Warsaw Zoo
Elephant house • Bear enclosure |
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| Date opened | 1928–1939, 1948 | |||||
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| Location | Warsaw, Poland | |||||
| Coordinates | 52°15′28″N 21°01′20″E / 52.25778°N 21.02222°ECoordinates: 52°15′28″N 21°01′20″E / 52.25778°N 21.02222°E | |||||
| Land area | 40 hectares (99 acres) | |||||
| No. of animals | 4203 (1 January 2009) | |||||
| No. of species | 533 (1 January 2009) | |||||
| Annual visitors | 1,000,000 (2015) | |||||
| Memberships | EAZA,WAZA | |||||
| Website | www |
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The Warsaw Zoological Garden, known simply as the Warsaw Zoo (Polish: Warszawskie Zoo), is a scientific zoo located alongside the Vistula River in Warsaw, Poland. The zoo covers about 40 hectares (99 acres) in central Warsaw, and sees around 1,000,000 visitors annually, making it one of the busiest zoos in Europe. It is home to over 4,200 animals representing more than 500 species.
The zoo is an accredited member of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).
Warsaw zoo is also famous for having hid 300 Jews being hunted for extermination by the Nazis during the Holocaust. Jan Żabiński, the director, together with his wife Antonina and their son Ryszard, risked their lives to save the Jews.
Although the current zoo was opened on 11 March 1928, it roots can be traced to 17th century private menageries, often open to the public. King John III Sobieski kept a court menagerie in Wilanów, and the 19th century saw several private zoos opened in the city.
M. Pągowski opened a small zoo on Koszykowa Street in 1926, and moved this zoo to a new 10,000-square-metre (110,000 sq ft) area on Maja Avenue in 1927. The construction of the 32-hectare (79-acre) City Zoological Garden was started in 1927 as well. In November 1927 the zoo gained a director when Wenanty Burdziński, former director and founder of the zoological garden in Kiev, was appointed to the post. Construction of the zoo was fast, and the zoo was opened in March 1928, with some animals purchased from M. Pągowski and some donated by the Pedagogical Museum, which had a small zoo on its premises. Animals resident at the zoo when it opened included lions, tigers, and a female Indian elephant named Kasia.
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Wikipedia