Changing Perception of Zoos in India: A Historical Study

Humans captured wild animals for their pleasure from the ancient period. Western European countries developed the modern system of collection of wild animals which was termed as menagerie and later became more popular form of ‘zoological garden' or ‘zoo'. The coming of colonial British rule in India and its interest in the faunas of the orient led to the formation of zoological gardens in several urban centres of India from the nineteenth century onwards. Public now get entertained by watching different exotic animals from a safe distance without going to forests.