This article needs additional citations for verification .(May 2019) |
Belfast Zoo | |
---|---|
54°39′22″N5°56′31″W / 54.656°N 5.942°W | |
Date opened | 28 March 1934 |
Location | Belfast, Northern Ireland |
Land area | 55 acres (22 ha) |
No. of animals | 1200+ |
No. of species | 120+ |
Annual visitors | 300,000 |
Memberships | BIAZA, [1] EAZA, [2] WAZA [3] |
Website | www.belfastzoo.co.uk |
Belfast Zoological Gardens (also known as Bellevue Zoo) is a zoo in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is in a relatively secluded location on the northeastern slope of Cavehill, overlooking Belfast's Antrim Road. Opened in 1934, it is the second-oldest zoo in Ireland, after Dublin Zoo, which opened in 1831. [4]
Belfast Zoo is one of the top fee-paying visitor attractions in Northern Ireland, receiving more than 300,000 visitors a year. Located in north Belfast, the zoo's 55-acre (22 ha) site is home to more than 1,200 animals and 140 species.
The majority of the animals in Belfast Zoo are in danger in their natural habitat. The zoo carries out important conservation work and takes part in over 90 European and international breeding programmes which help to ensure the survival of many species under threat.
The zoo is a member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA), the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA), and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).
The story of Belfast Zoo begins with the city's public transport system. At the beginning of the 20th century, passengers from Belfast were transported to the villages of Whitewell and Glengormley by horse-drawn trams belonging to the Belfast Street Tramway company and steam tramways from Cavehill and Whitewell.
In 1911, the tram line was taken over by Belfast Corporation, now Belfast City Council. The corporation decided to build a miniature railway, playground, and pleasure gardens. The area was named Bellevue, meaning 'good or pretty view'.
During the 1920s and 1930s, the gardens were a popular destination for day trips. In 1933, the corporation decided to install a representative zoological collection on the site. Then, in 1934, 12 acres (4.9 ha) on either side of the Grand Floral Staircase, a series of steps designed to reach the top of the hillside, were laid out as Bellevue Zoo. [5]
It took 150 men to build the site and the steps can still be seen from Antrim Road today. The zoo was opened on 28 March 1934 by Sir Crawford McCullagh, the then Lord Mayor of Belfast. The venture was supported by Councillor RJR Harcourt from Belfast Corporation and was partnered by George Chapman, an animal dealer and circus entrepreneur.
It cost £10,000 (approximately £700,000 in today's money) to build and a total of 284,713 people visited the zoo in its first year.
Belfast Zoo is owned by Belfast City Council. The council spends over £2.5 million every year on running and promoting the zoo, [6] which is one of the few local government-funded zoos in the UK and Ireland.
The zoo's work is overseen by the council's Parks and Leisure Committee. The committee is made up of 20 locally elected councillors.
The zoo is home to over 120 species: [7]
The zoo also has a farm which houses domestic animals such as pygmy goats, Shetland ponies, miniature donkeys, rabbits, and Norfolk Grey chickens.
Belfast Zoo is always making changes and welcoming new arrivals or celebrating births. In June 2007, a Barbary lion cub was born at the zoo. This was the first Barbary lion to be born in Ireland. The cub was rejected by its mother and hand-reared at home by keeper Linda Frew. Lily the lion moved to Hodonín Zoo in the Czech Republic in August 2009, as part of a breeding programme.
In 2008, the zoo opened a new tropical rainforest which houses such animals as two-toed sloth, red-footed tortoises and Rodrigues bats. The Rainforest House is a walk-through exhibition with tropical landscaping and a constant temperature of 27 degrees.
More recently, renovations have included work on the gorilla and chimpanzee enclosures, giraffe and elephant enclosures, including a raised giraffe feeder, and new frames in the spider monkey and Andean bear enclosures.
In 2009, on its 75th birthday, the zoo opened a new state-of-the-art Visitors' Centre and "Zoovenir" Shop. The refurbishment features high-level roofing with plenty of natural light and multimedia presentations showing the history of Belfast Zoo and wildlife in Northern Ireland.
