Vue Zoo in Manchester as a boy in 1903 fuelled his developing interest in creating a zoo of his own. Mottershead was wounded in the First World War and spent several years in a wheelchair. Despite this, his collection of animals grew and he began to search for a suitable home for his zoo. He chose Oakfield Manor in Upton-by-Chester , which was a country village then but now
20265-673: The camel house, this enclosure adjoining the giraffe house was remodelled in 2006 to house okapi . Initially two males were kept: Dicky arrived from Marwell Wildlife in 2005 and Mbuti came from Bristol Zoo in the same year. In 2006 Dicky left for London Zoo to make way for a female named Stuma from Germany. In 2009 Mbuti and Dicky were swapped back, with Mbuti going to London Zoo and Dicky coming back to Chester. Other animals that can be seen here include Red forest duikers , Gambian pouched rats , butterfly barbs , Gaboon vipers and short-eared elephant shrews . Mount Kulal spiny mice and Mesic four- striped grass mice have also been kept here in
20458-403: The circulatory systems of the two are distinct. In the juvenile (or tadpole) stage, the circulation is similar to that of a fish; the two-chambered heart pumps the blood through the gills where it is oxygenated, and is spread around the body and back to the heart in a single loop. In the adult stage, amphibians (especially frogs) lose their gills and develop lungs. They have a heart that consists of
20651-497: The class Amphibia includes all tetrapod vertebrates that are not amniotes. Amphibia in its widest sense ( sensu lato ) was divided into three subclasses , two of which are extinct: These three subclasses do not include all extinct amphibians. Other extinct amphibian groups include Embolomeri (Late Paleozoic large aquatic predators), Seymouriamorpha (semiaquatic to terrestrial Permian forms related to amniotes), among others. Names such as Tetrapoda and Stegocephalia encompass
20844-654: The classical zoo, such as stage shows, roller coasters, and mythical creatures. Some examples are Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in Tampa, Florida , both Disney's Animal Kingdom and Gatorland in Orlando, Florida , Flamingo Land in North Yorkshire, England , and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, California . By 2000 most animals being displayed in zoos were the offspring of other zoo animals. This trend, however
21037-567: The classification by herpetologist Darrel Frost and the American Museum of Natural History , available as the online reference database "Amphibian Species of the World". The numbers of species cited above follows Frost and the total number of known (living) amphibian species as of March 31, 2019, is exactly 8,000, of which nearly 90% are frogs. With the phylogenetic classification, the taxon Labyrinthodontia has been discarded as it
21230-560: The closest relatives to the caecilians. However, most studies support a single monophyletic origin of all modern amphibians within the dissorophoid temnospondyls. As they evolved from lunged fish, amphibians had to make certain adaptations for living on land, including the need to develop new means of locomotion. In the water, the sideways thrusts of their tails had propelled them forward, but on land, quite different mechanisms were required. Their vertebral columns, limbs, limb girdles and musculature needed to be strong enough to raise them off
21423-464: The common ancestor of amphibians and amniotes is included in Amphibia, it becomes a paraphyletic group. All modern amphibians are included in the subclass Lissamphibia, which is usually considered a clade , a group of species that have evolved from a common ancestor. The three modern orders are Anura (the frogs), Caudata (or Urodela, the salamanders), and Gymnophiona (or Apoda, the caecilians). It has been suggested that salamanders arose separately from
21616-482: The critically endangered Javan green magpie . The magpies are, sometimes, off-show and replaced by sumatran laughingthrush . Chester was the first zoo in the UK to successfully breed Asian elephants in captivity. The most famous of these was Jubilee (1977–2003), so named as he was born in 1977, the year of the Queen's Silver Jubilee. The zoo has a breeding herd of eight elephants, composed of two males and six females –
21809-525: The culling proceeded. Although zoos in some countries have been open about culling, the controversy of the subject and pressure from the public has resulted in others being closed. This stands in contrast to most zoos publicly announcing animal births. Furthermore, while many zoos are willing to cull smaller and/or low-profile animals, fewer are willing to do it with larger high-profile species. Many animals breed readily in captivity. Zoos frequently are forced to intentionally limit captive breeding because of
22002-414: The development of African Forests. The executive focuses on education change and DEAI through its people and culture. Chester Zoo leads in public affairs and has influenced heavily at the heart of UK government. The zoo employs over 650 permanent staff, increasing to over 1,000 during the main summer period, making it the largest zoo in the UK. The zoo is bisected by a public bridleway, Flag Lane (formerly
