Auckland Zoo

Brief Information

Auckland Zoo grew out of a fairly practical decision: in 1922, the city bought the remaining animals from John Boyd’s private zoo and made them the basis of a permanent zoo at Western Springs. So the place began not with an ideal collection, but with the relocation of animals from an institution that had drawn complaints because of noise and smells.

Today it is more important to see not the old set of cages, but the gradual reshaping of the space. In 1973, the grounds expanded into the adjacent Western Springs park, and since the late 1980s many exhibits have been moved into new modern enclosures. As a result, the zoo reads as a place where the old logic of displaying animals is being replaced by an arrangement based on regions, biosystems, and biomes.

What to Notice Right Away

It makes sense to compare the very principle by which the animals are placed: the zones are defined either by the species’ region of origin, or by biosystem or biome. This changes the way one looks at the zoo: the animal here is shown not as a separate item in a collection, but as part of an environment, even if one created by humans.

The physical traces of different eras are best sought in the types of buildings listed in the zoo’s history. In the 1920s, plans included an aviary, a monkey house, quarters for polar bears, bison, and birds of prey, pools for hippos, a house and yard for elephants, and a tiger arena. These names reveal the early logic: each species was assigned a separate structure or arena. Modern enclosures and the medical center show a different emphasis: care, research, and the conservation of wildlife, especially New Zealand species. A useful viewing angle here is simple: compare not the animals with one another, but the ways in which the zoo explains their place in nature.