A menagerie was mostly connected with an aristocratic or
royal court and it was thus situated within a garden or park of a palace. The
aristocratic menageries have to be distinguished from the later zoological
gardens since they were founded and owned by aristocrats whose intentions were
not primarily of scientific and educational interest. These aristocrats wanted
to illustrate their power and wealth, because exotic animals, alive and active,
were less common, more difficult to acquire, and more expensive to maintain.
