Givskud Zoo is a

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for Conservation biology, conservation purposes. The term ''zoological g ...

and

safari park A safari park, sometimes known as a wildlife park, is a zoo-like commercial drive-in tourist attraction where visitors can drive their own vehicles or ride in vehicles provided by the facility to observe freely roaming animals. A safari park ...

in Givskud, north west of

Vejle Vejle () is a city in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle River and Grejs River and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality ('' kommune'') and the R ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. The park opened in 1969 under the name of "Løveparken" (the lion park) with

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

s as the only animals. In 1970

Asian elephant The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living species of the genus ''Elephas'' and is distributed throughout the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India in the west, Nepal in the no ...

s arrived and today the park has more than 700 animals representing more than 70 species. The zoo is one of only ten attractions to be awarded 5 stars by the Danish tourist guide Jyllands Attraktioner and receives about 325,000 visitors a year. It covers a total of , including currently in use for the zoo and safaripark. It was announced in 2014 that the remaining area will become part of a future zoo, with first phase opening for the zoo's 50th anniversary in 2019, under the name Zootopia. Givskud Zoo has been home to several famous animals, among them the

white rhino The white rhinoceros, white rhino or square-lipped rhinoceros (''Ceratotherium simum'') is the largest extant species of rhinoceros. It has a wide mouth used for grazing and is the most social of all rhino species. The white rhinoceros consists ...

Brutalis, who arrived in 1990 and was very aggressive towards stable equipment, other rhinos and humans (likely because he was brought up without contact with other rhinos, having been rejected by his mother shortly after his birth at

Knowsley Safari Park Knowsley Safari is a safari park and tourist attraction near Prescot, England. It is a member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) and the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA). It contributes to conservat ...

in 1977). As a final solution, he was shipped to the private game reserve Ongava in

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

in 1994. He lived in the reserve for 6 years before he died in a territorial battle with another male rhino. His story was covered in detail by the general media, as well as a children's book. Another famous animal from the park is the

silverback Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or fi ...

Samson, a

western lowland gorilla The western lowland gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla gorilla'') is one of two Critically Endangered subspecies of the western gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla'') that lives in Montane ecosystems#Montane forests, montane, Old-growth forest, primary and sec ...

, who has appeared several times on Danish TV. Samson and the other gorillas live in a exhibit (one of the largest of its kind), which opened in 2000. Givskud Zoo is best known for its large enclosures, which the guests can drive through in their own cars. Some of the most well known and popular animals in the zoo are Asian elephants, white rhinos, gorillas, and lions. As of March 2012, the large pride included a total of 45 lions. After the

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

animated film ''

Zootopia ''Zootopia'' (titled ''Zootropolis'' in various regions) is a 2016 American computer-animated buddy cop action comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 55th Disney animated feature film, ...

'' was renamed to ''Zootropolis'' in certain European countries, it was reported that Disney made the decision in order to not overlap with Givskud Zoo's "Zootopia" trademark, although Disney claimed that the change was made "to merely allow the film to have a unique title that works for UK audiences."

References

External links

* * {{authority control Zoos established in 1969 1969 establishments in Denmark Safari parks Zoos in Denmark Buildings and structures in Vejle Municipality Tourist attractions in the Region of Southern Denmark