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Greece
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Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, historically also known as Hellas, is a country in southeastern Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2015. Athens is the capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki. Greece is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, situated on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. Greece consists of nine regions, Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands, Thrace, Crete. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km in length, featuring a vast number of islands, eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918 metres. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states, known as polis, which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming a part of the Roman Empire and its successor. The Greek Orthodox Church also shaped modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox World, falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, the modern nation state of Greece emerged in 1830 following a war of independence. Greeces rich historical legacy is reflected by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among the most in Europe, Greece is a democratic and developed country with an advanced high-income economy, a high quality of life, and a very high standard of living. A founding member of the United Nations, Greece was the member to join the European Communities and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. Greeces unique cultural heritage, large industry, prominent shipping sector. It is the largest economy in the Balkans, where it is an important regional investor, the names for the nation of Greece and the Greek people differ from the names used in other languages, locations and cultures. The earliest evidence of the presence of human ancestors in the southern Balkans, dated to 270,000 BC, is to be found in the Petralona cave, all three stages of the stone age are represented in Greece, for example in the Franchthi Cave. Neolithic settlements in Greece, dating from the 7th millennium BC, are the oldest in Europe by several centuries and these civilizations possessed writing, the Minoans writing in an undeciphered script known as Linear A, and the Mycenaeans in Linear B, an early form of Greek. The Mycenaeans gradually absorbed the Minoans, but collapsed violently around 1200 BC and this ushered in a period known as the Greek Dark Ages, from which written records are absent. The end of the Dark Ages is traditionally dated to 776 BC, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the foundational texts of Western literature, are believed to have been composed by Homer in the 7th or 8th centuries BC. With the end of the Dark Ages, there emerged various kingdoms and city-states across the Greek peninsula, in 508 BC, Cleisthenes instituted the worlds first democratic system of government in Athens
2.
Zoo
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A zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also breed. The term zoological garden refers to zoology, the study of animals, the abbreviation zoo was first used of the London Zoological Gardens, which was opened for scientific study in 1828 and to the public in 1857. The number of animal collections open to the public around the world now exceeds to 1,000. In the United States of America alone, zoos are visited by over 180 million people annually, London Zoo, which opened in 1826, first called itself a menagerie or zoological forest, which is short for Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological Society of London. The term zoological park was used for more facilities in Washington, D. C. and the Bronx in New York. Relatively new terms for zoos coined in the late 20th century are conservation park or biopark, adopting a new name is a strategy used by some zoo professionals to distance their institutions from the stereotypical and nowadays criticized zoo concept of the 19th century. The term biopark was first coined and developed by the National Zoo in Washington D. C. in the late 1980s, in 1993, the New York Zoological Society changed its name to the Wildlife Conservation Society and rebranded the zoos under its jurisdiction as wildlife conservation parks. The predecessor of the garden is the menagerie, which has a long history from the ancient world to modern times. The oldest known collection was revealed during excavations at Hierakonpolis, Egypt in 2009. The exotic animals included hippopotami, hartebeest, elephants, baboons, 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, 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, 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, At one time, a bear, four hundred bears were killed in a single day under Caligula. Under Nero, four hundred tigers fought with bulls and elephants, in a single day, at the dedication of the Colosseum by Titus, five thousand animals perished. Lions, tigers, elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotami, giraffes, bulls, stags, even crocodiles, henry I of England kept a collection of animals at his palace in Woodstock, which reportedly included lions, leopards, and camels. The most prominent collection in medieval England was in the Tower of London and it was opened to the public during the reign of Elizabeth I in the 16th century. During the 18th century, the price of admission was three half-pence, or the supply of a cat or dog for feeding to the lions, the animals were moved to the London Zoo when it opened. The oldest zoo in the still in existence is the Tiergarten Schönbrunn in Vienna
3.
