Copenhagen Zoo

Copenhagen Zoo
A Gray Crowned Crane in Copenhagen Zoo.
55°40′22″N 12°31′17″E
Date opened	1859
Location	Copenhagen, Denmark
Website	http://www.zoo.dk/

Copenhagen Zoo (Danish: Københavns Zoo) is a zoological garden in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1859, it is one of the oldest zoos in Europe. It comprises 11 hectares and located in the municipality of Frederiksberg, sandwiched between the parks of Frederiksberg Park and Søndermarken. With 1,161,388 visitors in 2008 it is the most visited zoo and 4th most visited attraction in Denmark. The zoo is noted for its new Elephant House designed by the world-famous British architect Sir Norman Foster. The zoo maintains and promotes a number of European breeding programmes and is active in the safeguarding several endangered species.

History

Copenhagen Zoo was founded by the ornithologist Niels Kjærbølling in 1859. He was given the summer garden of "Prinsess Vilhelmines Have" (The garden of Princess Vilhelmine) by the chief directorate of Copenhagen. The animals that the visitors could contemplate at the opening were eagles, chickens, ducks, owls, rabbits, a fox, a seal in a bathtub and a turtle in a bucket. In the early years the zoo focused on showing as many different types of animals as possible, but as animal welfare later became an issue, the number of different species has dropped in favour of more space to each animal.

One of the most notable animals kept there was a male slow worm that lived there from 1892 to 1946 (for 54 years, which is a record among lizards).

Copenhagen Zoo today

During the last 25 years, Copenhagen Zoo has been undergoing a renovation project aimed at replacing cages with enclosures which recreate animals' natural environments, giving a better lifestyle to the animals, and a more realistic experience to visitors. The Elephant House and 1.5 hectare Savanna are results of these efforts. The Savanna includes a Hippopotamus House where the hippos can be watched underwater.

Copenhagen Zoo Tower

The zoo has preserved many of its historical buildings. The oldest building still in use, a stable for yaks, was erected in 1872, and now houses the camels. A Herbivore House built in 1875 still houses herbivores, namely tapirs. An owl tower from 1885 is today left as a memorial commemorating how zoo animals were once kept. Another characteristic building is the Zoo Tower from 1905, an observation tower built entirely out of wood. 43.5 metres high, it offers views of the surrounding parklands and city.

Foster's Elephant House

The new Elephant House, opened in June 2008, is designed by Norman Foster in cooperation with the Danish landscape architect Stig L Andersson. It contains two glass-domed enclosures. One is for six cows and calves and measures 45 by 23 metres.The other is 30 by 15 metres and is for two bulls, kept in separate pens during the mating season for fear of fights. The building also contain an exhibit space and a small lecture hall. The enclosures open out through mighty rusted steel doors into am almost 1 hectare big landscaped paddock with a pool three metres deep and 60 metres long.

The paddock's border with Frederiksberg Park, once a three metre high wall, has been opened up so that people in the park can now watch the elephants. This has been done because the zoo, with its central location very much a city zoo, wants to integrate with the urban landscape. At the same time it affords the elephants distant views of open parkland and ancient trees.

Rare species

• Copenhagen Zoo is the only zoo outside of Australia that has Tasmanian Devils in captivity.

External links

• Official homepage