Zoo

A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called a zoological park, animal park, or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. 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 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. However, animal welfare organizations have expressed criticism of zoos and the conditions in which animals are kept. Concerns have been raised about the impact of zoos on animal welfare, including both housing conditions and the effects of visitor behavior. In recent decades, efforts have been made to improve conditions in zoos.