"The Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden is not only a place where you can see animals from Hungary and from far away, but also a place for education and entertainment. The garden has been a protected area since 1986.The Zoo is home to numerous strictly protected plant and animal species. Beside this, the protection of the biodiversity of the Carpathian basin is fundamental to its mission. Several hundred mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects, and water creatures live here.
Some of the buildings of the Zoo and botanical garden which can still be seen today were designed by the famous Transylvanian architect, Károly Kós, and by Dezső Zrumeczky between 1909 and 1912. The main entrance decorated with elephants, the Elephant House, the Small and the Big Cliff, the Palm House, the Monkey House, the Pheasant House, the Deer House, the Rodent House, the Bird House, and the Bambi House were all built at this time.
The building of the Aquarium uses the most advanced technology; the volume of water totals 150,000 litres. More than 150 species of the world's various seas can be seen here.
The palaeontological waxworks is situated under the Palm House, next to the Aquarium. The exhibition shows the extraordinary reptiles and dinosaurs of the Palaeozoic era, as well as the giant animals of the ice age, through dioramas and models.
There is wheelchair access throughout the Zoo and Botanical Garden. Cashiers stop selling tickets one hour, and the animal houses close half an hour before closing time. From March until October the Zoo remains open for an extra half an hour at weekends and on holidays."
Address: 1146 Budapest, District XIV, Állatkerti krt. 6-12.
Phone: 1/273-4901
Source: hungarystartshere.com
Photo by: Rigó Tibor
02.07.2008