Suburb
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A suburb is a residential area or a mixed use area, either existing as part of a city or urban area or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city. In some areas, such as Australia, China, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and a few U. S. states, new suburbs are routinely annexed by adjacent cities. In others, such as Arabia, Canada, France, and much of the United States, Suburbs first emerged on a large scale in the 19th and 20th centuries as a result of improved rail and road transport, which led to an increase in commuting. Suburbs tend to proliferate around cities that have an abundance of adjacent flat land, the English word is derived from the Old French subburbe, which is in turn derived from the Latin suburbium, formed from sub and urbs. The first recorded usage of the term in English, was made by John Wycliffe in 1380, in Australia and New Zealand, suburbs have become formalised as geographic subdivisions of a city and are used by postal services in addressing. In rural areas in both countries, their equivalents are called localities, the terms inner suburb and outer suburb are used to differentiate between the higher-density suburbs in proximity to the city center, and the lower-density suburbs on the outskirts of the urban area. The term middle suburbs is also used, Suburbs, in this sense, can range from areas that seem more like residential areas of a city proper to areas separated by open countryside from the city centre. In large cities such as London, suburbs include formerly separate towns and villages that have been gradually absorbed during a growth and expansion. In the United States and Canada, suburb can refer either to an residential area of a city or town or to a separate municipality or unincorporated area outside a town or city. The earliest appearance of suburbs coincided with the spread of the first urban settlements, large walled towns tended to be the focus around which smaller villages grew up in a symbiotic relationship with the market town. The word suburbani was first used by the Roman statesman Cicero in reference to the large villas, as populations grew during the Early Modern Period in Europe, urban towns swelled with a steady influx of people from the countryside. In some places, nearby settlements were swallowed up as the city expanded. The peripheral areas on the outskirts of the city were generally inhabited by the very poorest, by the mid-19th century, the first major suburban areas were springing up around London as the city became more overcrowded and unsanitary. A major catalyst in suburban growth came from the opening of the Metropolitan Railway in the 1860s, the line joined the capitals financial heart in the City to what were to become the suburbs of Middlesex. Harrow was reached in 1880, and the line extended as far as Verney Junction in Buckinghamshire, more than 50 miles from Baker Street. Unlike other railway companies, which were required to dispose of surplus land, in 1912, it was suggested that a specially formed company should take over from the Surplus Lands Committee and develop suburban estates near the railway. However, World War I delayed these plans and it was only in 1919, with expectation of a housing boom. The term Metro-land was coined by the Mets marketing department in 1915 when the Guide to the Extension Line became the Metro-land guide and this promoted the land served by the Met for the walker, visitor and later the house-hunter
4.
Bird
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Birds, a subgroup of Reptiles, are the last living examples of Dinosaurs. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the 5 cm bee hummingbird to the 2.75 m ostrich. They rank as the class of tetrapods with the most living species, at ten thousand. Birds are the closest living relatives of crocodilians, the fossil record indicates that birds evolved from feathered ancestors within the theropod group of saurischian dinosaurs. True birds first appeared during the Cretaceous period, around 100 million years ago, Birds, especially those in the southern continents, survived this event and then migrated to other parts of the world while diversifying during periods of global cooling. Primitive bird-like dinosaurs that lie outside class Aves proper, in the broader group Avialae, have been found dating back to the mid-Jurassic period, around 170 million years ago. Birds have wings which are more or less developed depending on the species, the digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds, have evolved for swimming. Many species annually migrate great distances, Birds are social, communicating with visual signals, calls, and bird songs, and participating in such social behaviours as cooperative breeding and hunting, flocking, and mobbing of predators. The vast majority of species are socially monogamous, usually for one breeding season at a time, sometimes for years. Other species have breeding systems that are polygynous or, rarely, Birds produce offspring by laying eggs which are fertilised through sexual reproduction. They are usually laid in a nest and incubated by the parents, most birds have an extended period of parental care after hatching. Some birds, such as hens, lay eggs even when not fertilised, songbirds, parrots, and other species are popular as pets. Guano is harvested for use as a fertiliser, Birds prominently figure throughout human culture. About 120–130 species have become extinct due to human activity since the 17th century, human activity threatens about 1,200 bird species with extinction, though efforts are underway to protect them. Recreational birdwatching is an important part of the ecotourism industry, the first classification of birds was developed by Francis Willughby and John Ray in their 1676 volume Ornithologiae. Carl Linnaeus modified that work in 1758 to devise the taxonomic classification system currently in use, Birds are categorised as the biological class Aves in Linnaean taxonomy. Phylogenetic taxonomy places Aves in the dinosaur clade Theropoda, Aves and a sister group, the clade Crocodilia, contain the only living representatives of the reptile clade Archosauria
5.
