Attica Zoological Park, is a 20 hectares (49.4 acre) private zoo

Zoo

A zoological garden, zoological park, menagerie, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred....

 located in the Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

 suburb

Suburb

The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...

 of Spata

Spata

Spata , is a town east of Athens, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Spata-Artemida, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit....

, Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

. The zoo is home to about 2000 animals representing 400 species, and is open 365 days per year.

Attica Zoological Park is a member of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria

European Association of Zoos and Aquaria

-External links:*...

 (EAZA).

History

The Attica Zoological Park opened in May 2000. It was initially a Bird Park that was home to 1100 birds from 300 different species — the 3rd largest bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

 collection in the world.

World of reptiles was added in April, 2001, followed by Greek fauna in 2002, the African Savanna

Savanna

A savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...

h exhibit (with zebra

Zebra

Zebras are several species of African equids united by their distinctive black and white stripes. Their stripes come in different patterns unique to each individual. They are generally social animals that live in small harems to large herds...

s and giraffe

Giraffe

The giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all extant land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant...

s) in 2003, a cat exhibit and expansion of the African Savannah exhibit in 2004, a monkey exhibit in 2005, Land of the Cheetah, a chimpanzee

Chimpanzee

Chimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...

 and gibbon

Gibbon

Gibbons are apes in the family Hylobatidae . The family is divided into four genera based on their diploid chromosome number: Hylobates , Hoolock , Nomascus , and Symphalangus . The extinct Bunopithecus sericus is a gibbon or gibbon-like ape which, until recently, was thought to be closely related...

 exhibit, and a Somalia exhibit (with camel

Camel

A camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as humps on its back. There are two species of camels: the dromedary or Arabian camel has a single hump, and the bactrian has two humps. Dromedaries are native to the dry desert areas of West Asia,...

s and donkey

Donkey

The donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E...

s) in 2008.

In 2010, the zoo opened a dolphinarium, and added white rhinos to its residents.

Animals

The zoo's big cats include white Lion

Lion

The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...

s and Tiger

Tiger

The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...

s, as well as black panther

Black panther

A black panther is typically a melanistic color variant of any of several species of larger cat. Wild black panthers in Latin America are black jaguars , in Asia and Africa they are black leopards , and in North America they may be black jaguars or possibly black cougars A black panther is...

s and Leopard

Leopard

The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...

s. The zoo has several walk-through enclosures, including a "monkey's jungle".

Shows

In 2005, the zoo began to run daily shows featuring birds of prey. In 2010 the zoo began shows with its newly installed dolphinarium showing sea-lions and dolphins.

The future

Future plans include a museum of evolution with its primary focus on dinosaurs, and an aquarium.

Criticism

In June 2010 the dolphinarium started working with shows by sea lions and dolphins. There were initially four dolphins bought from the Lithuanian Marine Institute, then seven more were added from the same source. The Greek Green Party took Attica Zoological Park to court claiming animal welfare issues in 2011. In April 2011, a Provisional Order was issued by the Athens Court temporarily prohibiting the operation of the dolphinarium . BBC has sent a correspondent to cover the story and the controversy has been presented in an article by author Lauren St.John in The Sunday Times. In August 2011, the Greek court issued a decision declaring itself not competent to pass judgement on the case. Although the Attica Zoological Park claimed that the case in question has been decided permanently and that the company has been vindicated, this decision actually only addresses the ability of this particular court to decide the issue..

External links

(in English and Greek)

• Athens Zoo photos