London Zoo, previously known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens and sometimes called Regent's Park Zoo, is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for scientific study. In 1831 or 1832, the animals of the Tower of London menagerie were transferred to the zoo's collection. It was opened to the public in 1847. As of December 2022, it houses a collection of 14,926 individuals, making it one of the largest collections in the United Kingdom.
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclists as well as other object manipulation and stunt-oriented artists. The term circus also describes the field of performance, training and community which has followed various formats through its 250-year modern history. Although not the inventor of the medium, Newcastle-under-Lyme born Philip Astley is credited as the father of the modern circus.
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, also known as the Ringling Bros. Circus, Ringling Bros., the Barnum & Bailey Circus, Barnum & Bailey, or simply Ringling, is an American traveling circus company billed as The Greatest Show on Earth. It and its predecessor have run shows from 1871, with a hiatus from 2017 to 2023. They operate as Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey. The circus started in 1919 when the Barnum & Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth, a circus created by P. T. Barnum and James Anthony Bailey, was merged with the Ringling Bros. World's Greatest Shows. The Ringling brothers purchased Barnum & Bailey Ltd. in 1907 following Bailey's death in 1906, but ran the circuses separately until they were merged in 1919.
A menagerie is a collection of captive animals, frequently exotic, kept for display; or the place where such a collection is kept, a precursor to the modern zoo or zoological garden.
Billy Smart Jr. was a British circus performer and impresario.
The white lion is a rare colour mutation of the lion, specifically the Southern African lion. White lions in the area of Timbavati are thought to have been indigenous to the Timbavati region of South Africa for centuries, although the earliest recorded sighting in this region was in 1938. White lions first became known to the English-speaking world in 1977 through the book The White Lions of Timbavati.
The Center for Elephant Conservation (CEC) is a 200-acre (0.81 km2) breeding farm and retirement facility for elephants in Polk City, Florida, opened in 1995. The CEC is solely sponsored by Feld Entertainment, the holding company which operated the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus from the 1960s until 2017.
Olmen is a village that lies in Belgium, in the province of Antwerp. The village is part of the municipality of Balen.
Frank Howard Buck was an American hunter, animal collector, and author, as well as a film actor, director, and producer. Beginning in the 1910s he made many expeditions into Asia for the purpose of hunting and collecting exotic animals, bringing over 100,000 live specimens back to the United States and elsewhere for zoos and circuses and earning a reputation as an adventurer. He co-authored seven books chronicling or based on his expeditions, beginning with 1930's Bring 'Em Back Alive, which became a bestseller.
Paignton Zoo is a zoo in Paignton, Devon, England. The zoo was started as a private collection by avid animal collector and breeder, Herbert Whitley, in the grounds of his home Primley House. It was opened to the public on a number of occasions, originally as Primley Zoological Gardens, and closed twice due to disputes with the tax authorities. The commercialisation of the zoo came when animals and attractions were relocated from Chessington Zoo during World War II, and the site was named as Devon's Zoo and Circus
South Lakes Safari Zoo is a 51-acre (21 ha) zoo established in 1994 by David Gill, and located in Cumbria, England. Its name refers to its proximity to the Lake District, though it lies entirely within the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness on the outskirts of Dalton.
Carl Hagenbeck was a German merchant of wild animals who supplied many European zoos, as well as P. T. Barnum. He created the modern zoo with animal enclosures without bars that were closer to their natural habitat. He was also an ethnography showman and a pioneer in the display of members of "savage tribes" in Völkerschauen, known nowadays in English as "ethnic shows" or "human zoos", which were controversial at the time and are now widely considered racist. The transformation of the zoo architecture initiated by him is known as the Hagenbeck revolution. Hagenbeck founded Germany's most successful privately owned zoo, the Tierpark Hagenbeck, which moved to its present location in Hamburg's Stellingen district in 1907.
A zoo is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes.
The Tierpark Hagenbeck is a zoo in Stellingen, Hamburg, Germany. The collection began in 1863 with animals that belonged to Carl Hagenbeck Sr. (1810–1887), a fishmonger who became an amateur animal collector. The park itself was founded by Carl Hagenbeck Jr. in 1907. It is known for being the first zoo to use open enclosures surrounded by moats, rather than barred cages, to better approximate animals' natural environments.
Circus Krone, based in Munich, is one of the largest circuses in Europe and one of the few in Western Europe to also occupy a building.
The Limburg Zoo, also known as Zwartberg Zoo, was a zoo in the Belgian parish of Zwartberg in the municipality of Genk. The zoo was private property of the Wouters family and did not receive any subsidy or sponsorship. The zoo was known for its large number of animals, which resulted from the internal breeding programme and the acquisition of abused and dumped animals from bankrupt zoos and circuses. The large number of animals, the poor state of the animal enclosures, and actions by animal rights organisations drew media attention to the zoo. In 1997 the Wouters family decided to close it; the animals were relocated to other zoos.
Emerald Park is a 22.26 ha amusement park and zoo located in the townland of Kilbrew, County Meath, Ireland. Upon opening, the park was themed around the Irish potato crisp brand Tayto, and was originally conceptualised by Tayto’s then owner, farmer-turned-entrepreneur Raymond Coyle.
The Paramaribo Zoo is the only zoo in Suriname. The zoo opened in May 1972, and was an initiative of prime-minister Jopie Pengel. It is located adjacent to the Cultuurtuin in Rainville, Paramaribo.
Leonie Vestering is a Dutch politician of the Party for the Animals (PvdD). She campaigned against circus animals, and she was a member of the States of Flevoland and the Almere municipal council. Vestering was elected to the House of Representatives in 2021 and resigned in September 2023 in response to a conflict within her party.