22195-512: The different organizing principle of geography, as opposed to taxonomy. The Wrocław Zoo ( Polish : Ogród Zoologiczny we Wrocławiu ) is the oldest zoo in Poland, opened in 1865 when the city was part of Prussia , and was home to about 10,500 animals representing about 1,132 species (in terms of the number of animal species, it is the third largest in the world ). In 2014 the Wrocław Zoo opened
22388-465: The divergence of the three groups took place in the Paleozoic or early Mesozoic (around 250 million years ago), before the breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea and soon after their divergence from the lobe-finned fish. The briefness of this period, and the swiftness with which radiation took place, would help account for the relative scarcity of primitive amphibian fossils. There are large gaps in
22581-416: The dragons in the warmer summer months. The exhibit is built on the site of the zoo's former bird house. In 2007, several young baby Komodo dragons were put on display after one of the zoo's two females laid eggs which hatched although the female had not been mated; this is parthenogenesis, the first such case recorded in this species. The exhibit was revamped in 2009 to house Caribbean iguanas in one section of
22774-451: The eggs hatch. A few species give birth to live young, nourishing them with glandular secretions while they are in the oviduct. Caecilians have a mostly Gondwanan distribution, being found in tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Central and South America. The integumentary structure contains some typical characteristics common to terrestrial vertebrates, such as the presence of highly cornified outer layers, renewed periodically through
22967-558: The elephants, and the old car parks at the east end are being built over with service, admin and educational buildings. The new entrance was re-modelled in 2012 to commemorate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee . The zoo owns land outside the public area, and uses that land to grow food for its herbivorous animals. Chester's catering facilities include Bembé Kitchen (formerly the Tsavo Cafe) near the main entrance which opened in 2006 to replace
23160-568: The enclosures and come into close proximity with the animals. The Zoological Society of London was founded in 1826 by Stamford Raffles and established the London Zoo in Regent's Park two years later in 1828. At its founding, it was the world's first scientific zoo. Originally intended to be used as a collection for scientific study , it was opened to the public in 1847. The Zoo was located in Regent's Park —then undergoing development at
23353-497: The end of 2015, Chester zoo became the first zoo outside of New Zealand to breed the tuatara . The zoo opened Islands at Chester Zoo in July 2015, a project extending the footprint of the zoo by 15 acres and built to the south of the west half of the current site. Islands showcases areas where the zoo is involved in conservation programmes, including Sumatra , the Philippines and Indonesia . Visitors are able to walk between
23546-414: The entirety of amphibian-grade tetrapods, while Reptiliomorpha or Anthracosauria are variably used to describe extinct amphibians more closely related to amniotes than to lissamphibians. The actual number of species in each group depends on the taxonomic classification followed. The two most common systems are the classification adopted by the website AmphibiaWeb, University of California, Berkeley , and
23739-537: The entrepreneur Carl Hagenbeck founded the Tierpark Hagenbeck in Stellingen, now a quarter of Hamburg . His zoo was a radical departure from the layout of the zoo that had been established in 1828. It was the first zoo to use open enclosures surrounded by moats, rather than barred cages, to better approximate animals' natural environments. He also set up mixed-species exhibits and based the layout on
23932-402: The first time in captivity. Species formerly kept in the exhibit include Socorro doves , Mindanao bleeding-hearts , Papuan lorikeets and Saint Lucia parrots . For some time, this small area on the eastern part of the zoo used to be a children's petting farm until 2001 when it permanently closed due to an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease . The petting farm later became a picnic lawn, and
24125-458: The food is supplied by the zoo, either from vending machines or a kiosk nearby. An animal theme park is a combination of an amusement park and a zoo, mainly for entertaining and commercial purposes. Marine mammal parks such as Sea World and Marineland are more elaborate dolphinariums keeping whales , and containing additional entertainment attractions. Another kind of animal theme park contains more entertainment and amusement elements than
24318-407: The food to the stomach and mucus produced by glands in the mouth and pharynx eases its passage. The enzyme chitinase produced in the stomach helps digest the chitinous cuticle of arthropod prey. Amphibians possess a pancreas , liver and gall bladder . The liver is usually large with two lobes. Its size is determined by its function as a glycogen and fat storage unit, and may change with
