Over the last hundred years or so, zoos have evolved from animals in small cages to large parks that give animals space to roam and environmental elements to mimic their natural habitats, while paying customers are more likely to be confined as they observe. While it's not freedom, it's often less dangerous than their shrinking home territories. This innovation is largely the work of German businessman Carl Hagenbeck, who opened the modern Tierpark Hagenbeck in Hamburg in 1907. It took a lot of time and money for his idea to spread to cities across the globe, and they are still not universal. But before you laud Hagenbeck for his humane thinking, you should know how he got there.
Hagenbeck's father was an animal trader who had a private menagerie that people could pay to see. Hagenbeck grew his father's business and founded zoological gardens all over. In 1874, he enhanced a display of Scandinavian reindeer by expanding their enclosure and importing Sami reindeer herders to live with and take care of them. Yes, this was the beginning of "human zoos," in which visitors could observe indigenous people from all over on display with their traditional homes and livestock. He repeated these displays with native people from Africa, North America, South America, and Asia.
The idea of human zoos is repugnant to us now, but Hagenbeck's human displays were actually a step up from what had gone on before. Read about Carl Hageneck and the evolution of zoos at Smithsonian.
(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)