The zoo was awarded £250,000 from the Tourism Development Scheme (TDS) from the Northern Ireland Tourist Board to build the new reception area. The council has donated a further £300,000 to help with the increase in visitor numbers.
2009 was a successful year with plenty of new arrivals including a Sumatran tiger called Kabus, and the only tree-kangaroo in the UK, called Kwikila. 2009 also brought the zoo's highest level of visitors in its history with over 302,000 visitors. Over 90 babies were born in the zoo in 2009.
2010 saw the arrival of two smooth-coated otters, coppery titi monkeys and a pair of toco toucans. Other new arrivals that year included a female Sumatran tiger to join Kabus. May Day in 2010 had more than double the visitors of the same day in 2009.
Babies since 2009 have included a Malayan tapir, ring-tailed lemurs, a Grant's zebra, California sea lions, black-tailed prairie dogs, litters of piglets, spider monkeys, red kangaroos and many more.
2012 saw the birth of two eastern bongos, a blesbok foal, a giraffe foal and a baby chimpanzee and 2013 has seen the birth of coppery titi monkeys, a two toed sloth, another chimpanzee, twin white-belted ruffed lemurs as well as the arrival of two goodfellow's tree-kangaroos. Belfast zoo is only one of 22 worldwide zoos to hold the Goodfellow's tree-kangaroo.
In 2001 a wolf-like dog broke into a kangaroo enclosure and killed one of the younger kangaroos that had been born at the zoo. In the same year, vandals broke into the zoo and attacked several penguins in their enclosure with an iron bar. One was thrown into the lion's den and killed. [9]
In 2010, a female white-nosed coati escaped and was not found for more than five weeks. [10]
In 2013 and again in 2015 several macaques escaped. They were found several days later. [10]
In 2018, a spider monkey escaped and died after being hit by a car on the nearby motorway. [11]
In 2019, a Red Panda escaped due to a power fault in her enclosure. She was found the next day in a residential area, a mile away from the zoo. [12]
Located within the grounds of the zoo is a 1930s art deco ballroom, the Floral Hall. The hall was popular dance venue. During World War II, it had blackouts fitted to the windows so that dances could continue. In the 1960s, the hall was visited by musicians such as Pink Floyd and Small Faces. The Floral Hall closed to the public on 2 April 1972 and has fallen into dereliction since then. During the 1990s, it was given Listed Building status.
Belfast Buildings Preservation Trust plans to renovate the building, although Belfast City Council has yet to provide funding.
In 2010, meetings were held to discuss potential uses for the hall and the carrying out of a feasibility study. In December 2011, a social media account was created to share old photos of the hall and contemporary photos of its interior. In 2012, an online petition addressed to Belfast City Council was created to request progress with the restoration project. In March 2018, Liverpool based developer Signature Living submitted a £5 million proposal to revive the hall. Lawrence Kenwright, owner of Signature Living, said he hoped to restore the hall for use as a "leading entertainment, conference and wedding venue".
Bristol Zoo was a zoo in the city of Bristol in South West England. The zoo's stated mission was to "maintain and defend" biodiversity through breeding endangered species, conserving threatened species and habitats and promoting a wider understanding of the natural world".
Melbourne Zoo is a zoo in Melbourne, Australia. It is located within Royal Park in Parkville, approximately 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north of the centre of Melbourne. It is the primary zoo serving Melbourne. As of 2021, the zoo contains 3742 animals comprising 243 species, from Australia and around the world. The zoo is accessible via Royal Park station on the Upfield railway line, and is also accessible via tram routes 58 and 19, as well as by bicycle on the Capital City Trail. Bicycles are not allowed inside the zoo itself.
Apenheul Primate Park is a zoo in Apeldoorn, Netherlands. It specializes in apes and monkeys. It opened in 1971 and was the first zoo in the world where monkeys could walk around freely in the forest and between the visitors. It started with just a few species, now it displays more than 30 different primates, among them bonobo, gorilla and orangutan.
Blackpool Zoo is a 32-acre (13 ha) zoo, owned by Parques Reunidos and located in the sea-side resort of Blackpool, Lancashire, England. It cares for over 1,000 animals from all over the world.