24511-482: The fore foot and five on the hind foot, but no claws on either. Some salamanders have fewer digits and the amphiumas are eel-like in appearance with tiny, stubby legs. The sirens are aquatic salamanders with stumpy forelimbs and no hind limbs. The caecilians are limbless. They burrow in the manner of earthworms with zones of muscle contractions moving along the body. On the surface of the ground or in water they move by undulating their body from side to side. In frogs,
24704-748: The former Oasis Cafe (formerly Mpila Snack Bar until the early 1980s). June's Pavilion (formerly the Jubilee Cafe and latterly the Ark Restaurant) is on the west of the zoo and Manado Street Kitchen is found on Sulawesi in the Islands exhibit. The Oakfield is a restaurant in a Victorian mansion house near the lion enclosure, and along with the Acorn Bar, are both used for private functions as well as catering to zoo visitors. There are children's play areas, shops, kiosks and several picnic lawns around
24897-463: The ground for locomotion and feeding. Terrestrial adults discarded their lateral line systems and adapted their sensory systems to receive stimuli via the medium of the air. They needed to develop new methods to regulate their body heat to cope with fluctuations in ambient temperature. They developed behaviours suitable for reproduction in a terrestrial environment. Their skins were exposed to harmful ultraviolet rays that had previously been absorbed by
25090-463: The hands of the architect John Nash . What set the London zoo apart from its predecessors was its focus on society at large. The zoo was established in the middle of a city for the public, and its layout was designed to cater for the large London population. The London zoo was widely copied as the archetype of the public city zoo. In 1853, the Zoo opened the world's first public aquarium . Dublin Zoo
25283-413: The head and body. The bones are fully ossified and the vertebrae interlock with each other by means of overlapping processes. The pectoral girdle is supported by muscle, and the well-developed pelvic girdle is attached to the backbone by a pair of sacral ribs. The ilium slopes forward and the body is held closer to the ground than is the case in mammals. In most amphibians, there are four digits on
25476-410: The high mortality rate was the reason for the "massive scale of importations." One 2-year study indicated that of 19,361 mammals that left accredited zoos in the U.S. between 1992 and 1998, 7,420 (38%) went to dealers, auctions, hunting ranches, unaccredited zoos and individuals, and game farms. The welfare of zoo animals varies widely. Many zoos work to improve their animal enclosures and make it fit
25669-413: The hind feet for digging (frogs usually dig backwards into the soil). In most salamanders, the limbs are short and more or less the same length and project at right angles from the body. Locomotion on land is by walking and the tail often swings from side to side or is used as a prop, particularly when climbing. In their normal gait, only one leg is advanced at a time in the manner adopted by their ancestors,
25862-399: The hind legs are larger than the fore legs, especially so in those species that principally move by jumping or swimming. In the walkers and runners the hind limbs are not so large, and the burrowers mostly have short limbs and broad bodies. The feet have adaptations for the way of life, with webbing between the toes for swimming, broad adhesive toe pads for climbing, and keratinised tubercles on
26055-424: The importance of animal conservation, often through letting visitors witness the animals firsthand. Some critics, and the majority of animal rights activists, say that zoos, no matter their intentions, or how noble these intentions, are immoral and serve as nothing but to fulfill human leisure at the expense of the animals (an opinion that has spread over the years). However, zoo advocates argue that their efforts make
26248-403: The importance of temperature, but the trigger event, especially in arid regions, is often a storm. In anurans, males usually arrive at the breeding sites before females and the vocal chorus they produce may stimulate ovulation in females and the endocrine activity of males that are not yet reproductively active. In caecilians, fertilisation is internal, the male extruding an intromittent organ ,
26441-552: The islands via a series of bridges and can also view the animals whilst on a boat trip. The project also includes educational exhibits, play areas and a restaurant, the Manado Street Kitchen. The exhibit is opening in phases with phase one including a boat trip around the enclosures for visitors to view some of the zoo's key species from South East Asia, including Visayan warty pigs , southern cassowary , Javan banteng , lowland anoa and North Sulawesi babirusa ; plus
26634-545: The land was the realm of early plants and devoid of vertebrates, though some, such as Ichthyostega , may have sometimes hauled themselves out of the water. It is thought they may have propelled themselves with their forelimbs, dragging their hindquarters in a similar manner to that used by the elephant seal . In the early Carboniferous (360 to 323 million years ago), the climate was relatively wet and warm. Extensive swamps developed with mosses , ferns , horsetails and calamites . Air-breathing arthropods evolved and invaded
