We all go to zoos to see animals but it will shock you that not so far back human zoos, where actual humans were exhibited, existed in America and Europe.
African, Asian and native American families chained up and used as exhibitions for gawking visitors.
Many were treated little better than zoo animals as Western crowds queued to visit the enclosures aimed at highlighting the believed superiority of Europeans.
Such were the terrible conditions they were kept in that many died.
There is also the tragic story of a Congolese man, Ota Bengi,who was kept in the monkey enclosure in New York's Bronx zoo in 1906 in a bid to demonstrate the 'missing link'.
He was continually mocked but was finally released after the public spoke out against his cruel treatment.
Ota Bengi was never able to get over the horrors of his captivity so six years later he committed suicide after struggling to adapt to the American life.
It is said the spectacles were meant to highlight believed differences between Westerners and the rest of the world.
Photo credit: The Sun
More pics after the cut:
*I can't even imagine the horror of this experience.
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| Filipino men expected to perform dances for gawking visitors |
African, Asian and native American families chained up and used as exhibitions for gawking visitors.
Many were treated little better than zoo animals as Western crowds queued to visit the enclosures aimed at highlighting the believed superiority of Europeans.
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| Men are taken from Africa, locked up in the zoo |
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| In Chicago zoo, she is called the dancing girl of Egypt |
Such were the terrible conditions they were kept in that many died.
There is also the tragic story of a Congolese man, Ota Bengi,who was kept in the monkey enclosure in New York's Bronx zoo in 1906 in a bid to demonstrate the 'missing link'.
He was continually mocked but was finally released after the public spoke out against his cruel treatment.
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| 1958: Visitors watch the little Congolese girl at Belgian exhibition |
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| Ota Bengi |
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| 1906: Filipino girl exhibited at the monkey house |
Ota Bengi was never able to get over the horrors of his captivity so six years later he committed suicide after struggling to adapt to the American life.
It is said the spectacles were meant to highlight believed differences between Westerners and the rest of the world.
Photo credit: The Sun
More pics after the cut:
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| !891: Asian child exhibited in Chicago zoo |
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| Customs of the 'exhibits' are supposed to be shown to the visitors |
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