Editing Perth Zoo (section)

==History==
The Perth Zoological Gardens were opened on 17 October 1898 by the Governor of Western Australia, Lieutenant-Colonel [[Gerard Smith (governor)|Gerard Smith]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Zoological Gardens Opening Ceremony|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/67039085|access-date=4 April 2018|work=The Inquirer and Commercial News|date=21 October 1898|location=Perth, WA}}</ref> Planning for the zoo had started in 1896 when the Acclimatisation Society first met, the original purpose of which was to introduce European animals to Australia and establish a zoo for conservation purposes. In 1897 this group invited the director of the Melbourne Zoo, [[Albert Alexander Cochrane Le Souef|Albert Le Souef]], to choose a site. His son [[Ernest Albert Le Souef|Ernest]] was chosen as the first director of the Perth Zoo, and work began in 1897.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3196517 
|title=News and Notes: The Acclimatisation Society |newspaper=[[The West Australian]] |volume=14 |issue=3750 |location=Western Australia |date=1898-03-05 |access-date=2025-05-20 |page=5 |via=[[National Library of Australia]] }}</ref><ref name="zoo_history"/>

The first exhibits built included two [[Perth Zoo#Scenic Heritage Trail|bear caves]], a monkey house, a mammal house and a model castle for guinea pigs. The first animals on display included an orangutan, two monkeys, four ostriches, a pair of lions, and a tiger. At first there were only six staff members. The zoo had 53,000 visitors in its first nine months, and had not been closed for a single day since it was opened, until it was temporarily closed from 24 March 2020 during the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Australia|coronavirus outbreak]].<ref name="zoo_visit"/><ref name="zoo_history"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-24/wa-coronavirus-testing-criteria-to-be-expanded-perth-zoo-closes/12084732|title=Coronavirus COVID-19 testing criteria in WA to be expanded as Kimberley lockdown flagged|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=24 March 2020|access-date=24 March 2020}}{{author missing |date=May 2025}}</ref>{{full citation needed |date=May 2025}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://perthzoo.wa.gov.au/article/perth-zoo-to-temporarily-close|title=Perth Zoo to temporarily close|publisher=Perth Zoo|date=24 March 2020|access-date=24 March 2020}}{{self-published source |date=May 2025}}</ref>{{self-published inline |certain=y |date=May 2025}}

From the start Ernest Le Souef worked to create a botanical collection as well as an animal collection to preserve for the future. Work on the gardens started as soon as the site was chosen and finalised. Since the site was mostly sand and lacked nutrients and water, loads of manure needed to be brought in, and a well was bored in 1898 to allow irrigation. The zoo included rose gardens, lupin fields, tropical plants, and palms. The original palm collection still stands and boasts over 61 species including Canary Island date palms that are now over 110 years old. The zoo also grew crops for animals including lettuce, alfalfa, carrots, lucerne and onions. This tradition is still alive, with the zoo producing fodder including hibiscus, bamboo, Fijian fire plant and mirror plant.<ref name="zoo_history"/>

In 1909, the zoo hosted the Australasian Championships in tennis, the precursor to the modern [[Australian Open]]. The Zoological Gardens Courts, now Perth Zoo's main lawn, were considered the state's best tennis facilities at the time.<ref>[https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-13/australian-open-venues-kooyong-to-perth-zoo/103135706 The Australian Open's nomadic past, from Perth Zoo to Adelaide Oval, plus Brisbane, Sydney and New Zealand]{{author missing |date=May 2025}}{{date missing |date=May 2025}}{{publisher missing |date=May 2025}}{{year missing |date=May 2025}}</ref>{{full citation needed |date=May 2025}}

In 2010/11, the zoo had a paid staff of about 248 (167 full-time equivalents),<ref name="zoo_report_2011"/> plus about 300 volunteer [[Museum docent|docents]].<ref name="zoo_history"/>

