Guyana Zoo (officially Guyana Zoological Park) 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 ...

located in Georgetown, the capital of

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

. The zoo officially opened in 1952, but its grounds had been used as

botanical gardens A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

since 1895. Some of its most popular attractions are

harpy eagle The harpy eagle (''Harpia harpyja'') is a neotropical species of eagle. It is also called the American harpy eagle to distinguish it from the Papuan eagle, which is sometimes known as the New Guinea harpy eagle or Papuan harpy eagle. It is the ...

s and

manatee Manatees (family Trichechidae, genus ''Trichechus'') are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing three of the four living species ...

s. As of 2005, the zoo had approximately 25 staff.

History

In 1877, the government voted to establish a botanical garden, bringing in John Frederick Waby from the UK who spent the next 35 years in landscaping Guyana's gardens. The gardens feature tropical flowers and palms, including the national flower, the Victoria Regia Lily. Interest in creating a zoo is traced back to 1880, but it wasn't until 1952 when the zoo was opened. The zoo features endemic as well as endangered animals of Guyana. The zoo received criticism in 2010 for not fitting the standard of modern zoos. The high expense of overhaul and lack of funding and private sector support have been an issue.

Partnership

The

Calgary Zoo The Calgary Zoo is located in Bridgeland, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, just east of the city's downtown and adjacent to the Inglewood and East Village neighborhoods. It is accessible via Calgary's C-Train light rail system, by car via Memorial ...

has partnered with Guyana Zoo as "sister" zoos.

References

External links

Aerial view

Guyana Zoo - Part 1 (YouTube)

Photos at Flickr

Zoos in Guyana Georgetown, Guyana Zoos established in 1952 1952 establishments in British Guiana {{Guyana-stub