Zoopark Tirana () is a public zoo located in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

. It is the only zoo of its kind in the country. Built during 1960–1961, the zoo is concentrated in an area of in the southern part of the city, between the

Grand Park Grand Park is a park located in the civic center of Los Angeles, California. First developed in 1966 as the 'Civic Center Mall' with plazas, fountains and a Court of Flags, it is now a part of the larger redevelopment known as the Grand Avenu ...

and the

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 ...

Infrastructure

Presently the infrastructure of the zoo is in a bad state, needing funds for reparations and animal care. There are not many animals on display, just some: bears,

lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large 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 dimorphic; adult ...

llamas The llama (; ) (''Lama glama'') is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since the Pre-Columbian era. Llamas are social animals and live with others as a herd. Their wool is s ...

, monkeys,

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

foxes Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

, and some birds. The cages are small, not very clean and visitors are advised not to stress the animals. Despite its poor appearance, the zoo is still popular with local visitors and children who come here to play.

Controversy

The zoo has been described by many visitors as an animal prison, mostly because of the bad conditions in which the animals live. On 2015 it was closed because a video footage was released, in which a bull attacked a donkey and nothing was done to help the animal. Animal Activists and Environmentalists always pressured the local authorities to close the zoo down and end the cruelty towards the animals kept there. Tirana's Municipality recently announced its intention to extend the zoo into a park, creating better conditions for the animals. The natural landscape of the zoo full of trees and green spaces has been tarnished considerably with the rise of new apartment flats in the area. 6 of the saddest zoos in the world
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References

Buildings and structures in Tirana 1966 establishments in Albania Zoos established in 1966 Tourist attractions in Tirana Zoos in Albania {{Albania-struct-stub