Savanna
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A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland grassland ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support a herbaceous layer consisting primarily of grasses. Savannas maintain an open canopy despite a high tree density and it is often believed that savannas feature widely spaced, scattered trees. However, in savannas, tree densities are higher and trees are more regularly spaced than in forests. Savanna covers approximately 20% of the Earths land area, the word originally entered English in 1555 as the Latin Zauana, equivalent in the orthography of the times to zavana. Peter Martyr reported it as the name for the plain around Comagre. The accounts are inexact, but this is placed in present-day Madugandí or at points on the nearby Guna Yala coast opposite Ustupo or on Point Mosquitos. These areas are now given over to modern cropland or jungle. The common usage meaning to describe vegetation now conflicts with a simplified yet widespread climatic concept meaning, the divergence has sometimes caused areas such as extensive savannas north and south of the Congo and Amazon Rivers to be excluded from mapped savanna categories. Barrens has been used almost interchangeably with savanna in different parts of North America, sometimes midwestern savanna were described as grassland with trees. Different authors have defined the limits of savanna tree coverage as 5–10%. Two factors common to all environments are rainfall variations from year to year. In the Americas, e. g. in Belize, Central America, savanna vegetation is similar from Mexico to South America, savannas are subject to regular wildfires and the ecosystem appears to be the result of human use of fire. For example, Native Americans created the Pre-Columbian savannas of North America by periodically burning where fire-resistant plants were the dominant species, pine barrens in scattered locations from New Jersey to coastal New England are remnants of these savannas. Aboriginal burning appears to have responsible for the widespread occurrence of savanna in tropical Australia and New Guinea. The maquis shrub savannas of the Mediterranean region were created and maintained by anthropogenic fire. These fires are usually confined to the layer and do little long term damage to mature trees. However, these either kill or suppress tree seedlings, thus preventing the establishment of a continuous tree canopy which would prevent further grass growth
6.
Zebra
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Zebras are several species of African equids united by their distinctive black and white striped coats. Their stripes come in different patterns, unique to each individual and they are generally social animals that live in small harems to large herds. Unlike their closest relatives, horses and donkeys, zebras have never truly domesticated. There are three species of zebras, the zebra, the Grévys zebra and the mountain zebra. The plains zebra and the mountain zebra belong to the subgenus Hippotigris, the latter resembles an ass, to which it is closely related, while the former two are more horse-like. All three belong to the genus Equus, along with other living equids, the unique stripes of zebras make them one of the animals most familiar to people. They occur in a variety of habitats, such as grasslands, savannas, woodlands, thorny scrublands, mountains, however, various anthropogenic factors have had a severe impact on zebra populations, in particular hunting for skins and habitat destruction. Grévys zebra and the mountain zebra are endangered, the name zebra in English dates back to c. 1600, from Italian zebra, perhaps from Portuguese, which in turn is said to be Congolese, the Encarta Dictionary says its ultimate origin is uncertain, but perhaps it may come from Latin equiferus meaning wild horse, from equus and ferus. The pronunciation with an initial vowel remains standard in the United States. Zebras evolved among the Old World horses within the last 4 million years and it has been suggested that zebras are polyphyletic and that striped equids evolved more than once. Extensive stripes are posited to have been of use to equids that live in low densities in deserts or ones that live in colder climates with shaggy coats. However, molecular evidence supports zebras as a monophyletic lineage, collectively, two of the species have eight subspecies. Zebra populations are diverse, and the relationships between, and the status of, several of the subspecies are not well known. It, or particular subspecies of it, have also known as the common zebra, the dauw, Burchells zebra, Chapmans zebra, Wahlbergs zebra, Selous zebra, Grants zebra, Boehms zebra. The mountain zebra of southwest Africa tends to have a coat with a white belly. It has two subspecies and is classified as vulnerable, Grévys zebra is the largest type, with a long, narrow head, making it appear rather mule-like. It is an inhabitant of the grasslands of Ethiopia and northern Kenya
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Giraffe
