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API Overview

The Zoo Arcadia REST API provides programmatic access to zoo information including animals, habitats, services, schedules, and testimonials. The API follows RESTful principles and returns responses in JSON format.

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Base URL

All API requests are made to: 
https://your-domain.com/api
The API uses a clean URL structure with the following pattern: 
/api/{resource}/{action}/{id}

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API Version

Current API version: 1.0.0
The API version is included in the root endpoint response. Version information helps track compatibility and changes over time.

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Available Endpoints

The Zoo Arcadia API provides the following endpoints:

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Animals

  • GET /api/animals - List all animals with their details
  • GET /api/animals/show?id={id} - Get detailed information about a specific animal

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Habitats

  • GET /api/habitats - List all habitats in the zoo
  • GET /api/habitats/show?id={id} - Get detailed information about a specific habitat

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Services

  • GET /api/services - List all available zoo services

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Schedules

  • GET /api/schedules - Get zoo opening hours and feeding schedules

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Testimonials

  • GET /api/testimonials - Get validated visitor testimonials

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Root Endpoint

  • GET /api - Returns API information and available endpoints
curl https://your-domain.com/api

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Response Format

All API responses are returned in JSON format with UTF-8 encoding and pretty-printed for readability.

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Successful Response

Successful requests return a response with the following structure: 
{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    // Response data here
  },
  "message": "Optional success message"
}

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Root Endpoint Response

The root /api endpoint returns API metadata: 
{
  "name": "Zoo ARCADIA API",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "endpoints": {
    "GET /api/animals": "List all animals",
    "GET /api/animals/{id}": "Get animal by ID",
    "GET /api/habitats": "List all habitats",
    "GET /api/habitats/{id}": "Get habitat by ID",
    "GET /api/services": "List all services",
    "GET /api/schedules": "Get zoo schedules",
    "GET /api/testimonials": "Get validated testimonials"
  }
}

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Error Handling

When an error occurs, the API returns an appropriate HTTP status code along with an error response: 
{
  "error": true,
  "message": "Description of the error"
}

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Common HTTP Status Codes

Status CodeDescription
200Success - Request completed successfully
400Bad Request - Invalid parameters or malformed request
401Unauthorized - Authentication required
404Not Found - Resource or endpoint doesn’t exist
500Internal Server Error - Server-side error occurred
Always check the HTTP status code in addition to parsing the JSON response. Error responses will have error: true in the JSON body.

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Response Headers

All API responses include standard HTTP headers:
  • Content-Type: application/json - All responses are JSON
  • Cache-Control: no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate - Responses are not cached

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Rate Limiting

Currently, the Zoo Arcadia API does not implement rate limiting. However, please be considerate with your requests to ensure optimal performance for all users.
Rate limiting may be implemented in future versions. Monitor API announcements for updates.

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Data Format

All data is returned in JSON format with the following characteristics:
  • Character Encoding: UTF-8
  • Pretty Printing: Enabled for human readability
  • Unicode Characters: Unescaped (native UTF-8 characters preserved)
  • Date Format: Standard SQL datetime format (YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS)

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Next Steps

Authentication

Learn about session-based authentication and securing your requests

Animals Endpoint

Explore the animals API endpoint and response structure

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