26827-410: The land where they provided food for the carnivorous amphibians that began to adapt to the terrestrial environment. There were no other tetrapods on the land and the amphibians were at the top of the food chain, with some occupying ecological positions currently held by crocodiles. Though equipped with limbs and the ability to breathe air, most still had a long tapering body and strong tail. Others were
27020-564: The largest amphibian that ever existed—the extinct 9 m (30 ft) Prionosuchus , a crocodile-like temnospondyl dating to 270 million years ago from the middle Permian of Brazil. The largest frog is the African Goliath frog ( Conraua goliath ), which can reach 32 cm (13 in) and weigh 3 kg (6.6 lb). Amphibians are ectothermic (cold-blooded) vertebrates that do not maintain their body temperature through internal physiological processes. Their metabolic rate
27213-473: The late 20th century are " conservation park" or "bio park". Adopting a new name is a strategy used by some zoo professionals to distance their institutions from the stereotypical and nowadays criticized zoo concept of the 19th century. The term "bio park" was first coined and developed by the National Zoo in Washington D.C. in the late 1980s. In 1993, the New York Zoological Society changed its name to
27406-405: The lateral line system of their ancestral fishes, but this is lost in terrestrial adult amphibians. Many aquatic salamanders and some caecilians possess electroreceptors called ampullary organs (completely absent in anurans), that allow them to locate objects around them when submerged in water. The ears are well developed in frogs. There is no external ear, but the large circular eardrum lies on
27599-520: The lawsuit, ALDF has obtained records from investigations conducted by the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services; these records show that the zoo is also violating the Animal Welfare Act. A petting zoo, also called petting farms or children's zoos, features a combination of domestic animals and wild species that are docile enough to touch and feed. To ensure the animals' health,
27792-481: The lobe-finned fish. Some salamanders in the genus Aneides and certain plethodontids climb trees and have long limbs, large toepads and prehensile tails. In aquatic salamanders and in frog tadpoles, the tail has dorsal and ventral fins and is moved from side to side as a means of propulsion. Adult frogs do not have tails and caecilians have only very short ones. Salamanders use their tails in defence and some are prepared to jettison them to save their lives in
27985-418: The many folds in their thin skin, which has capillaries close to the surface. The suborder Salamandroidea contains the advanced salamanders. They differ from the cryptobranchids by having fused prearticular bones in the lower jaw, and by using internal fertilisation. In salamandrids, the male deposits a bundle of sperm, the spermatophore , and the female picks it up and inserts it into her cloaca where
28178-402: The matriarch of Chester Zoo’s Asian elephant herd, had to be put down because of digestive tract illness caused by inability to chew her food because her last molar teeth were worn to stumps. Spirit of the Jaguar was opened in 2001 and is sponsored by Jaguar Cars and was designed by McCormick Architecture.The exhibit is split into four sections. The two inside are modelled on a rainforest and
28371-620: The monkey house and view the animals from a central corridor. Each species has a glass-fronted indoor enclosure with climbing apparatus and an outdoor enclosure, moated and heavily planted. Miniature Monkeys, opened in May 2004, consists of two enclosures. The first is home to a pair of pied tamarins with pygmy marmosets , and the second is shared by three emperor tamarins and three golden-headed lion tamarins . Geoffrey's marmosets , black-tailed marmosets , black lion tamarins , Red Titi monkeys and white-faced sakis have also been housed here in
28564-443: The more evolutionarily advanced suborder Mesobatrachia are the fossorial Megophryidae , Pelobatidae , Pelodytidae , Scaphiopodidae and Rhinophrynidae and the obligatorily aquatic Pipidae . These have certain characteristics that are intermediate between the two other suborders. Neobatrachia is by far the largest suborder and includes the remaining families of modern frogs, including most common species. Approximately 96% of
28757-439: The most recent molecular study, based on multilocus sequence typing , suggests a Late Carboniferous/ Early Permian origin for extant amphibians. The origins and evolutionary relationships between the three main groups of amphibians is a matter of debate. A 2005 molecular phylogeny, based on rDNA analysis, suggests that salamanders and caecilians are more closely related to each other than they are to frogs. It also appears that
