Buenos Aires Zoo
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Entrance door on Las Heras Avenue.
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| Date opened | 1875 |
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| Date closed | 2016 (expected) |
| Location | Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Coordinates | 34°34′51.54″S 58°25′12.09″W / 34.5809833°S 58.4200250°WCoordinates: 34°34′51.54″S 58°25′12.09″W / 34.5809833°S 58.4200250°W |
| Land area | 45 acres (18 ha) |
| Number of animals | 2,500 |
| Number of species | 350 |
| Memberships | ALPZA,WAZA |
The Buenos Aires Zoo is (or was) an 45-acre (18 ha) zoo in the Palermo district of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The zoo contains 89 species of mammals, 49 species of reptiles and 175 species of birds, with a total of over 2,500 animals. The institution's goals are to conserve species, produce research and to educate the public. In June 2016 the city formed a bias about the zoo's cruelty. They had to close the 140-year-old zoo and relocate most of the animals to nature reserves, including Temaikèn. The zoo property will be converted into an ecopark.
President Domingo Sarmiento was responsible for the laying out of the Parque Tres de Febrero in land previously owned by Juan Manuel de Rosas. The project was begun in 1874; the park was opened on November 11, 1875, and included a small section dedicated for animals. This area was owned by the Federal Government until 1888 when it was transferred to the City of Buenos Aires. In that year, Mayor Antonio Crespo created the Buenos Aires Zoo, and separated it from the rest of the park.
Its first director Eduardo Ladislao Holmberg was appointed in 1888 and stayed in that position for 15 years. He was the major designer of the zoo. Holmberg completed the assignment of the different parks, lakes and avenues, and began the exhibition of the 650 animals that the zoo had at that time. In that period zoos around the world did not have the same function as they do today; their main goal was recreational, and they had less space for animals and a large recreational area for visitors.
Clemente Onelli was the director from 1904 to 1924 and promoted the Zoo Gardens. Onelli added pony, elephant and camel rides to the zoo and increased the number of visitors (from 1,500 to 15,000) during his first year of office. He is also responsible for most of the Romanesque buildings at the zoo.
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Wikipedia