Bratislava Zoo

Initially, in 1949, the construction of a zoo in the vicinity of Železná studnička was considered. However, the expertise confirmed this location as inappropriate. A new alternative was adopted - to build a zoo in Mlynská dolina, originally on an area of about 9 ha, with the prospect of expanding the area to 90 ha. Initially, the construction of a zoo at PKO was considered, but later, due to the importance of Bratislava as the capital of Slovakia, the construction of an independent breeding and educational facility was started.

Construction began in 1959 and the grand opening of the ZOO took place on May 9, 1960 . In the first decade of the existence of the Bratislava ZOO, the first breeding successes came (breeding macaques, baboons, porcupines, nutria, leopards, puma and dings). As one of the first zoos in Europe, we bred young lynx. Artificial breeding of antelopes, baboons, fallow deer and roe deer deserve special attention. Among the educational activities, the advisory service for small animal breeders and hobby groups - equestrian, falconry, zoological, breeding and nature conservation club - was very successful. Later, the collection of animals was supplemented by many rare species of animals and the Bratislava ZOO achieved the most significant breeding success with the first artificial breeding of spotted leopards and grazing hyenas in the former Czechoslovakia.

An exceptional international success was the successful project for the rescue of Sahel-Saharan antelopes - the saber-horned rhinoceros, which was prepared and implemented by the Bratislava Zoo together with the Marwell Zoological Park (UK) under the auspices of the CMS (Bonn Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals).
A hard intervention in the life of the ZOO in the years 1981 - 1985 was the complete liquidation of two thirds of the built exposition part of the original area due to the construction of a sewer collector and a motorway connection. The part that was most interesting for visitors disappeared. The occupation of a large area disrupted the regular course of life in the ZOO. The accompanying phenomenon was the relocation of animals to new premises. The Bratislava ZOO has not yet managed to recover from the hard interventions in the area, and again in 1995 there was a decision on the construction of the D2 Bratislava Lamačská cesta - Staré Grunty motorway, which began in March 2003.

Although the construction of the motorway significantly affected the daily life of the ZOO, it did not stop its development. In the years 2002 - 2003, a new breeding facility for biped camels, Turkmen round turkeys and Shetland ponies was built in the forest part of the area and the construction of a breeding facility for goats and barn owls began. During the construction of the Sitina tunnel, the entrance to the ZOO was canceled and from December 2003, the area was closed to the public until the completion of a new entrance, car park and noise barrier. The approval of the ideological concept of the development of the Bratislava ZOO by the Municipal Council of the Capital City of the Slovak Republic Bratislava was of great importance for the further development of the ZOO, on the basis of which the breeding project for large cats was completed and its implementation in 2004 and 2005 became one of the priorities. In 2004, a new unique exposition of Mesozoic reptiles in Central Europe, DinoPark, was added to our ZOO, which has been very attractive to all age groups of our visitors since its inception. The year 2006 was an important milestone for the Bratislava Zoo - we opened to the public a new pavilion of beasts, whose inhabitants - leopards, jaguars, tigers and lions - are among the most popular animals in our collection. A year later, the construction of another pavilion began - the pavilion of primates, which was opened to the public in the spring of 2010.

In the spring of 2008, we ceremoniously opened a new ZOO shop and two children's complexes consisting of new colorful climbing frames, a rope climbing frame and smaller elements (string swings) for preschool children.
Despite all the negative interventions and financial difficulties, ZOO Bratislava is gradually changing and its prestige and popularity is growing, as evidenced by the increase in attendance and number of animals kept from the original 238 individuals in 74 species to 1016 individuals in 178 species (as of 31 December 2017). ).