What is a zoo?

I know the answer because of regular revolutions.  I went to the zoo in Bamako which is the capital of Mali in West Africa. 

In the 1980s there was a regular monthly coup d'etat in Mali because the military barracks were only three blocks from the capitol.  The top ranking officer only needed to walk his troops a few blocks to take over the country.

Everything in the country that was of value was stolen and everything the government ran was left in ruins.

Can you guess what animals were left in the zoo.  No cage gates were left closed.

Answer: a  few chimps, one camel and a lioness. 

Why?

All the other animals had escaped, been eaten by the local population or eaten by other zoo animals.

One man, a vendor was in the zoo selling bags of peanuts during the day.  Visitors bought the peanuts and fed them to the chimps who made faces and noises to entertain the kids. Kids also liked to feed the camel who could entertain with the most monstrous belch.  At night the chimps and camel found other food near the zoo.

The lioness found her cage to be a great safe haven to sleep in.  The rest of the time she roamed the neighborhood finding animals to eat.

What is a zoo? A zoos is an expensive European creation intended for educational purposes. That is obvious when the Europeans are gone and the government can barely pay for regular schools.