Zoo Basel
Zoo in Basel, Switzerland / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Zoo Basel is a non-profit zoo in the city of Basel, Switzerland. Its official name is Zoologischer Garten Basel — or in English: Basel Zoological Garden. Basel residents affectionately call it Zolli.[5] Its main entrance is just outside Basel's downtown strip of Steinen-Vorstadt and extends in the Birsig stream valley to Basel's city border with Binningen, Basel-Country.
Zoo Basel | |
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47°32′50″N 7°34′44″E | |
Date opened | July 3, 1874 |
Location | Basel, Switzerland |
Land area | 32.12 acres (13.00 ha) |
No. of animals | 6,894 (2008)[1] / about 5,000 in the aquarium |
No. of species | 645 (2008)[1] |
Annual visitors | 1,812,438 (2012)[2] |
Memberships | 20 organizations, including EAZA,[3] WAZA,[4] and Swiss Zoos |
Major exhibits | Africa, Antilope House, Aquarium, Australis, Birdhouse, Elephant House, Etoscha, Gamgoas, Kinderzoo, Monkey House, and Rhino Exhibit in the Sautergarden |
Website | www |
Zoo Basel is Switzerland's oldest (1874) and largest zoo (by number of animals). With over 1.8 million visitors per year,[2] it is the most visited tourist attraction in Switzerland with an entrance fee.[5]
Zoo Basel was ranked as one of the fifteen best zoos in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2008[6] and in 2009 as the seventh best in Europe by Anthony Sheridan from the Zoological Society of London.[7]
The zoo had the first Indian rhinoceros birth in a zoo,[8] as well as the first greater flamingo hatch.[9] It has had repeated breeding success with animals including cheetahs (18 births),[10] okapi (22),[11] pygmy hippopotamuses (53),[12] and flamingos (over 400 hatches).[13] Every Somali wild ass (a donkey) in zoos worldwide is related to the population in Basel, where this species' zoological breeding program was started.[14]
Zoo Basel is undergoing the most expensive expansion in its history. These include the indoor and outdoor renovation of the monkeyhouse (2011–2012 / Fr. 30 millions), the zoo restaurant renovation/expansion (2015 / Fr. 16 millions) [15] and a new elephant house and outdoor exhibit (2016 / Fr. 28 millions).[16] In the near future, further expansions into the current parking lot and to the south are planned. [17]