The Most Dangerous Animal in the World was a 1963 exhibit at the

Bronx Zoo The Bronx Zoo (also historically the Bronx Zoological Park and the Bronx Zoological Gardens) is a zoo within Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. It is one of the largest zoos in the United States by area and the largest Metropolis, metropol ...

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, a

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. It featured a mirror and text describing the dangers humans pose to life on earth. In 1968 the exhibit was duplicated at

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History

The Most Dangerous Animal in the World exhibit debuted at the Bronx Zoo on April 26, 1963. The story about the exhibit was picked up and reprinted throughout the United States. In 1963 the exhibit was also reported on in ''

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''. There was also an accompanying photograph courtesy of the

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. The exhibit was installed at the Great Apes House.

Exhibit

The words: "The most dangerous animal in the world" were printed in red on top of a cage. Behind the bars of the cage, there was a mirror. The exhibit allowed the human visitors to peer into the cage and see their reflection — marking them as "most dangerous". The exhibit at the Bronx Zoo was reportedly still there in 1989. In 1963 the curator of mammals at the Bronx Zoo was asked about visitors' reactions to the exhibit. He said, "They take it the way we want them to. It gets them to stop and think." The original text under the exhibit read: Sometime around the early 1970s, the text was changed to read:

Reception

In 1963 the ''

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'' called it a "startling exhibit" and said that it "stops visitors in their tracks". ''

'' said what people saw in the mirror was "without a doubt, the most dangerous animal in the world". "And there is considerable truth in this simple, but effective statement that is made." In 1989, the exhibit was referred to as a

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by ''

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'' of

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Legacy

By 1968,

in Chicago had a similar display which read, "The most dangerous creature on earth is man, who destroys himself and has caused the extinction of over 100 species of animals." A version of the sign appears at the zoo featured in

Yann Martel Yann Martel, (born June 25, 1963) is a Canadian author who wrote the Man Booker Prize–winning novel '' Life of Pi'', an international bestseller published in more than 50 territories. It has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide and spe ...

's 2001 novel ''

Life of Pi ''Life of Pi'' is a Canadian philosophical novel by Yann Martel published in 2001. The protagonist is Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, an Indian boy from Pondicherry, who explores issues of spirituality and metaphysics from an early age. After a ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:The most dangerous animal in the world 1963 exhibit 1963 quotations 1963 beginnings 1963 in New York City Political statements Animal conservation