Editing Philadelphia Zoo Opening (section)

== Early Years ==

The zoo opened with approximately 1,000 animals, many of them donated or purchased through networks of traders, collectors, and other zoos. Early acquisitions included lions, bears, elephants, primates, and a wide variety of birds. The collection grew rapidly as the zoo established relationships with collectors and dealers around the world. The zoo's location near the site of the 1876 Centennial Exposition brought additional visitors and attention, as tourists who came for the fair also explored nearby Fairmount Park attractions. The zoo's success encouraged other American cities to establish their own zoological gardens, with Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, Cincinnati Zoo, and others following in subsequent years.<ref name="hanson">{{cite book |last=Hanson |first=Elizabeth |title=Animal Attractions: Nature on Display in American Zoos |year=2002 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton}}</ref>

From its beginning, the Philadelphia Zoo combined entertainment with education. The Zoological Society sponsored scientific research and published scholarly works on zoology. The zoo's collection provided opportunities for study that would otherwise have required travel to distant continents. School groups and organized tours brought children to see animals they had only read about in books. The educational mission coexisted with the zoo's function as recreation; families came to enjoy a day in the park as much as to learn about wildlife. This combination of education and entertainment would remain central to the zoo's identity through the changing approaches to zoo management in subsequent decades.<ref name="kisling"/>