3,257
edits
Changes
→Rise of Zoos
What the Roman period shows is that animals were now beginning to be seen not just as wonderment for the wealth or powerful, but now animals were beginning to be shown in more public settings and displayed for their wonder and power. While clearly animals were often treated with cruelty, the period of Rome also began a process where people increasingly came into closer contact with wild animals and those that were very exotic.
In the Medieval period in Europe, menageries were once again popular among monarchs. Gifts of wild animals, such as the Abbasid Caliph sending an elephant to Charlemagne, occurred between monarchs. In effect, zoos became, once again, more private and the privy of royalty or very high sectors of society. In the reign of Elizabeth I, however, descendants of leopards that were once owned by Henry III (a gift from Fredrick II) were put in one of the first public animal displays(Figure 2). Elizabeth had moved the animals to what became known as the Lion Tower in the western entrance of the Tower of London. [[File:Lion sculptures, Tower of London.jpg|thumbnail|Figure 2. Lion sculptures commemorating lions kept near the Lion Tower at the Tower of London.]]
==Modern Development==
