ABSTRACT
The Basle Zoo has always been improved with new exhibits and new buildings and through the introduction of new ideas about animal management and display. Since the Second World War, it has pioneered several radical changes in animal management and exhibition, under the leadership of men like Professor Geigy, the head of the pharmaceutical company which bears his name, and the direction of Professor Dr Heini Hediger and his successor Dr Ernst Lang. The Basle Zoo was founded as a private non-profit-making company by a group of prominent members of the Swiss Ornithological Society whose purpose, as set out in a public appeal, was to bring back to the people of the fast-growing towns and cities of Switzerland a feeling for nature. From its beginning the Basle Zoo has been a true garden, with trees, shrubs, grass and water providing a natural background for the animals.
