Lisbon Zoo, Zoo in São Domingos de Benfica, Portugal
Lisbon Zoo occupies the Quinta das Laranjeiras in Sete Rios, where about 2,000 animals of more than 300 species are kept. Its entrance is flanked by two round light-grey stone pavilions with dark domed roofs and balustraded bands; metal lettering on them reads "JARDIM" and "ZOOLOGICO". Between the pavilions, dark metal gates are framed by stone pillars topped with urn-shaped finials.
The zoo opened on 28 May 1884 in the park of São Sebastião da Pedreira with 1,127 animals, some donated by the Portuguese royal family, and drew 170,000 visitors in its first year. It moved to Palhavã in 1894 and in 1905 to Quinta das Laranjeiras in Sete Rios, where it remains. In 1912 the administration commissioned architect Raul Lino to redesign the gardens and animal facilities.
The zoo's name, Jardim Zoológico e de Aclimação em Portugal, reflects its 1883 founding as a society for animals and plants, modelled on French and Dutch gardens. In the Palhavã years, band concerts at the garden's coreto drew extra crowds, and paid boat trips on the lake became a popular attraction.
The zoo sits in Sete Rios, served since 1902 by a tram line that stopped at its gates; today it is a stop on the city's rail and metro network. The main entrance is the one in the photographs, between two domed stone pavilions inscribed "JARDIM" and "ZOOLOGICO". Allow several hours to walk the grounds, which hold about 2,000 animals.
The zoo's dolphin group numbers seven: females Soda, Kobie and Victoria, and males Neo, Yuky, Sado and Ricky. The animals are named individually in the zoo's records, so keepers and visitors refer to each dolphin by name rather than as a collective pod.
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