Le Cornelle, Wildlife park in Valbrembo, Italy.
Le Cornelle is a private wildlife park founded on 19 April 1981 by Angelo Ferruccio Benedetti in Valbrembo, province of Bergamo. It covers 126,000 m² and holds about 1,200 animals of 120 species, including the Aldabra giant tortoises and the Cape giraffe herd. Its themed areas include the 7,000 m² Selva tropicale aviary, opened in 2004, the Savana of 2015 and the Pinnawala elephant area of 2017.
The park began in 1981 and opened its gates to visitors who at the time had few opportunities to see exotic animals up close in northern Italy. Over the years the facility expanded steadily and added new species while increasingly focusing on conservation and education.
The name Le Cornelle comes from the local toponym for the stones smoothed by the current of the Brembo river. The park also honours the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage in Sri Lanka, to which it donates annually: the elephant area opened in 2017 is named Pinnawala after that institution.
The park covers 126,000 m², so plan a route around the themed areas: Selva tropicale, Isola Aldabra, Savana, Pinnawala, the 2019 reptile house and the Mini Africa Safari crossed by the little train. A raised walkway runs through the 7,000 m² aviary. The park opened on 19 April 1981 and is in Valbrembo, province of Bergamo.
Le Cornelle became the first European zoo to keep a white Bengal tiger in 1994, and the animal later became the park's symbol; the first cubs were born the following year. Since 2025 the park has also housed a group of Barbary lions, a species extinct in the wild.
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