The ZOO Bratislava is a 96 hectares (237.2 acre) zoo

Zoo

A zoological garden, zoological park, menagerie, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred....

 in Bratislava

Bratislava

Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...

, Slovakia

Slovakia

The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...

, in the borough of Karlova Ves

Karlova Ves

Karlova Ves is a borough in western Bratislava and part of the Bratislava IV district, located near the southern end of the Little Carpathians....

. It lies in the Little Carpathians

Little Carpathians

The Little Carpathians are a low, about 100 km long, mountain range, part of the Carpathian Mountains. The mountains are situated in Western Slovakia, covering the area from Bratislava to Nové Mesto nad Váhom, a very small part called Hundsheimer Berge is situated south of Devín Gate in...

 forest. As of 2007, the zoo has an area of 96 hectares (237.2 acre), and is home to 1307 specimens of 152 animal species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

. In 2006, the zoo received 203,000 visitors.

History

A proposal to establish a zoo in Bratislava first appeared in 1948. Two alternatives presented for the zoo's location: Železná studienka within the Bratislava Forest Park and Mlynská dolina

Mlynská dolina

Mlynská dolina Mlynská dolina Mlynská dolina (literally: Mill valley; before 1894 is part of the borough of Karlova Ves in Bratislava, located in the Bratislava IV district. The Vydrica river flows through it....

. The latter was chosen as the place for the new zoo, although it was first planned to be used as a part of a cultural park on the Danube

Danube

The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

 riverfront. It was given an area of 9 hectares (22.2 acre), with a potential for expansion up to 90 hectares (222.4 acre) Construction began in 1959, and the zoo was officially opened on 9 May 1960. The zoo has undergone two major reductions, the first in 1981-1985, as a result of sewage

Sewage

Sewage is water-carried waste, in solution or suspension, that is intended to be removed from a community. Also known as wastewater, it is more than 99% water and is characterized by volume or rate of flow, physical condition, chemical constituents and the bacteriological organisms that it contains...

 system and motorway feeder construction, which reduced the area of the zoo to one-third, and the second in 2003, when construction for the D2 motorway access road to the Sitina Tunnel

Sitina Tunnel

The Sitina Tunnel is a motorway tunnel in Bratislava, Slovakia on the D2 motorway at the "Lamačská cesta - Staré grunty" section. The tunnel goes under the Little Carpathians forest...

forced a relocation of the entrance gate.