Although the very word "collection" is frowned on by the politically correct when applied to zoos, and although the "stamp collection" approach to animal collecting is definitely not the way for a modern zoo to go, it is still interesting to look at the scale and size of some of the major collections in the (not too distant) past;
The following statistics come from the International Zoo Yearbook for 1991
(i.e. only 16 years ago);
Tierpark Berlin 213 species mammals 453 species birds
Zoologischer Garten Berlin 265 sp. mammals 580 sp. birds
San Diego U.S.A. 227 sp. mammals 456 sp. birds
They were the big three. ( interesting that 2 of them were in the same city, even if divided by "the wall".)
For comparison purposes, the following zoos at the same time had:
London Zoo 119 species mammals 262 species birds
Chester Zoo 88 sp. mammals 181 sp. birds
Taronga (Sydney) 91 sp. mammals 216 sp. birds
Melbourne Zoo 102 sp. mammals 176 sp. birds
Auckland Zoo 46 sp. mammals 78 sp. birds
Wellington Zoo 36 sp. mammals 67 sp. birds
Incidentally, the often stated belief that zoos with such massive collections as the Berlin zoos must only have had one or two animals of each species is disproved by the statistics:
Tierpark's 213 species of mammals were represented by 2075 individuals; that's nearly 10 animals per species. It's 453 species of birds were represented by 2677 individuals.
Zool. Garten's 265 species of mammals were represented by 1626 individuals and it's 580 species of birds by 2955 individuals.
San Diego's 227 species of mammals were represented by 1330 individuals (although there were more, particularly grazing animals, at it's San Diego
W.A.P.) and it's 456 species of birds by 1888 individuals.
The following statistics come from the International Zoo Yearbook for 1991
(i.e. only 16 years ago);
Tierpark Berlin 213 species mammals 453 species birds
Zoologischer Garten Berlin 265 sp. mammals 580 sp. birds
San Diego U.S.A. 227 sp. mammals 456 sp. birds
They were the big three. ( interesting that 2 of them were in the same city, even if divided by "the wall".)
For comparison purposes, the following zoos at the same time had:
London Zoo 119 species mammals 262 species birds
Chester Zoo 88 sp. mammals 181 sp. birds
Taronga (Sydney) 91 sp. mammals 216 sp. birds
Melbourne Zoo 102 sp. mammals 176 sp. birds
Auckland Zoo 46 sp. mammals 78 sp. birds
Wellington Zoo 36 sp. mammals 67 sp. birds
Incidentally, the often stated belief that zoos with such massive collections as the Berlin zoos must only have had one or two animals of each species is disproved by the statistics:
Tierpark's 213 species of mammals were represented by 2075 individuals; that's nearly 10 animals per species. It's 453 species of birds were represented by 2677 individuals.
Zool. Garten's 265 species of mammals were represented by 1626 individuals and it's 580 species of birds by 2955 individuals.
San Diego's 227 species of mammals were represented by 1330 individuals (although there were more, particularly grazing animals, at it's San Diego
W.A.P.) and it's 456 species of birds by 1888 individuals.
