Sofia Zoo, Zoo in Sofia, Bulgaria
Sofia Zoo covers 360 decares in the Gorni Lozenets quarter, near Vitosha, on the site opened on 10 September 1984. Its collection is organised into sectors, among them a section for herbivores and primates holding 95 animals of 27 species. The grounds include a large raptor aviary, an aquarium and a terrarium.
Sofia Zoo was founded in 1888 in the courtyard of the former royal palace, starting with a black vulture. Tsar Ferdinand I expanded the collection, adding pheasants, deer and two lions in 1892. In 1984 the animals were moved to the current 36-hectare site in Gorni Lozenets, and the new zoo opened on 10 September 1984.
Sofia Zoo is one of the 100 national tourist sites listed by the Bulgarian Tourist Union. Since 2012 it has taken in animals seized by Bulgarian customs, including a smuggler's shipment of six monitor lizards, three caimans, three pythons, 15 chameleons and 49 tortoises. Ten of those species had never been kept there before, so staff sought advice from other zoos.
The official entrance is at ulitsa Srebarna 1 on the western edge of the zoo. A second entrance lies on the eastern side, near the crossing of bulevar G. M. Dimitrov and bulevar Simeonovsko shose. The grounds cover 360 decares, so plan your route between the sectors in advance.
In 2012, Bulgarian customs seized a smuggler at the Serbian border carrying six monitor lizards, three caimans, three pythons, 15 chameleons, 49 tortoises, a highly venomous scorpion, poisonous frogs, snails, crabs and worms. The zoo took them in, consulting other zoos because it had never kept ten of these species.
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