28950-564: The over 5,000 extant species of frog are neobatrachians. The order Caudata (from the Latin cauda meaning "tail") consists of the salamanders—elongated, low-slung animals that mostly resemble lizards in form. This is a symplesiomorphic trait and they are no more closely related to lizards than they are to mammals. Salamanders lack claws, have scale-free skins, either smooth or covered with tubercles , and tails that are usually flattened from side to side and often finned. They range in size from
29143-521: The past along with various other small species. The Okapi bred for the first time in 2012, producing a female calf named Tafari. The success was repeated in 2014 with the birth of a new male calf. This exhibit is primarily a herpetarium for the zoo's Komodo dragons , Jantan and Ora who arrived from Prague Zoo in 2014, originating from the Lesser Sunda Islands. It was opened in 1998 and extended in 2003 to include an outdoor enclosure used by
29336-505: The past but have been moved out for various reasons. Bears of the Cloud Forest opened in 2004 and is home to a pair of spectacled bears and other South American animals. The purpose-built exhibit is designed to mimic the bear's natural habitat by providing trees and a rocky terrain. Nearby are paddocks housing capybaras , giant anteaters , and Brazilian tapirs . Guanaco and Vicuna were previously housed with Rhea . Formerly
29529-496: The practice of selling animals from certified zoos has declined. A large number of animals are culled each year in zoos, but this is controversial. A highly publicized culling as part of population management was that of a healthy giraffe at Copenhagen Zoo in 2014. The zoo argued that his genes already were well-represented in captivity, making the giraffe unsuitable for future breeding. There were offers to adopt him and an online petition to save him had many thousand signatories, but
29722-555: The public in 1847. The first modern zoo was the Tierpark Hagenbeck by Carl Hagenbeck in Germany . In the United States alone, zoos are visited by over 181 million people annually. The London Zoo , which was opened in 1828, was initially known as the "Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological Society of London", and it described itself as a menagerie or "zoological forest". The abbreviation "zoo" first appeared in print in
29915-521: The reptiles to reproduce on land and which led to their dominance in the period that followed. After the Carboniferous rainforest collapse amphibian dominance gave way to reptiles, and amphibians were further devastated by the Permian–Triassic extinction event . During the Triassic Period (252 to 201 million years ago), the reptiles continued to out-compete the amphibians, leading to
30108-417: The reptiles. Invertebrates include Rhinoceros beetles , giant walking sticks , common crow butterflies jungle nymphs , praying mantises , Malaysian Katydids and leaf insects . The zoo's Sumatran Orang-utans were relocated from Realm of the Red Ape to a new exhibit in the Islands development during January 2016 This pavilion was opened in 1989 by Diana, Princess of Wales and Countess of Chester , and
30301-562: The sea bottom. Some fish had developed primitive lungs that help them breathe air when the stagnant pools of the Devonian swamps were low in oxygen. They could also use their strong fins to hoist themselves out of the water and onto dry land if circumstances so required. Eventually, their bony fins would evolve into limbs and they would become the ancestors to all tetrapods , including modern amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals . Despite being able to crawl on land, many of these prehistoric tetrapodomorph fish still spent most of their time in
30494-412: The seasons as these reserves are built or used up. Adipose tissue is another important means of storing energy and this occurs in the abdomen (in internal structures called fat bodies), under the skin and, in some salamanders, in the tail. There are two kidneys located dorsally, near the roof of the body cavity. Their job is to filter the blood of metabolic waste and transport the urine via ureters to
30687-574: The skin ( cutaneous respiration ) and this allows adult amphibians to respire without rising to the surface of water and to hibernate at the bottom of ponds. To compensate for their thin and delicate skin, amphibians have evolved mucous glands, principally on their heads, backs and tails. The secretions produced by these help keep the skin moist. In addition, most species of amphibian have granular glands that secrete distasteful or poisonous substances. Some amphibian toxins can be lethal to humans while others have little effect. The main poison-producing glands,
30880-455: The smaller the individual is, so it happens at an early stage when the larvae are still small. (The largest species of salamanders do not go through a metamorphosis.) Amphibians that lay eggs on land often go through the whole metamorphosis inside the egg. An anamniotic terrestrial egg is less than 1 cm in diameter due to diffusion problems, a size which puts a limit on the amount of posthatching growth. The smallest amphibian (and vertebrate) in
