Sri Lanka has a history of collecting and keeping wild animals as pets by some Sinhalese kings as

well as some British. What is known today as National Zoological Gardens of Sri Lanka was founded
by John Hagenbeck in the late 1920s. It was closed at beginning of World War II in 1939 because of
the owner of that company was a German. After liquidation of Zoological Garden Company in 1936,
the government acquired much of the collection and added it to the Dehiwala Zoo (Zoological
Garden of Ceylon) collection. Although Dehiwala Zoo officially began operating in 1939, an
impressive animal collection already existed there as part of Hagenback company's holding area,
where public could visit.
Major Aubrey Neil Weinman, OBE was the first Director of the Dehiwala Zoo. During his period
various programs were developed, such as introducing more native and foreign species, educational
and conservation programs, improving the facilities and infrastructures and more.
By 1969, half of the collection consisted of native species including virtually all of the mammals
represented. In 1973, the zoo had 158 mammal species, 259 bird species, 56 reptile species and 7
fish species. However, not much has been reported on Zoo progress until the 1980s.