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Moscow Zoo

Coordinates: 55°45′43″N 37°34′38″E / 55.76194°N 37.57722°E / 55.76194; 37.57722
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Moscow Zoo
The Moscow Zoo entrance.
Map
55°45′43″N 37°34′38″E / 55.76194°N 37.57722°E / 55.76194; 37.57722
Date opened31 January 1864; 160 years ago (1864-01-31)[1]
LocationMoscow, Russia
Land area21.5 ha (53 acres)
No. of animals10,531 (2019)
No. of species1,267 (2019)
MembershipsEARAZA,[2] EAZA,[3] WAZA[4]
Public transit access#7 Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya line Barrikadnaya
#5 Koltsevaya line Krasnopresnenskaya
Websitehttp://moscowzoo.ru/

The Moscow Zoo or Moskovsky Zoopark (Russian: Московский зоопарк) is a 21.5-hectare (53-acre) zoo, the largest in Russia.

History

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The Moscow Zoo was founded in 1864 by professor-biologists, K.F. Rulje, S.A. Usov and A.P. Bogdanov, from the Moscow State University. In 1919, the zoo was nationalized. In 1922, the ownership was transferred to the Government of Moscow and has remained under their control ever since.[5]

The zoo had an area of 10 hectares (25 acres) when it first opened, with 286 animals. In 1926, the zoo was expanded to adjacent lands, increasing the area to 18 hectares (44 acres).

The "green platform" (1937)

In 1933 Vera Chaplina, a naturalist and future writer, created the "green platform", a special enclosure for young animals where different cubs that their mothers refused to feed were not only raised, but also taught to live peacefully together. This experiment aroused great interest among visitors, and for many years the "green platform" remained one of the Moscow Zoo's main attractions.[6][7][8]

In 1990, the zoo was renovated. Notable additions include a new main entrance in the shape of a large rock castle, and a footbridge that connected the old (1864) and new (1926) properties of the zoo.

In addition, the zoo was expanded once more. New exhibits were opened including a sea aquarium, an aviary, a creatures of the night exhibit, a sea lion exhibit and a section aimed at children.

The Moscow zoo has over 7,500 animals representing about 1,000 species and covers an area of about 21.5 hectares (53 acres).[9]

Moscow Zoo Museum

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Founded in 2008 in a two-storey building of the 19th century, built in the late XIX - early XX centuries, located on the territory of the zoo. Since 2015, the museum has been open to the public and everyone. In the central and side halls there is an exposition devoted to the history of the Moscow Zoo and a natural science permanent exposition. The collection of the museum includes more than 10,000 zoo coat of arms from all over the world, hundreds of paintings, sculptures and drawings by the masters of Russian animalistics, such as Vasily Vatagin, Alexei Komarov, Vadim Trofimov, Andrei Marts and Alexei Tsvetkov.[10][11][12]

Research & Educational Center

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The Moscow Zoo has her own educational institute and research center. In addition to full-training for zoo staff and teachers, there is a continuing education program for zoo and aquarium staff, veterinarians, teachers and volunteers, as well as courses in zoo psychology. Since the Moscow Zoo has been chairman of all zoos in Russia since the Soviet period, it is a national training center. This was founded in 2017 by the current director Svetlana Akulova and Björn Stenvers.[13][14]

Animals & Exhibits

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Reticulated giraffe at Moscow Zoo
Huge bird of prey at Moscow Zoo
Raccoon
Lions Moscow zoo
Orangutan
Bald eagle
China News Service video on Russia's first giant panda cub.

Old Territory exhibits

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Flamingo Pond

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Giraffe House

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Fauna of China

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Bird World

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Elephant Museum

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New Territory exhibits

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Animal Island

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Outdoors:

Indoors (Exotarium):

Polar World

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Tur Hill

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Animals of Africa

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Other Animals

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Former exhibits

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Dolphinarium

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From 2001 to 2014, the Moscow Zoo Dolphinarium [ru] operated on the grounds of the zoo's old territory. The exhibit was dismantled following unsanitary conditions and improper husbandry procedures.

Directors

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Directors of the zoo have included:[5]

Notes

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  1. ^ "Moscow Zoo (Moscow)". worldwalk.info. WorldWalk.info. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
  2. ^ "Zoo Sites". earaza.ru. EARAZA. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
  3. ^ "EAZA Member Zoos & Aquariums". eaza.net. EAZA. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
  4. ^ "Zoos and Aquariums of the World". waza.org. WAZA. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
  5. ^ a b Spitsin, Vladimir (2001). Moscow Zoo, Encyclopedia of the World's Zoos, Volume 2. Fitzroy Dearborn. pp. 830, 834. ISBN 1-57958-174-9.
  6. ^ Максим Тавьев (2008). "Зоопарк Веры Чаплиной". Литературная газета (in Russian).
  7. ^ Bryce, E.J. (1935). "Zoological Institutions abroad". Proceedings of the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales: 20–24.
  8. ^ "Lion and lamb play together". The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser. 11 July 1933.
  9. ^ "Московский зоопарк".
  10. ^ Московский зоопарк. Коллекции
  11. ^ Официальный сайт Московского зоопарка. Музей зоопарка
  12. ^ KudaGo. Музей истории зоопарка
  13. ^ "Moscow Zoo Academy". www.moscowzoo.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2021-12-22.
  14. ^ "Moscow Zoo opens educational institute for employees of Russia". mos.ru (in English and Russian). Retrieved 2021-12-21.
  15. ^ "У Московского зоопарка новый начальник". www.mk.ru (in Russian). 17 April 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  16. ^ "Утвержден новый генеральный директор Московского зоопарка". Российская газета (in Russian). 3 October 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2023.

Sources

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  • Vera Chaplina True Stories from the Moscow Zoo (1970) Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey; Prentice-Hall, Inc. P. 152 (translated by Lila Pargment, Estel Titiev).
  • Egorova, L. V., ed. (2004). The Moscow Zoo: History and 140th anniversary (Московский зоологический парк. К 140-летию со дня основания. Страницы истории). Moscow: Ellis Luck 2000. ISBN 978-5-902152-16-3. (in Russian)
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Media related to Moscow Zoo at Wikimedia Commons

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