31073-399: The species is toxic and is a warning sign to predators. Amphibians have a skeletal system that is structurally homologous to other tetrapods, though with a number of variations. They all have four limbs except for the legless caecilians and a few species of salamander with reduced or no limbs. The bones are hollow and lightweight. The musculoskeletal system is strong to enable it to support
31266-654: The spectacle. Charlemagne had an elephant named Abul-Abbas that was given to him by the Abbasid caliph. King Henry I of England kept a collection of animals at his palace in Woodstock which reportedly included lions, leopards, and camels. The most prominent collection in medieval England was in the Tower of London , created as early as 1204 by King John I . Henry III received a wedding gift in 1235 of three leopards from Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor , and in 1264,
31459-603: The sperm is stored until the eggs are laid. The largest family in this group is Plethodontidae, the lungless salamanders, which includes 60% of all salamander species. The family Salamandridae includes the true salamanders and the name " newt " is given to members of its subfamily Pleurodelinae . The third suborder, Sirenoidea , contains the four species of sirens, which are in a single family, Sirenidae . Members of this order are eel -like aquatic salamanders with much reduced forelimbs and no hind limbs. Some of their features are primitive while others are derived. Fertilisation
31652-451: The surface of the head just behind the eye. This vibrates and sound is transmitted through a single bone, the stapes , to the inner ear. Only high-frequency sounds like mating calls are heard in this way, but low-frequency noises can be detected through another mechanism. There is a patch of specialized haircells, called papilla amphibiorum , in the inner ear capable of detecting deeper sounds. Another feature, unique to frogs and salamanders,
31845-436: The top land predators, sometimes reaching several metres in length, preying on the large insects of the period and the many types of fish in the water. They still needed to return to water to lay their shell-less eggs, and even most modern amphibians have a fully aquatic larval stage with gills like their fish ancestors. It was the development of the amniotic egg, which prevents the developing embryo from drying out, that enabled
32038-403: The tremendous expansion in the urbanization of London, led to a heightened demand for a greater variety of public forms of entertainment to be made available. The need for public entertainment, as well as the requirements of scholarly research, came together in the founding of the first modern zoos. Whipsnade Park Zoo in Bedfordshire , England, opened in 1931. It allowed visitors to drive through
32231-460: The urinary bladder where it is stored before being passed out periodically through the cloacal vent. Larvae and most aquatic adult amphibians excrete the nitrogen as ammonia in large quantities of dilute urine, while terrestrial species, with a greater need to conserve water, excrete the less toxic product urea. Some tree frogs with limited access to water excrete most of their metabolic waste as uric acid. Most aquatic and semi-aquatic amphibians have
32424-634: The vertebrae. Their skulls are mostly broad and short, and are often incompletely ossified. Their skin contains little keratin and lacks scales, apart from a few fish-like scales in certain caecilians. The skin contains many mucous glands and in some species, poison glands (a type of granular gland). The hearts of amphibians have three chambers, two atria and one ventricle . They have a urinary bladder and nitrogenous waste products are excreted primarily as urea . Most amphibians lay their eggs in water and have aquatic larvae that undergo metamorphosis to become terrestrial adults. Amphibians breathe by means of
32617-534: The vulnerable aquatic larval stage. They are not found in the sea with the exception of one or two frogs that live in brackish water in mangrove swamps; the Anderson's salamander meanwhile occurs in brackish or salt water lakes. On land, amphibians are restricted to moist habitats because of the need to keep their skin damp. Modern amphibians have a simplified anatomy compared to their ancestors due to paedomorphosis , caused by two evolutionary trends: miniaturization and an unusually large genome, which result in
32810-401: The water for longer periods. Their lungs improved and their skeletons became heavier and stronger, better able to support the weight of their bodies on land. They developed "hands" and "feet" with five or more digits; the skin became more capable of retaining body fluids and resisting desiccation. The fish's hyomandibula bone in the hyoid region behind the gills diminished in size and became
33003-496: The water increases at both low temperatures and high flow rates, aquatic amphibians in these situations can rely primarily on cutaneous respiration, as in the Titicaca water frog and the hellbender salamander . In air, where oxygen is more concentrated, some small species can rely solely on cutaneous gas exchange, most famously the plethodontid salamanders , which have neither lungs nor gills. Many aquatic salamanders and all tadpoles have gills in their larval stage, with some (such as
