Date opened 1979 Land area 292 ha (720 acres) No. of species 151 Area 2.88 km² Phone +421 55/796 80 11 Number of species 151 | No. of animals 845 Annual visitors 170,000 Opened 1986 Number of animals 845 | |
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Hours Open today · 9AM–7PMSaturday9AM–7PMSunday9AM–7PMMonday9AM–7PMTuesday9AM–7PMWednesday9AM–7PMThursday9AM–7PMFriday9AM–7PM Similar DinoPark Košice, Bojnice Zoo, Bratislava Zoo, Zoo de Spišská Nová Ves, St Elisabeth Cathedral Profiles | ||
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.
Contents
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. A petting zoo was opened for children in 2000.
Animals
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.
Breeding
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.
Other breeding efforts at the zoo include brown bears (a litter of 5 born in 2002 is in the Guinness Book of World Records), baboons, lynx, Przewalski's horses, Shetland ponies, Chapman's zebras, Altai wapiti, Capybaras, and emus.