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Zoos are familiar public spaces which enable visitors to observe animals, birds, fish, reptiles, and insects. Historical changes in zoos have been well documented (Hoage and Deiss, Koebner, Anderson) and they continue to change, due to cultural influences and scientific developments. As a result, the enclosures and public spaces available to the animals and the people have also changed. As public places, zoos are no longer simply collections of animals in cages but now are beginning to represent species in context to natural landscapes, plants, and environments for the benefit of both the animals and the visitors.Zoos contain their captive species within enclosures that are spaces of varying sizes encompassed by one or more boundaries. These polygonal spaces may be described as two-dimensional spaces that ideally provide adequate space within the boundaries for the movement of the captive species. The space necessary for different species depends on their behavior and size and, in addition, the number of individuals within an enclosure. For some species, the three-dimensional volume may be a more important feature; as, for example, the volume of water required to support fish or multi-level enclosures for primates requiring a number of active spaces. The shape and size of each enclosure and the degree of its isolation from the visiting public are maintained by the enclosure boundaries. Outside these boundaries, the visiting public occupies the surrounding space, moving between enclosures and groups of enclosures. The rationale for the ways in which enclosures are grouped provides the visitors with a sense of travel or immersion. The primary objective of this essay is to examine these spaces and boundaries in modem zoos and identify their impacts upon the visitors and the captive animals. The Historical and Cultural Development of ZoosAs cultural institutions, zoos are affected by many cultural and technological characteristics of society. These factors have changed considerably over the last few hundred years, and, therefore, zoos have also changed. Although zoos existed as early as the fifteenth century B.C. 13

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Explores the issue of changing URLs and provides a brief analysis of the degree to which change is occurring. Examines the range of potential solutions and provides discussion concerning the reasons for outdated and inaccurate URLs.

In this paper, we initiate a discussion of zoos as cultural landscapes, using the example of the Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg, Manitoba. We start from the notion that zoos are cultural institutions that do not reflect nature itself but are created landscapes inscribed with social and cultural messages conveyed through the presentation of wild animals. We examine the development of this zoo in the context of the stages through which it has passed in its over a hundred years of existence on the basis of historical accounts as well as Assiniboine Park Zoo master plan and annual report documents. We argue for examining zoos as cultural landscapes that reflect the changing relations between humans and animals and with ‘nature’ more generally.