33196-518: The water. The skin changed to become more protective and prevent excessive water loss. The superclass Tetrapoda is divided into four classes of vertebrate animals with four limbs. Reptiles, birds and mammals are amniotes, the eggs of which are either laid or carried by the female and are surrounded by several membranes, some of which are impervious. Lacking these membranes, amphibians require water bodies for reproduction, although some species have developed various strategies for protecting or bypassing
33389-466: The water. They had started to develop lungs, but still breathed predominantly with gills. Many examples of species showing transitional features have been discovered. Ichthyostega was one of the first primitive amphibians, with nostrils and more efficient lungs. It had four sturdy limbs, a neck, a tail with fins and a skull very similar to that of the lobe-finned fish, Eusthenopteron . Amphibians evolved adaptations that allowed them to stay out of
33582-430: The wild The breeding of endangered species is coordinated by cooperative breeding programmes containing international studbooks and coordinators, who evaluate the roles of individual animals and institutions from a global or regional perspective, and there are regional programmes all over the world for the conservation of endangered species . In Africa, conservation is handled by the African Preservation Program (APP); in
33775-403: The world and many species such as elephants , big cats, penguins , tropical birds, primates, rhinos , exotic reptiles, and many others are in danger of dying out. Many of today's zoos hope to stop or slow the decline of many endangered species and see their primary purpose as breeding endangered species in captivity and reintroducing them into the wild. Modern zoos also aim to help teach visitors
33968-516: The world fight to protect species from going extinct , but many conservation programs are underfunded and under-represented. Conservation programs can struggle to fight bigger issues like habitat loss and illness. It often takes significant funding and long time periods to rebuild degraded habitats, both of which are scarce in conservation efforts. The current state of conservation programs cannot rely solely in situ (on-site conservation) plans alone, ex situ (off-site conservation) may therefore provide
34161-403: The world is a microhylid frog from New Guinea ( Paedophryne amauensis ) first discovered in 2012. It has an average length of 7.7 mm (0.30 in) and is part of a genus that contains four of the world's ten smallest frog species. The largest living amphibian is the 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) Chinese giant salamander ( Andrias davidianus ) but this is a great deal smaller than
34354-423: The year in each habitat. When on land, they mostly spend the day hidden under stones or logs or in dense vegetation, emerging in the evening and night to forage for worms, insects and other invertebrates. The suborder Cryptobranchoidea contains the primitive salamanders. A number of fossil cryptobranchids have been found, but there are only three living species, the Chinese giant salamander ( Andrias davidianus ),
34547-400: The zoo inside the Jardin des Plantes in Paris was founded by Jacques-Henri Bernardin , with animals from the royal menagerie at Versailles, primarily for scientific research and education. The planning about a space for the conservation and observation of animals was expressed in connection with the political construction of republican citizenship. The Kazan Zoo , the first zoo in Russia
34740-407: The zoo was enclosed with a fence, in line with the Zoo Licensing Act 1981 . Realm of the Red Ape , an Indonesian -forest-themed exhibit, featuring threatened Sumatran and Bornean orangutan , opened in May 2007. In January 2009, Chester Zoo unveiled Natural Vision, a £225 million plan to transform itself into the largest conservation attraction in Europe. The first phase of the plan was to be
34933-415: The zoo, often with species that Hagenbeck had not considered. For example, when chimpanzees were released into their new enclosure at Chester in 1956, a group of grassy islands, they were separated from visitors by no more than a 12-foot (3.7 m) strip of water. Nobody knew then if chimps could swim. It turned out that they could not, and today the chimp islands are a centrepiece of Chester Zoo. In 1986
35126-714: The zoo. A second pedestrian entrance is located in the southeast corner of the zoo behind Oakfield House. Chester Zoo holds a large and diverse collection. At the end of 2007, over half the species at the zoo appeared on the IUCN Red List and 155 were classified as threatened species . 134 species were kept as part of a managed captive breeding programme. The zoo manages the studbooks for Congo buffalo , jaguar , blue-eyed cockatoo , Madagascan tree boa , gemsbok (all ESB species), eastern black rhinoceros , Ecuadorian amazon parrot , Mindanao writhe-billed hornbill , Sumatran tiger and Rodrigues flying fox (all EEP species). In addition, Chester holds 265 threatened plant species. At
