The Moscow Zoo or Moskovsky Zoopark () is a zoo, one of the largest in Russia and one of the oldest in Europe.
History The Moscow Zoo was founded in 1864 by professor-biologists, K.F. Rulje, S.A. Usov and A.P. Bogdanov, from the Moscow State University. In 1919, the zoo was nationalized. In 1922, the ownership was transferred to the Government of Moscow and has remained under their control ever since.
The zoo had an area of when it first opened, with 286 animals. In 1926, the zoo was expanded to adjacent lands, increasing the area to .
In 1933, Vera Chaplina, a naturalist and future writer, created the "green platform", a special enclosure for young animals where different cubs that their mothers refused to feed were not only raised, but also taught to live peacefully together. This experiment aroused great interest among visitors, and for many years the "green platform" remained one of the Moscow Zoo's main attractions.
In 1990, the zoo was renovated. Notable additions include a new main entrance in the shape of a large rock castle, and a footbridge that connected the old (1864) and new (1926) properties of the zoo.
In addition, the zoo was expanded once more. New exhibits were opened including a sea aquarium, an aviary, a creatures of the night exhibit, a sea lion exhibit and a section aimed at children.
The Moscow zoo has over 7,500 animals representing about 1,000 species and covers an area of about .
Moscow Zoo Museum Founded in 2008 in a two-storey building of the 19th century, built in the late XIX - early XX centuries, located on the territory of the zoo. Since 2015, the museum has been open to the public and everyone. In the central and side halls, there is an exposition devoted to the history of the Moscow Zoo and a natural science permanent exposition. The collection of the museum includes more than 10,000 zoo coats of arms from all over the world, hundreds of paintings, sculptures, and drawings by the masters of Russian animalistics, such as Vasily Vatagin, Alexei Komarov, Vadim Trofimov, Andrei Marts and Alexei Tsvetkov.Московский зоопарк. КоллекцииОфициальный сайт Московского зоопарка. Музей зоопаркаKudaGo. Музей истории зоопарка
Research & Educational Center The Moscow Zoo has its own educational institute and research center. In addition to full training for zoo staff and teachers, there is a continuing education program for zoo and aquarium staff, veterinarians, teachers and volunteers, as well as courses in zoo psychology. Since the Moscow Zoo has been chairman of all zoos in Russia since the Soviet period, it is a national training center. This was founded in 2017 by the current director Svetlana Akulova and Björn Stenvers.
Animals & Exhibits
Old Territory exhibits
Flamingo Pond
Greater flamingo American flamingo
Black bears
Asian black bear
Fauna of China
Giant panda
Bird World Scarlet Macaw
Green-winged Macaw
Military Macaw
Blue-and-Yellow Macaw
Blue-throated Macaw
Yellow-faced Amazon
Umbrella Cockatoo
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Cockatiel
Budgerigar
Eclectus Parrot
Elephant Museum
Indian elephant Bush hyrax
New Territory exhibits
Animal Island Outdoors:
Asiatic lion Spotted hyena Kamchatka brown bear Golden jackal Sloth bear Striped hyena Siberian tiger
Indoors (Exotarium):
Polar World Polar bear
Tur Hill
East Caucasian tur
Animals of Africa
South African giraffe Grévy's zebra Common ostrich Slender-tailed meerkat Sable antelope Kirk's dik-dik Honey badger
Other Animals
Golden eagle Bald eagle Griffin vulture
Former exhibits
Dolphinarium From 2001 to 2014, the operated on the grounds of the zoo's old territory. The exhibit was dismantled following unsanitary conditions and improper husbandry procedures. Beluga whale Common bottlenose dolphin
Directors Directors of the zoo have included: (1864–1867) (1867–1873) Alexandr Maklakov (1878–1880) (1878–1881) Alexandr Chelyukanov (1881–1883) Vladimir Wagner (1883–1886) (1889–1894) Alexandr Walter (1894–1895) Ippolit Antushevich (1895–1904) Vladislav Pogorzhelsky (1904–1917) Yury Belogolovy (1917–1919) Aleksandr Kots (1919–1924) Mikhail Zavadovsky (1924–1928) Sergey Novikov (1928–1932) Yevgeny Klimek (1932–1936) Lev Ostrovsky (1936–1940) Trofim Burdelev (1940–1950) Sergey Butygin (1950–1951) (1951–1977) (1977–2013) Natalya Kolobova (2013–2016) Svetlana Akulova (2016–)
Notes
Sources Vera Chaplina True Stories from the Moscow Zoo (1970) Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey; Prentice-Hall, Inc. P. 152 (translated by Lila Pargment, Estel Titiev). (in Russian)
External links
photography Moscow Zoo 2010 Moscow Zoo on zooinstitutes.com Moscow Zoo breeding nursery on zooinstitutes.com Moscow Zoo Academy