The ZOOMAT is a 100 hectares (247.1 acre) Mexican

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 zoo located in Tuxtla Gutiérrez

Tuxtla Gutiérrez

Tuxtla Gutiérrez is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Chiapas. It is considered to be the state’s most modern city, with most of its public buildings dating from the 20th century. One exception to this is the San Marcos Cathedral which began as a Dominican parish church built in...

, Chiapas

Chiapas

Chiapas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas is one of the 31 states that, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 118 municipalities and its capital city is Tuxtla Gutierrez. Other important cites in Chiapas include San Cristóbal de las...

. It was founded in 1942 as Zoológico de Tuxtla Gutiérrez. It was renamed after its director Miguel Alvarez del Toro

Miguel Alvarez del Toro

Miguel Carlos Francisco Alvarez del Toro was a Mexican Biologist who worked in the state of Chiapas as head of the Institute of Natural History. He married Clementina Pérez.He was the first Mexican conservationist....

 and relocated in 1981. Currently it is located in a nature reserve

Nature reserve

A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...

 known as El Zapotal. The altitude

Altitude

Altitude or height is defined based on the context in which it is used . As a general definition, altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The reference datum also often varies according to the context...

 is 630 metres (2,066.9 ft) and the annual mean temperature is 24.7Cº. The main characteristic of the zoo is that it only exhibits endemic fauna.