The zoological gardens of Europe, their history and chief features

by C. V. A. Peel

In 1858 a concession of about forty acres was made in the Bois de Boulogne by the city of Paris to five members of the bureau of the Société d’Acclimatation. The Emperor Napoleon III. enlarged upon this concession by a gift of a further ten acres. A subscription was then opened, with a capital of a million francs divided into 4,000 shares, most of which were taken up by the members of the Société d’Acclimatation, who, after having conceived the idea of the Garden, wished to endow it handsomely.

After the preparatory plans had been made by M. Davioud, the resident architect of the city, and approved of by the council of thirty-four of the principal shareholders, the work was begun in July, 1859. The arrangement of the work, under the surveillance of a committee chosen by the members of the council of administration, was entrusted to Mr. D. W. Mitchell, the Secretary of the Zoological Society, London, who had come to offer his services for the creation of the new undertaking. On the sudden death of Mr. Mitchell in November, 1859, the committee took upon themselves the management of the work.

In fifteen months the work was finished. On August 1, 1860, Dr. Rufz de Lavison, late President of the General Council of the Martinique, was appointed Director of the Garden, whilst M. Albert Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, the joint Director, busied himself with the hygiene and propagation of the animals. On October 6, 1860, the Emperor inaugurated the new institution in person, and a few days later the public were admitted.

In 1865 Dr. Rufz de Lavison died, and M. Albert Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire was made Director of the Garden.

When the Siege of Paris became imminent, the majority of the animals were deposited in the Zoological Gardens at Brussels; others were confined at Antwerp. The rare birds were sent to Tours; some to M. Barnsby, Director of the Botanical Garden in that city; others to M. Cornély van Heemstra, owner of the Château de Beaujardin. During this sad time an enormous amount of work was done, the animals being transported as quickly as possible. On September 4, 1870, this evacuation began, but it was brought to a stop five days later, as the trains then ceased to run. On the other hand, M. Milne Edwards graciously offered to take into the Jardin des Plantes part of the collection of animals, on condition that they were provided with sufficient food. From that moment, and during the whole of the siege, the Garden, situated as it was outside the fortifications, went well through the sad and sudden changes of fortune.

The famine which ere long besieged the city then demanded the sacrifice of all the animals. One can imagine what it cost the keepers, who were so attached to the animals they fed, to have to kill the two elephants, Castor and Pollux, the beautiful antelopes, the camels, etc. Nevertheless, when peace came, the animals which returned from the places where they had been deposited were still numerous enough to restock the Garden and put a little life into the place so long deserted.

The collection had scarcely been reinstalled in the Garden when the insurrection of the Commonwealth broke out. This time the Jardin d’Acclimatation was in the very middle of the tempest, and for nearly two months bullets and shells fell night and day in its very midst. The officials remained faithful to their posts, and hid themselves in cellars, from which they emerged when they were able during moments of calm—too short, alas!—to attend to the wants of the animals and plants. In this way, from time to time, they ran the greatest danger. The gate-keeper, Decker, was killed by a bursting shell; the gardener, Loubrieam, succumbed to wounds which he had received; Lemoire, one of the keepers of the animals, and Lombard, the carpenter, were wounded. Troops of regulars and bands of insurgents frequently met in the very heart of the Garden, which was furrowed by trenches and defensive works. The volunteers of the Seine and Oise and the federates fought two serious engagements in it. A number of animals were struck by the bullets, the fences and battlements being pierced by them.

The Jardin d’Acclimatation was very greatly disturbed by this terrible crisis, and people doubted whether it would ever recover itself.

The Municipal Council and the Ville de Paris happily understood what an interest the Garden had been, and would not allow such an establishment to disappear. They came to the succour of the shareholders by generously voting an annual subscription of 60,000 francs for three years; moreover, the Société d’Acclimatation gave a sum of 35,000 francs and all the animals which it possessed. M. Saint-Hilaire, whose activity and energy had increased in spite of obstacles, received anxious inquiries and marks of sympathy from numerous donors, which hastened the reconstruction of the devastated collections. His Majesty the King of Italy offered two African elephants to replace the two killed during the siege; the venerable M. Westerman, the Director of the Garden at Amsterdam, M. Jacques Vekemans, the learned and sympathetic Director of the Garden at Antwerp, and all the zoological gardens in England and in Belgium added their generous gifts, and contributed largely towards the reinstallation of this beautiful Garden, which had been so cruelly tried. Numerous improvements were voted by the council to suit the requirements of the animals and to please the public. New sheds were built for the goats and sheep, enclosures made for breeding ducks, and a new stable and large dog-kennels were constructed, which were opened shortly afterwards; the dairy service was organized both in the Garden and in the centre of Paris. Depots, where pure milk could be bought, were established at Chevet’s and at the Palais Royal. A building for the fattening of poultry for the table was given over to a clever breeder of the department of Allier, who brought the whole of his stock-in-trade to the Garden. Animals were lent by several members of the society. In one of the outbuildings of the conservatory a library was opened, where visitors could find natural history works to interest them. Discussions began again, on two days a week—Thursdays and Sundays; concerts, under the direction of M. Mayeur, were held in the afternoons on one of the lawns in the Garden.

At last a new era of prosperity had opened in the Jardin d’Acclimatation in the Bois de Boulogne. From the time it was opened to the year 1873 more than 200,000 people had signified by their presence the just popularity which the Garden had acquired.