Until her death in July 2022 aged 65, [[Tricia (elephant)|Tricia]], a female [[Asian elephant]], was one of the most famous animal residents at Perth Zoo, having lived at the zoo for 59 years since 1963. After living nearly twenty years on her own, she was joined by three rescued orphan three-year-old Asian elephants from Malaysia in December 1992 (of which male Putra Mas still resides at the zoo, until June 2025). Tricia was euthanised by zoo veterinarians due to ongoing age-related health issues. After a cremation, her ashes were placed under a forty-year-old {{convert|15|m|ft|adj=mid|-tall}} jacaranda tree on the zoo's Main Lawn, a memory plaque to be unveiled{{when? |date=April 2025}} in her memory. Additionally, a conservation guard hut in Sumatra was named in her honour. Following in the direction of many contemporary city zoos, Perth Zoo plans to find homes for Asian elephants Permai and Putra Mas at open-range zoos either nationally or overseas, and will no longer house elephants in the near future. In August 2023 the decision was made to move the remaining elephants to [[Monarto Safari Park]] in South Australia. Permai departed Perth Zoo on 27 January 2025 for Monarto, while Putra Mas {{update after |2025 |06 |text=is set to depart in June 2025.}}<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-04/perth-zoo-elephants-moving-south-australia-monarto-safari-park/102685922 | title=Perth Zoo's last elephants to be rehomed at Monarto Safari Park in South Australia - ABC News | website=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] | date=3 August 2023 }}{{author missing |date=May 2025}}</ref>{{full citation needed |date=May 2025}}

Additionally the zoo has had several other noteworthy individual animals in both record longevity and significant contribution to global endangered species captive breeding programs. Puan, a female [[Sumatran orangutan]] born in 1956, was gifted to the zoo by [[Ismail of Johor|Sultan Ismail of Johore]] in 1968 along with three other orangutans. She had 11 offspring, and at the time of her death in 2018 aged 62 (a world record for her species) had 54 living descendants in various zoos around the world and even some released into the wild. [[Northern white-cheeked gibbon]] Phillip lived at Perth Zoo from September 1974 to July 2023 and is the record holder of longevity for the males of his species, and had fathered many offspring who in turn have been significant members of the global captive breeding program for the critically endangered species.

===Governance===
The head managers of Perth Zoo have from its opening to the present been:
{{Div col |colwidth=30em}}
*{{timeline-event |date=1897 |end_date=1935 |event=E.A. Le Souef – as director }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1932 |end_date=1941 |event=L.E. Shapcott – as president of the Zoological Gardens Board }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1950 |end_date=1967 |event=W.K. Lyall – as superintendent of the zoo }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1967 |end_date=1984 |event=Tom Spence – as zoo director }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1984 |end_date=1994 |event=John De Jose – as zoo director }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1995 |end_date=1998 |event=Ricky Burges – as zoo CEO }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1999 |end_date=2003 |event=Brian Easton – as zoo CEO }}
*{{timeline-event |date=2004 |end_date=2017 |event=Susan Hunt – as zoo CEO<ref>{{Cite news|title=Zoo chief the new boss at Lotterywest|last=Harvey|first=Ben|date=24 June 2017|work=The West Australian}}</ref>{{rp|}} }}
*{{timeline-event |date=2017 |end_date=2018 |event=Maria Finnigan – as zoo acting CEO<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.zooaquarium.org.au/index.php/perth-zoo-amalgamated-with-other-conservation-agencies/|title=Perth Zoo Amalgamated with other Conservation Agencies {{!}} Zoo and Aquarium Association|website=zooaquarium.org.au|access-date=2019-07-06}}</ref> }}
*{{timeline-event |date=2018 |end_date=present |event=Wendy Attenborough – as zoo CEO<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ausleisure.com.au/news/new-executive-director-takes-the-lead-at-perth-zoo/|title=New Executive Director takes the lead at Perth Zoo – Australasian Leisure Management|website=ausleisure.com.au|access-date=2019-07-06}}</ref> }}
{{Div col end}}

The [[Zoological Parks Authority]] has been known as:
{{Div col |colwidth=30em}}
*{{timeline-event |date=1896 |end_date=1967? |event=Western Australian Acclimatization Committee }}
*{{timeline-event |date=1967 |end_date=2002 |event= Zoological Gardens Board }}
{{Div col end}}