<P> The predecessor of the zoological garden is the menagerie , which has a long history from the ancient world to modern times . The oldest known zoological collection was revealed during excavations at Hierakonpolis , Egypt in 2009 , of a ca . 3500 BCE menagerie . The exotic animals included hippopotami , hartebeest , elephants , baboons and wildcats . King Ashur - bel - kala of the Middle Assyrian Empire created zoological and botanical gardens in the 11th century BCE . In the 2nd century BCE , the Chinese Empress Tanki had a `` house of deer '' built , and King Wen of Zhou kept a 1,500 - acre ( 6.1 km ) zoo called Ling - Yu , or the Garden of Intelligence . Other well - known collectors of animals included King Solomon of the Kingdom of Israel and Judah , queen Semiramis and King Ashurbanipal of Assyria , and King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia . By the 4th century BCE , zoos existed in most of the Greek city states ; Alexander the Great is known to have sent animals that he found on his military expeditions back to Greece . The Roman emperors kept private collections of animals for study or for use in the arena , the latter faring notoriously poorly . The 19th - century historian W.E.H. Lecky wrote of the Roman games , first held in 366 BCE : </P>
<P> The predecessor of the zoological garden is the menagerie , which has a long history from the ancient world to modern times . The oldest known zoological collection was revealed during excavations at Hierakonpolis , Egypt in 2009 , of a ca . 3500 BCE menagerie . The exotic animals included hippopotami , hartebeest , elephants , baboons and wildcats . King Ashur - bel - kala of the Middle Assyrian Empire created zoological and botanical gardens in the 11th century BCE . In the 2nd century BCE , the Chinese Empress Tanki had a `` house of deer '' built , and King Wen of Zhou kept a 1,500 - acre ( 6.1 km ) zoo called Ling - Yu , or the Garden of Intelligence . Other well - known collectors of animals included King Solomon of the Kingdom of Israel and Judah , queen Semiramis and King Ashurbanipal of Assyria , and King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia . By the 4th century BCE , zoos existed in most of the Greek city states ; Alexander the Great is known to have sent animals that he found on his military expeditions back to Greece . The Roman emperors kept private collections of animals for study or for use in the arena , the latter faring notoriously poorly . The 19th - century historian W.E.H. Lecky wrote of the Roman games , first held in 366 BCE : </P>
when did the first zoo in the world open
when did the first zoo in the world open
ca . 3500 BCE
ca . 3500 BCE