While you are in Poland, especially in Warsaw area, a great idea for you and your family is to visit the Warsaw Zoological Gardens.

The Zoo in Warsaw was founded in 1928. At that time, it covered an area of 12 hectares (30 acres) and was home to approximately 500 animals mainly representing the Polish fauna.

Between 1930 and 1939, the ZOO developed dynamically. New cages (klatki) for exotic animal (zwierzęta egzotyczne) were built, such as the elephant house (dom dla słoni), the hippopotamus house (dom dla hipopotamów), an enclosure for the polar bears (pomieszczenia dla niedźwiedzi polarnych) and pool for the seals (basen dla fok).

The biggest breeding success of this era was the birth of a female Indian elephant Tuzinka in 1937. She is still the only elephant born in any of the Polish Zoos.

In 1939, the Zoo was extended to 32 hectares (80 acres) and became the largest Zoo in Europe. In September 1939, when the Zoo was flourishing, the war came and meant the end of its existence. During the Warsaw‘s bombing, parts of the Zoo premises were destroyed and many of the animals were killed. The most dangerous species that survived were put to sleep on the orders of the authorities who decided that these animals might pose a threat (stwarzać zagrożenie). The animals, including the favorite of the Zoo’s visitors, the elephant Tuzinka, were taken to Germany. No one has ever found out what happened to them.

In July 1946, the authorities decided to rebuild the Zoo. The work started almost immediately and new animals were collected. In 1948, the Zoo was opened once again to the public.

After a short period of dynamic development, stagnation set in. This was due to unfortunate decision to relocate the Zoo outside of Warsaw. As a result (rezultatem tego), the Zoo suffered financial problems for many years.

The Zoo had to wait until 1980’s before it was incorporated into the new development plans for Warsaw. Since that time, new buildings have been built and the standard of living for the Zoo inhabitants has improved significantly (poprawiło się znacznie). Soon, the last of the oldest cages and the old – fashioned animal houses will disappear forever.

The most recent animal houses to appear include the Reptile house, the Aviary, the Fantasy Zoo, a modern Elephant House and the Australian Enclosure. These were all constructed in the last few years.

The garden is visited by 600,000people every year. Currently, the Warsaw Zoo covers an area of 40 hectares (100 acres). There are about 5,000 animals representing nearly 500 species. The Zoo takes part in EEP Programs (European Endangered Species Breading Programs), whose aims are to save endangered species (zagrożone rodzaje, gatunki).

They also run school lessons, lectures for students, activities for children with disabilities. Every year they put many exhibitions for display.

My husband and I visited the Warsaw Zoo just this last June and it was a great adventure. Our 6 month old daughter loved it and we had a lot of fun too. The Zoo was clean and had a great variety of animals. You can buy a little book/brochure in different languages that has the most important information about the Zoo.

We really enjoyed Hugon and Kuba, the only Indian Rhinoceros in Poland. They run, jump and play in the mud. The Indian Rhino is also called “Armored Rhino” due to the bumps and folds of its skin.

The Australian Enclosure was really interesting too. The representatives (przedstawiciele) of the Australian fauna live in a grassy enclosure with massive red rocks. Two species of kangaroos (kangury), the red kangaroo and the red necked wallaby share one house with separate (oddzielne) sleeping quarters. You can go inside (wejść do środka) to stand face to face (twarzą w twarz) with the largest pouched animals – a male red kangaroo weighing up to 90 kilograms or to study closely the pouch of a female kangaroo with the small head of a baby kangaroo poking out.

Also, make sure to visit big gorillas (goryle). They are really funny!

At The Fantasy Zoo children can visit animals they know well from fairy tales. They can play with them and even feed them on occasions.

There are three playgrounds for kids, a roofed summer house where they organize parties for children. You can also lie down at the lawns and have a picnic.

You can see al kinds of animals: elephants (słonie), giraffes (żyrafy), lions (lwy), tigers (tygrysy), snakes (węże), crocodiles (krokodyle), monkeys (małpy), birds (ptaki), penguins (pingwiny), bears (niedźwiedzie), anteaters (mrówkojady), sharks (rekiny) and many, many more…

Every year, on the first Friday of June, at 5 pm, in close to 300 zoological gardens around the world an event called Dreamnight is held. This is an evening of wonders for children chronically ill which started initially from the country of Holland. The Warsaw Zoo was the first one in Poland to join it. Now, almost all of the Polish zoological gardens have gone in the Warsaw’s Zoo footsteps.

So if you are in Warsaw, in the summer or in the winter time, stop by to meet all animals!

Zoo is opened everyday 9am till 5pm (I think they may close it a little earlier during the winter time). Tickets are 16 zł (around $5.00) for adults, and 11 zł (around $3.00) for kids. You can also buy a seasonal pass for $100.00 zł (around $28.00).

Check out their website:

http://www.zoo.waw.pl/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=1&lang=en

where you can take a virtual tour, look at chosen rooms online (pictures are transmitted directly from cameras placed in animals rooms), see different pictures and find out all about current activities taking place at the Zoo.

 

 

Do następnego razu! (Till next time…)