Parque Lecocq is a nature reserve

Nature reserve

A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...

 northwest of Montevideo

Montevideo

Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...

, Uruguay

Uruguay

Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...

, near the town of Santiago Vázquez

Santiago Vázquez, Montevideo

Santiago Vázquez is a town at the western limits of Montevideo Department in Uruguay. It is part of the barrio of Montevideo called Paso de la Arena, but its populations is counted separately from that of the city....

. It houses mammals and birds and protects flora and pursues/supports breeding programs. It is adjacent to protected wetlands.

Its mandate is to be a "support centre for biodiversity conservation both nationally and internationally."

The zoo houses one of the largest communities of the Addax

Addax

The Addax , also known as the screwhorn antelope, is a critically endangered species of antelope that lives in the Sahara desert. As suggested by its alternative name, this pale antelope has long, twisted horns. It is closely related to the oryx, but differs from other antelopes by having large...

 antelope (a critically endangered

Critically endangered

Version 2010.3 of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 3744 Critically Endangered species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and subpopulations.Critically Endangered by kingdom:*1993 Animalia*2 Fungi*1745 Plantae*4 Protista-References:...

 species) in the world.

Ana Olivera

Ana Olivera

Ana Olivera , is an Uruguayan professor and politician belonging to the Communist Party of Uruguay, which has been integrated with Frente Amplio. She has served as Deputy Minister of Social Development during the government of Tabaré Vázquez...

, the mayor of Montevideo, has announced plans to move the animals of Zoo de Villa Dolores (located in central Montevideo) to Parque Lecocq by the end of 2015.

History

The government of Montevideo's web site describes the history of Parque Lecocq as follows:

The land where the park is currently belonged to Don Francisco Lecocq (1790-1882), an outstanding man in Montevideo of his time. He was educated in England, where he forged a spirit of initiative and enterprise that applied in the importing country to its plants and animals return to their land, which still can be enjoyed in the park.

It originated in a project by architect Mario Paysée, whose goal was to create a place with animal species around the world in natural settings. It occupies an area of ​​120 hectares, bordering the protected area of ​​St Lucia Wetlands.

An arsonist set several fires at the park in early December 2008, burning seven acres. The park was temporarily closed as a result, reopening March 2009. No animals were injured, but habitat was damaged.

Resident animals

The park houses the following animals:

• capybara
  Capybara
  The capybara , also known as capivara in Portuguese, and capibara, chigüire in Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador ronsoco in Peru, chigüiro, and carpincho in Spanish, is the largest living rodent in the world. Its closest relatives are agouti, chinchillas, coyphillas, and guinea pigs...
  
   (carpinchos)
• antelope
  Antelope
  Antelope is a term referring to many even-toed ungulate species indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelopes comprise a miscellaneous group within the family Bovidae, encompassing those old-world species that are neither cattle, sheep, buffalo, bison, nor goats...
  
  
• mouflon
  Mouflon
  The mouflon is a subspecies group of the wild sheep Ovis aries. Populations of Ovis aries can be partitioned into the mouflons and urials or arkars...
  
   (muflones)
• fallow deer
  Fallow Deer
  The Fallow Deer is a ruminant mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. This common species is native to western Eurasia, but has been introduced widely elsewhere. It often includes the rarer Persian Fallow Deer as a subspecies , while others treat it as an entirely different species The Fallow...
  
   (ciervos dama)
• lion
  Lion
  The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
  
  
• zebra
  Zebra
  Zebras are several species of African equids united by their distinctive black and white stripes. Their stripes come in different patterns unique to each individual. They are generally social animals that live in small harems to large herds...
  
  
• emu
  Emu
  The Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae) is the largest bird native to Australia and the only extant member of the genus Dromaius. It is the second-largest extant bird in the world by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich. There are three subspecies of Emus in Australia...
  
  
• ostrich
  Ostrich
  The Ostrich is one or two species of large flightless birds native to Africa, the only living member of the genus Struthio. Some analyses indicate that the Somali Ostrich may be better considered a full species apart from the Common Ostrich, but most taxonomists consider it to be a...
  
   (nandues)
• peccary
  Peccary
  A peccary is a medium-sized mammal of the family Tayassuidae, or New World Pigs. Peccaries are members of the artiodactyl suborder Suina, as are the pig family and possibly the hippopotamus family...
  
   (pecaries)
• chital
  Chital
  The chital or cheetal , also known as chital deer, spotted deer or axis deer is a deer which commonly inhabits wooded regions of Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and in small numbers in Pakistan...
  
   (ciervos axis)
• colocolo (gato de pajonal)
• bobcat
  Bobcat
  The bobcat is a North American mammal of the cat family Felidae, appearing during the Irvingtonian stage of around 1.8 million years ago . With twelve recognized subspecies, it ranges from southern Canada to northern Mexico, including most of the continental United States...
  
   (gato montes)
• coati
  Coati
  Coatis, genera Nasua and Nasuella, also known as the Brazilian aardvark, Mexican tejón, hog-nosed coon, pizotes, crackoons and snookum bears, are members of the raccoon family . They are diurnal mammals native to South America, Central America, and south-western North America...
  
  
• crab eating raccoon (mano pelada)
• coendou
• crab-eating fox (zorro de monte)
• gray fox
  Gray Fox
  The gray fox is a mammal of the order Carnivora ranging throughout most of the southern half of North America from southern Canada to the northern part of South America...
  
   (zorro gris)
• monkey
  Monkey
  A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
  
   (monos)
• llama
  Llama
  The llama is a South American camelid, widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since pre-Hispanic times....