Košice Zoo

Košice Zoo

Kosice Zoo logo

Zebra enclosure
Date opened 1979[1]
Location Košice, Slovakia
Coordinates 48°47′1″N 21°12′14″E / 48.78361°N 21.20389°ECoordinates: 48°47′1″N 21°12′14″E / 48.78361°N 21.20389°E
Land area 292 ha (720 acres)[2]
Number of animals 845[3]
Number of species 151[3]
Annual visitors 170,000[2]
Website www.zookosice.sk

The Košice Zoo (Slovak: Košická zoologická záhrada is a zoo in Košice, Slovakia in the local city part of Kavečany. Encompassing 292 hectares (720 acres), it is the largest zoo in Slovakia and the third largest in Europe, though visitors are allowed only in about one third of this area. The zoo hosts about 170,000 visitors each year.

History

Construction of the zoo started in 1979, and the zoo opened 7 hectares (17 acres) to the public in 1985 with only 23 species.[4] A petting zoo was opened for children in 2000.[5]

Animals

Bears

Animals at the zoo are mostly from Europe and Asia, though the zoo does keep some exotic species. The zoo keeps 151 species including brown bear, Hamadryas baboons, lynx, emu, parrots, seals, tamarins, raccoons, turtles, tortoises, zebras, camels, goats, horses, antelopes, lions, tigers, bison, and hippos.[6]

Breeding

Horses

Over the years, the zoo has been successful in breeding the hucul horse. Having birthed 80 foals, since 1996 the zoo has been returning some of its animals to the general gene pool of the species. The zoo includes an 11-hectare (27-acre) off-visitor area for the horses to roam.[3]

Other breeding efforts at the zoo include brown bears (a litter of 5 born in 2002 is in the Guinness Book of World Records),[5] baboons, lynx, Przewalski's horses, Shetland ponies, Chapman's zebras, and emus.[3]

Notes

  1. "Zoo Košice". zookosice.sk. Košice Zoo. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Matlovičová, Kvetoslava; Matlovič, René; Némethyová, Barbora. "City Branding as a Tool of the Local Development (Case Study of Košice, Slovakia)". fhpv.unipo.sk. University of Prešov, Slovakia. p. 7. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Zoo Košice". zookosice.sk. Košice Zoo. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  4. "Košice Zoological Garden". slovakia.travel. Slovakia Travel. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  5. 5.0 5.1 "Zoo". skrz.sk. SKRZ. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  6. "Zoo Košice". slovakiasite.com. SlovakiaSite. Retrieved 19 February 2011.

External links

Media related to Košická zoologická záhrada at Wikimedia Commons