The Zoo Garden

The Zoo is the oldest and largest on the Balkan Peninsula. Founded in 1888 by Prince Ferdinand, it quickly gained popularity and became a place of recreation, entertainment and knowledge with a worldwide renowned specialists and breeders of rare and valuable animals. In 1982 the Zoo was moved from its little place in the city center on the territory of today’s Lozenets Quarter, covering an area of more than 360 acres. The Zoo is located 15 minutes from downtown Sofia and is connected by convenient transport links to different parts of the capital. Nowadays there are trends in zoos for four main directions of contribution to the protection of endangered landscape and biodiversity. Along with their entertainment function of providing recreation to visitors among creatures of the wild, zoos have become centers for breeding of endangered species through international cooperative programs and establish a basis for environmental education and widely applicable scientific research.

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