Novosibirsk Zoo, Zoo in Novosibirsk, Russia

Novosibirsk Zoo is a zoological park in Novosibirsk, Russia, spread across 65 hectares of pine forest and home to more than 11,500 animals representing 790 species in specialized enclosures. The grounds are divided into sections for different habitats, including open paddocks, mesh houses and indoor pavilions for sensitive residents.

In 1942, during World War II, animals evacuated from circuses and traveling zoos were housed at a zoo base in Novosibirsk. On 29 August 1947, this base was merged with the West Siberian Children's Technical and Agricultural Station to form Siberia's first zoo, with 20 bird and 34 mammal species. In 1985 it was allotted 65 hectares in Zayeltsovsky Bor; the new site opened in 1993, and the last animals moved in 2005.

The zoo's emblem is the snow leopard, an animal that survives in Siberia only in the Altai and the Sayano-Shushensky Reserve; after the zoo first bred the steppe polecat, its image was added beside the leopard. The zoo keeps one of the world's largest collections of cats and mustelids, and its black-maned lion Simon was identified in 2000 as the closest living relative of the extinct Cape lion.

Adult visitors pay 500 rubles at the entrance, children between seven and 16 years pay 200 rubles, while those under seven enter without charge. The large forested site requires comfortable footwear and several hours for a complete circuit.

The facility takes part in 77 cross-border conservation programs and maintains breeding records for 110 species in worldwide registries. Many of these records document rare births and genetic lines essential for the survival of threatened populations.