Johannesburg Zoo
Encyclopedia
The Johannesburg Zoo is a 81 hectares (200.2 acre) zoo
in Johannesburg
, South Africa
. Established in 1904, it has traditionally been owned and operated by the City of Johannesburg. However, it has recently been turned into a corporation and registered as a Section 21 non-profit organisation.
The zoo is dedicated to the accommodation, enrichment, husbandry, and medical care of wild animals, and houses about 2000 individuals of 320 species.
Tours and excursions around the zoo are offered under the auspices of the zoo's education department.
It is one of the few places in the world with white lion
s (a genetic mutation of African lions), and has had considerable success in their breeding; these are more sought after than tawny lions by other zoos. The Johannesburg Zoo is also the only zoo in South Africa to have successfully bred Siberian Tigers, the largest cats in the world. "Twist" the male Siberian, weighs 320 kg, and is the father of all the Siberian Tigers to be found in South Africa. Max the gorilla
was probably the Zoo's best known resident.
Due to requirements in the Deed of Gift under which the land for the Johannesburg Zoo and the neighboring Zoo Lake was acquired, the zoo, and neighboring park, is one of very few public areas that was never segregated during Apartheid in South Africa
.
Zoo
A zoological garden, zoological park, menagerie, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred....
in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. Established in 1904, it has traditionally been owned and operated by the City of Johannesburg. However, it has recently been turned into a corporation and registered as a Section 21 non-profit organisation.
The zoo is dedicated to the accommodation, enrichment, husbandry, and medical care of wild animals, and houses about 2000 individuals of 320 species.
Tours and excursions around the zoo are offered under the auspices of the zoo's education department.
It is one of the few places in the world with white lion
White lion
The white lion is occasionally found in wildlife reserves in South Africa and is a rare color mutation of the Kruger subspecies of lion . It has been perpetuated by selective breeding in zoos around the world...
s (a genetic mutation of African lions), and has had considerable success in their breeding; these are more sought after than tawny lions by other zoos. The Johannesburg Zoo is also the only zoo in South Africa to have successfully bred Siberian Tigers, the largest cats in the world. "Twist" the male Siberian, weighs 320 kg, and is the father of all the Siberian Tigers to be found in South Africa. Max the gorilla
Max (gorilla)
Max, was a Western Lowland Gorilla held at the Johannesburg Zoo who became famous in 1997 after being shot and wounded by Isaac Mofokeng, a criminal that entered his enclosure at the zoo while attempting to evade police....
was probably the Zoo's best known resident.
Due to requirements in the Deed of Gift under which the land for the Johannesburg Zoo and the neighboring Zoo Lake was acquired, the zoo, and neighboring park, is one of very few public areas that was never segregated during Apartheid in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.