Riga Zoo

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Riga Zoo is located in Riga, the capital of Latvia. It is situated in one of Riga’s largest parks Mezaparks or Forest Park. The zoo sits on the banks of one of the largest lakes in Riga Kisezers. It was founded at the beginning of the 20th century. The zoo has around 405 species of mammals, birds, fish, invertebrates, amphibians and reptiles. Over 40 species are included in the World Red Book. Altogether Riga Zoo has around 3,542 animals. Each year the zoo receives new species of animals from foreign zoos. Riga Zoo opened in 1912 and at this time there were 88 different animal species. After two years the zoo had grown to include 534 animals among which were the first elephant and a Bison. It fell upon hard financial times during WWII and they had to sell lots of animals. Riga Zoo was closed in 1918. Up until 1931 the zoo territory was used for children’s summer camps. Then in 1932 the Latvian Forest Department of the Ministry of Agriculture was trying to decide about the protection of wild animals and birds in Latvia. The logical thing to do was to reopen the Riga Zoo. It opened again in 1933. During the occupation in 1950 Riga Zoo counted as the second Zoo Park in the Soviet Union after the one in Moscow. Once Latvia regained its independence the Riga Zoo continued to make improvements and renovations. In 1993 they established a branch “Ciruli” in the city of Liepaja. This is an open air zoo providing natural living conditions for wild animals. It has been visited by about 24,600 people and counts as a family-friendly recreation site. Riga Zoo reached the highest number of visitors in 2007 – 365,014 visitors per year. Riga Zoo is one of the places which visitors love to see when visiting this lovely city. This is the place to see a wide range of animals. One of the main missions of Riga Zoo is to preserve the animals and let them live in a natural setting. You will be able to see not only exotic and tropical animals but also Latvian animal species which naturally breed in Latvian forests, meadows and waters. My own picture of a visit to the zoo. http://www.way2latvia.com/en/travel-latvia/riga-zoo