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The giraffe is a genus of African even-toed ungulate mammals, the tallest living terrestrial animals and the largest ruminants. The genus consists of eleven or more species including Giraffa camelopardalis, seven of these species are extinct, prehistoric species known from fossils, though numerous subspecies have been described and its taxonomy is not definitively set. Indeed, research into the mitochondrial and nuclear DNA of Giraffa has suggested to recognize four to six extant species. The giraffes chief distinguishing characteristics are its long neck and legs, its horn-like ossicones. It is classified under the family Giraffidae, along with its closest extant relative, each of the four species is distinguished by its coat patterns and genetics. Its scattered range extends from Chad in the north to South Africa in the south, Giraffes usually inhabit savannahs and woodlands. Their food source is leaves, fruits and flowers of plants, primarily acacia species. Giraffes may be preyed on by lions, leopards, spotted hyenas, Giraffes live in herds of related females and their offspring, or bachelor herds of unrelated adult males, but are gregarious and may gather in large aggregations. Males establish social hierarchies through necking, which are combat bouts where the neck is used as a weapon, dominant males gain mating access to females, which bear the sole responsibility for raising the young. The giraffe has intrigued various cultures, both ancient and modern, for its appearance, and has often been featured in paintings, books. It is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as Vulnerable to extinction, the name giraffe has its earliest known origins in the Arabic word zarāfah, perhaps borrowed from the animals Somali name geri. The Arab name is translated as fast-walker, there were several Middle English spellings, such as jarraf, ziraph, and gerfauntz. The Italian form giraffa arose in the 1590s, the modern English form developed around 1600 from the French girafe. Camelopard is an archaic English name for the giraffe deriving from the Ancient Greek for camel and leopard, referring to its camel-like shape, living giraffes were originally classified as one species by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. He gave it the binomial name Cervus camelopardalis, morten Thrane Brünnich classified the genus Giraffa in 1772. The species name camelopardalis is from Latin, the giraffe belongs to the suborder Ruminantia. Many ruminants have been described from the mid-Eocene in Central Asia, Southeast Asia, the earliest ruminants date back to about 50 million years ago. The Rumanantia arose from early artiodactyls, which experienced adaptive radiation in the middle Eocene period that led to related to herbivory
8.
Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzees are one of the two species of the genus Pan, the other being the bonobo. Together with gorillas, they are the only exclusively African species of ape that are currently extant. Native to sub-Saharan Africa, both chimpanzees and bonobos are found in the Congo jungle. In addition, P. troglodytes is divided into four subspecies, based on genome sequencing, the two extant Pan species diverged around one million years ago. The most obvious differences are that chimpanzees are somewhat larger, more aggressive and male-dominated, while the bonobos are more gracile, peaceful and their hair is typically black or brown. Males and females differ in size and appearance, both chimps and bonobos are some of the most social great apes, with social bonds occurring among individuals in large communities. Fruit is the most important component of a diet, however, they will also eat vegetation, bark, honey, insects. They can live over 30 years in both the wild and captivity, Chimpanzees and bonobos are equally humanitys closest living relatives. As such, they are among the largest-brained, and most intelligent of primates, they use a variety of sophisticated tools and construct elaborate sleeping nests each night from branches and they have both been extensively studied for their learning abilities. There may even be distinctive cultures within populations, field studies of Pan troglodytes were pioneered by primatologist Jane Goodall. Both Pan species are considered to be endangered as human activities have caused declines in the populations. Threats to wild populations include poaching, habitat destruction. Several conservation and rehabilitation organisations are dedicated to the survival of Pan species in the wild, the first use of the name chimpanze is recorded in The London Magazine in 1738, glossed as meaning mockman in a language of the Angolans. The spelling chimpanzee is found in a 1758 supplement to Chambers Cyclopædia, the colloquialism chimp was most likely coined some time in the late 1870s. The common chimpanzee was named Simia troglodytes by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach in 1776, the species name troglodytes is a reference to the Troglodytae, an African people described by Greco-Roman geographers. Blumenbach first used it in his De generis humani varietate nativa liber in 1776, the genus name Pan was first introduced by Lorenz Oken in 1816. An alternative Theranthropus was suggested by Brookes 1828 and Chimpansee by Voigt 1831, troglodytes was not available, as it had been given as the name of a genus of wren in 1809. The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature adopted Pan as the official name of the genus in 1895
9.