Colchester Zoo is a zoological garden situated near Colchester, England. The zoo opened in 1963 and celebrated its 60th anniversary on 2 June 2023. The zoo is home to many rare and endangered species, including big cats, primates and birds as well as many invertebrates and fish species.
Edinburgh Zoo, formerly the Scottish National Zoological Park, is an 82-acre (33 ha) non-profit zoological park in the Corstorphine area of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Birmingham Wildlife Conservation Park, formerly Birmingham Nature Centre, and before that Birmingham Zoo, is a small zoo on the edge of Cannon Hill Park in Birmingham, England. It is owned and managed by Birmingham City Council.
Leipzig Zoological Garden, or Leipzig Zoo is a zoo in Leipzig`s district Mitte, Germany. It was first opened on June 9, 1878. It was taken over by the city of Leipzig in 1920 after World War I and now covers about 27 hectares and contains approximately 850 species. By 2020, the zoo featured six different theme worlds, aiming at providing habitats appropriate for the species on display.
Paignton Zoo is a zoo in Paignton, Devon, England. The zoo was started as a private collection by avid animal collector and breeder, Herbert Whitley, in the grounds of his home Primley House. It was opened to the public on a number of occasions, originally as Primley Zoological Gardens, and closed twice due to disputes with the tax authorities. The commercialisation of the zoo came when animals and attractions were relocated from Chessington Zoo during World War II, and the site was named as Devon's Zoo and Circus
Bioparco di Roma is a 17-hectare (42-acre) zoological garden located on part of the original Villa Borghese estate in Rome, Italy. There are 1,114 animals of 222 species maintained.
Woburn Safari Park is a safari park located in Woburn, Bedfordshire, England. Visitors to the park can drive through exhibits, which contain species such as southern white rhino, elephants, tigers and black bears. It is part of the estates of the Duke of Bedford that also includes Woburn Abbey and its 3,000-acre (1,200 ha) deer park. The Safari Park itself covers 360 acres (150 ha).
Exmoor Zoo is a conservation centre in Exmoor, North Devon, England. The zoo developed from Exmoor Bird Gardens, opened on the site of a farm in 1982. The current owners took over in 1993, and have enlarged and developed the zoo, now specialising in the conservation of smaller animals. The zoo has been a member of BIAZA, the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums, since 1995 and recently became a member of EAZA in 2018.
Shanghai Zoological Park, or commonly Shanghai Zoo in short, is the one of the two main zoos in Shanghai. It is located near the township of Hongqiao and is administratively in Changning District. Shanghai Zoo was formerly known as " Xijiao Park", which is still a common name used locally for the zoo.
Africa Alive! Zoological Reserve, formerly known as Africa Alive! and Suffolk Wildlife Park, is a zoo located in Kessingland, Suffolk, UK. It is situated off the A12 at Kessingland 2 miles (3 km) south of Lowestoft.
Banham Zoological Gardens is a 50-acre (20 ha) zoo in Banham, Norfolk, England. The zoo, which in 2024 was reported to be a home to more than 2,000 animals, opened to the public in 1968, became a charity in 2013, and has since been often awarded the prize of Norfolk's Top Attraction, by numerous different organisations, with an annual visitor attendance of in excess of 200,000 people. It is part of the Zoological Society of East Anglia, a registered charity which also owns Africa Alive Zoological Reserve near Lowestoft, Suffolk.
Barcelona Zoo is a zoo in the Parc de la Ciutadella in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The zoo used to be internationally known as the home of Snowflake, the only known albino gorilla, who died in 2003.
The Yorkshire Wildlife Park is a zoo, wildlife conservation and rehabilition centre and tourist attraction located in Branton, south-east of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. It opened in 2009 on the site of Brockholes Farm, a former riding school and petting zoo, and features 500 animals of 100 species. Yorkshire Wildlife Park is an official member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) and the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA).
La Vallée des Singes is a primate park in Romagne, France.
Odense Zoo is a zoological garden in Odense, Denmark.
Darling Downs Zoo is a zoo situated in Pilton, Queensland, Australia. The zoo is divided into four separate geographical areas featuring animals mostly from Africa, South America, South-East Asia and Australia.