The animal game

Over the twentieth century, as wild, tropical animals became familiar attractions in urban American zoos, they became rare in the wild. Americans who made zoos the nation's most popular attractions, developed closer knowledge of tropical animals, especially those from regions colonized by American and European powers. Founded as a living taxonomy of exotic nature, such zoos never achieved the biological and social order their founders so cherished. Workers, animals, and visitors did not behave in ways that matched zoo officials' or founders' visions. Tourists fed the animals, littered, even poached. They sought tales of animal adventure more than science lessons. This book examines the development of zoos and the animal trade that supplied them and how they were both buffeted by global politics, imperialism, revolution, and war. Through the paradox of animals that were endangered yet familiar and entwined in our daily lives, "Animal Empire" fosters a dialogue between those charged with conserving the future, those concerned about the effects of the past, and those who gaze at zoo animals and wonder about places, nature, and people they are unlikely ever to see in person. Through zo