Gibbon
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Gibbons are apes in the family Hylobatidae. The family historically contained one genus, but now is split into four genera and 18 species, gibbons occur in tropical and subtropical rainforests from eastern Bangladesh and northeast India to southern China and Indonesia. Also called the smaller apes or lesser apes, gibbons differ from great apes in being smaller, exhibiting low sexual dimorphism, in certain anatomical details, they superficially more closely resemble monkeys than great apes do, but like all apes, gibbons are tailless. Gibbons also display pair-bonding, maintaining the same mate for life, gibbons are masters of their primary mode of locomotion, brachiation, swinging from branch to branch for distances up to 15 m, at speeds as high as 55 km/h. They can also make leaps up to 8 m, and walk bipedally with their arms raised for balance and they are the fastest and most agile of all tree-dwelling, nonflying mammals. Depending on species and sex, gibbons fur coloration varies from dark to light brown shades, Gibbon species include the siamang, the white-handed or lar gibbon, and the hoolock gibbons. Whole genome molecular dating analyses indicate that the gibbon lineage diverged from that of great apes around 16.8 million years ago, adaptive divergence associated with chromosomal rearrangements led to rapid radiation of the four genera 5-7 Mya. Whole genome analysis suggests divergence of Hylobates pileatus from Hylobates moloch 1. 5-3.0 Mya, the extinct Bunopithecus sericus is a gibbon or gibbon-like ape which, until recently, was thought to be closely related to the hoolock gibbons. The family is divided into four genera based on their diploid chromosome number, Hylobates, Hoolock, Nomascus and these morphological ambiguities have led to hybrids in zoos. Interspecific hybrids, hybrids within a genus, are suspected to occur in wild gibbons where their ranges overlap. However, no records exist of fertile hybrids between different gibbon genera, either in the wild or in captivity, one unique aspect of a gibbons anatomy is the wrist, which functions something like a ball and socket joint, allowing for biaxial movement. This greatly reduces the amount of energy needed in the arm and torso. Gibbons also have long hands and feet, with a cleft between the first and second digits of their hands. Their fur is black, gray, or brownish, often with white markings on hands, feet. Some species have a throat sac, which inflates and serves as a resonating chamber when the animals call. This structure can become large in some species, sometimes equaling the size of the animals head. Their voices are more powerful than that of any human singer. Gibbon skulls and teeth resemble those of the apes
10.
Camel
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A camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as humps on its back. Bactrian camels take their name from the historical Bactria region of Central Asia, the term camel is derived via Latin and Greek from Hebrew or Phoenician gāmāl. Most of the camels are dromedaries while Bactrian camels and wild Bactrian camels make up only 6% of the total camel population. Camel may also be used broadly to describe any of the seven camel-like mammals in the family Camelidae. The average life expectancy of a camel is 40 to 50 years, a full-grown adult camel stands 1.85 m at the shoulder and 2.15 m at the hump. Camels can run at up to 65 km/h in short bursts, Bactrian camels weigh 300 to 1,000 kg and dromedaries 300 to 600 kg. For instance, the speed for the one humped camel is about 40 km/hour while the two humped camel has around 27.2 km/hour. The male dromedary camel has in its throat an organ called a dulla and it resembles a long, swollen, pink tongue hanging out of the side of its mouth. Camels mate by having both male and female sitting on the ground, with the male mounting from behind, the male usually ejaculates three or four times within a single mating session. Camelids are the ungulates to mate in a sitting position. Camels do not directly store water in their humps as was commonly believed. In hot and dry environments, within 8 to 10 days only the dromedary camels might consume water which during this period the third of their bodys weight may be reduced due to the dehydration. When this tissue is metabolized, it more than one gram of water for every gram of fat processed. This fat metabolization, while releasing energy, causes water to evaporate from the lungs during respiration, overall, Camels have a series of physiological adaptations that allow them to withstand long periods of time without any external source of water. Unlike other mammals, their red cells are oval rather than circular in shape. Camels are able to withstand changes in temperature and water consumption that would kill most other animals. Their temperature ranges from 34 °C at dawn and steadily increases to 40 °C by sunset, in general, to compare between camels and the other livestock, camels lose only 1. Camels rarely sweat, even when ambient temperatures reach 49 °C, any sweat that does occur evaporates at the skin level rather than at the surface of their coat, the heat of vaporization therefore comes from body heat rather than ambient heat
11.