35319-432: The zoos they can live out the rest of their lives healthy and happy (McGaffin). In recent years, some zoos have chosen to move out some larger animals because they do not have the space available to provide an adequate enclosure for them (Lemonic, McDowell, and Bjerklie 50). An issue with animal welfare in zoos is that best animal husbandry practices are often not completely known, especially for species that are only kept in
35512-493: Was and still is somewhat species-specific. When animals are transferred between zoos, they usually spend time in quarantine, and are given time to acclimatize to their new enclosures which are often designed to mimic their natural environment. For example, some species of penguins may require refrigerated enclosures. Guidelines on necessary care for such animals is published in the International Zoo Yearbook . Animal exchanges between facilities are usually made voluntarily, based on
35705-450: Was closed as it had become unreliable and covered less than half the zoo due to the zoo's expansion to over 125 acres (51 ha). Land from the monorail will be used for a new attraction called Heart of Africa, an open African savannah habitat and vulture aviary. The zoo are also at the same time developing The Reserve Hotel project, a collection of 51 lodges, restaurant and access into the zoo. The North of England Zoological Society (NEZS)
35898-413: Was closed. Fifteen fire crews attended the zoo along with two rapid response units and an ambulance. All mammals were accounted for and one person was treated for the effects of smoke inhalation . Some birds , frogs , fish and small insects were killed in the blaze. The zoo reopened on Sunday 16 December 2018. Chester Zoo monorail was an internal transport system for visitors from 1991 to 2019, but
36091-473: Was founded in 1806 by the Professor of Kazan State University Karl Fuchs . Until the early 19th century, the function of the zoo was often to symbolize royal power, like King Louis XIV 's menagerie at Versailles . Major cities in Europe set up zoos in the 19th century, usually using London and Paris as models. The transition was made from princely menageries designed to entertain high society with strange novelties into public zoological gardens. The new goal
36284-405: Was gained for a later phase of the Natural Vision masterplan. One of the largest zoo developments in Europe, Islands at Chester Zoo is a £40 million redevelopment project to extend the zoo's footprint and recreate six island habitats of Southeast Asia . As of 2017 it is now open. A 600,000 square foot nature reserve was opened in April 2018. The reserve sits outside the boundary of the main zoo and
36477-541: Was opened at the London Zoo in 1853. This was followed by the opening of public aquaria in continental Europe (e.g. Paris in 1859, Hamburg in 1864, Berlin in 1869, and Brighton in 1872) and the United States (e.g. Boston in 1859, Washington in 1873, San Francisco Woodward's Garden in 1873, and the New York Aquarium at Battery Park in 1896). Roadside zoos are found throughout North America , particularly in remote locations. They are often small, for-profit zoos, often intended to attract visitors to some other facility, such as
36670-523: Was opened in 1831 by members of the medical profession interested in studying animals while they were alive and more particularly getting hold of them when they were dead. Downs' Zoological Gardens created by Andrew Downs and opened to the Nova Scotia public in 1847. It was originally intended to be used as a collection for scientific study. By the early 1860s, the zoo grounds covered 40 hectares with many fine flowers and ornamental trees, picnic areas, statues, walking paths, The Glass House (which contained
36863-439: Was ranked among the ten worst zoos in the United States. Systematic reform by 2000 put it on the list of the ten best. By 2020, the United States featured 230 accredited zoos and aquariums across 45 states, accommodating 800,000 animals, and 6,000 species out of which about 1,000 are endangered. The zoos provide 208,000 jobs, and with an annual budget of $ 230 million for wildlife conservation . They attract over 200 million visits
37056-626: Was the case with the Black Sea invasion of the natural hybrid Pelophylax esculentus reported in 2010. Several hundred frog species in adaptive radiations (e.g., Eleutherodactylus , the Pacific Platymantis , the Australo-Papuan microhylids , and many other tropical frogs), however, do not need any water for breeding in the wild . They reproduce via direct development, an ecological and evolutionary adaptation that has allowed them to be completely independent from free-standing water. Almost all of these frogs live in wet tropical rainforests and their eggs hatch directly into miniature versions of
37249-422: Was to educate the entire population with information along modern scientific lines. Zoos were supported by local commercial or scientific societies. The modern zoo that emerged in the 19th century in the United Kingdom , was focused on providing scientific study and later educational exhibits to the public for entertainment and inspiration. A growing fascination for natural history and zoology , coupled with
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