Donkey
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The donkey or ass is a domesticated member of the horse family, Equidae. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African wild ass, the donkey has been used as a working animal for at least 5000 years. There are more than 40 million donkeys in the world, mostly in underdeveloped countries, working donkeys are often associated with those living at or below subsistence levels. Small numbers of donkeys are kept for breeding or as pets in developed countries, a male donkey or ass is called a jack, a female a jenny or jennet, a young donkey is a foal. Jack donkeys are used to mate with female horses to produce mules. Asses were first domesticated around 3000 BC, probably in Egypt or Mesopotamia and they continue to fill important roles in many places today. While domesticated species are increasing in numbers, the African wild ass is an endangered species, as beasts of burden and companions, asses and donkeys have worked together with humans for millennia. Traditionally, the name for the donkey is Equus asinus asinus based on the principle of priority used for scientific names of animals. This means that the scientific name for the donkey is Equus africanus asinus when it is considered a subspecies. At one time, the ass was the more common term for the donkey. The first recorded use of donkey was in either 1784 or 1785, while the word ass has cognates in most other Indo-European languages, donkey is an etymologically obscure word for which no credible cognate has been identified. From the 18th century, donkey gradually replaced ass, and jenny replaced she-ass, by the end of the 17th century, changes in pronunciation of both ass and arse had caused them to become homophones. Donkeys vary considerably in size, depending on breed and management, the height at the withers ranges from 7.3 to 15.3 hands, and the weight from 80 to 480 kg. Working donkeys in the poorest countries have an expectancy of 12 to 15 years, in more prosperous countries. Donkeys are adapted to desert lands. Unlike wild and feral horses, wild donkeys in dry areas are solitary, each adult donkey establishes a home range, breeding over a large area may be dominated by one jack. Donkeys have large ears, which may pick up more distant sounds, donkeys can defend themselves by biting, striking with the front hooves or kicking with the hind legs. A jenny is normally pregnant for about 12 months, though the period varies from 11 to 14 months
12.
Dolphinarium
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A dolphinarium is an aquarium for dolphins. The dolphins are kept in a large pool, though occasionally they may be kept in pens in the open sea. While cetaceans have been held in captivity since the 1860s, the first commercial dolphinarium was opened only in 1938 and their popularity increased rapidly until the 1960s. Since the 1970s, increasing concern for animal welfare led to stricter regulation, despite this trend, dolphinariums are still widespread in Europe, Japan and North America. The most common species of dolphin kept in dolphinariums is the bottlenose dolphin, while trade in dolphins is internationally regulated, other aspects of keeping dolphins in captivity, such as the minimum size and characteristics of pools, vary among countries. Though animal welfare is perceived to have improved significantly over the last few decades and it was here that it was discovered that dolphins could be trained to perform tricks. Recognizing the success of Marine Studios, more dolphinariums began keeping dolphins for entertainment, in the 1960s, keeping dolphins in zoos and aquariums for entertainment purposes increased in popularity after the 1963 Flipper movie and subsequent Flipper television series. In 1966, the first dolphin was exported to Europe, in these early days, dolphinariums could grow quickly due to a lack of legislation and lack of concern for animal welfare. New legislation, most notably the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act in the United States, combined with a critical view on animal welfare. A prominent example is the United Kingdom, in the early 1970s there were at least 36 dolphinariums and traveling shows, however. The last dolphinarium in Hungary was closed in 1992, in 2005 both Chile and Costa Rica prohibited keeping cetaceans captive. However, around 60 dolphinariums currently exist across Europe, of which 34 are within the EU, Japan, Mexico and the United States are also home to a relatively large number of dolphinariums. If two of three conditions are met, and the third is not more than 10% below standard, the EAAM considers the pool size to be acceptable. Bottlenose Dolphins are the most common species of dolphin kept in dolphinariums as they are easy to train, have a long lifespan in captivity. Hundreds if not thousands of Bottlenose Dolphins live in captivity across the world, of all Orcas kept in captivity, the majority are located in the various SeaWorld parks in the United States. There are also fewer than ten Amazon River Dolphins, Rissos Dolphins, there are few to almost no Spinner Dolphins in captivity at the time. Two unusual and very rare hybrid dolphins known as Wolphins are kept at the Sea Life Park in Hawaii, also two Common/Bottlenose hybrids reside in captivity, one at Discovery Cove and the other SeaWorld San Diego. In the early days, many Bottlenose dolphins were wild-caught off the coast of Florida, in most Western countries, breeding programs have been set up to provide the dolphinariums with new animals
Media related to Attica Zoological Park at Wikimedia Commons