The Giza Zoo is a zoological park in Cairo, Egypt. It is one of the few green areas in the city - Giza's largest park. The zoo covers about 80 acres (32 ha), and is home to many endangered species, as well as a selection of endemic fauna. One day will not be enough to visit the Zoo. It needs really a seven-days' visit to see all, and appreciate everything it holds for its visitors. The zoo opens in summer from 8 am to 6 pm, or rather 7 pm, but due to the nice weather, they leave the gates open till 7 maximum. Winter hours are from 8 to 5 pm. In Ramadan, it differs a bit; the zoo opens from 9 am till 3 or 4 pm. The ticket is only 25 piasters, for Egyptians, Arabs, and foreign visitors. The beauty of the garden extends on into the night. Unlike ever before, after the gates are closed and after dark, one driving by around the huge span of the Giza Zoo will notice the beautiful multi-coloured lights, arranged in strings of beaded lights adoring the trees in forms of waterfalls, and soft hidden spotlights of different hues, placed around and throughout the zoo grounds and other strategic places. It is no longer a creepy place to pass by at night. Rare species have been successfully bred in the zoo - including the first Californian sea lion to be born in the Middle East in 2002. The zoo was built by Khedive Ismail and opened on 1 March 1891. It was built on about 50 feddan (21 hectares (52 acres)) that was once part of the harem gardens. Ismail imported many plants from India, Africa, and South America, of which a banyan tree planted about 1871 can still be seen. The original 180 birds and 78 other animals in the zoos collection were taken from Ismail's private menagerie. In the late 1870s the state took over the zoo as partial payment of the Ismail's debts. In January 1890, the harem building was opened as a natural history museum, and was used in this manner until a new museum was opened in Tahrir square in 1902. The portion of the gardens facing the Nile were sold to the public for large homes, but the harem gardens were kept intact. When the zoo was built, the exhibits with semi-natural habitats were considered spacious by European standards. The animal collection emphasized Egyptian species, and at one time claimed 20,000 individuals representing 400 species, though many of these may have been migratory birds. By the mid twentieth century, the zoo was considered one of the best zoos in the world, but it has had trouble adapting to the pressures of growth in the latter half of the century as human populations in Cairo have increased. By the end of World War II the zoo claimed 4,700 exhibits, with a total of 700 mammals and 500 reptiles. Attendance levels of 43,567 in 1889 rose to 223,525 by 1906. In 2007, the zoo hosted almost 3.4 million visitors. In 2004, the zoo lost its membership with the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA). The zoo did not pay membership fees, and then ignored the recommendations of WAZA inspectors. As of 2010, it is a member of the African Association of Zoos and Aquaria (PAAZAB), and is working towards getting re-accredited by WAZA. FACILITIES The gardens include roads paved with black stone flags from Trieste, footpaths decorated with plebbles laid out like mosaics, and a pond with a marble island that is now the zoo's Tea Island. The zoo also includes a suspension bridge designed by Gustave Eiffel that lets visitors view the animals from above. This bridge may have been the first elevated viewing area at any zoo in the world. There is also a reptile house and taxidermist's building on site. FUTURE PLANS As part of the upgrades to help the zoo recover its membership in "WAZA", in 2008 the bear exhibit was outfitted with fans and misters to help cool the bears. There are plans to run chilled water through the floors to make the bears more comfortable. There are now several activities, suitable for all ages. The children have specialized activities; the academic have activities, the youth have activities, and students have their niche, especially researchers and scientists. It's a haven also for music lovers, painters and artists. All these activities are accumulated in one place; the Giza Zoo. There is a children's playground beside the Children's Cinema Theatre and the Children's Library, for 4 to 8-years-old, consisting of computers specially for animals, environment and nature education, with electronic books that give sounds of various animals at the touch of a button, as well as displays their images in the books. This Children's Library was inaugurated in 1997. This building complex consists of two floors; the ground floor for the Library and the upper floor used as conference room for symposiums of environment preservations. The old Library, which existed since the opening of the Zoo, was not very noticeable to the public. Former curator (1995), Mr. Mustafa Awad Mustafa relocated it in order to be more conspicuous. It has a variety of research papers, books and documents, concerning nature, biology, zoology, and environmental issues. The conference hall is still active, but in 1996 and 1997, the hall has held the major symposiums after its inauguration. This conference hall can house 200 visitors, and is equipped with all the modern facilities needed for presentations and lectures. DETERIORATION: This wonderful zoo is being terribly neglected. Not only are the animals neglected and perhaps mistreated, but also the whole construction, cleanliness, care and maintenance. Garbage is strewn everywhere, and this rare heritage is falling into ruins, as everything else we neglect. I am horrified and saddened by the ignorance of our government letting this precious haven of animals, rare species and rare construction, go to pieces, as with everything else. PLEASE SAVE THE GIZA ZOO! OTHER NATIONAL ZOOS: 1. Alexandra has a zoo, 23 feddans, called 'El Nozha garden' (or zoo), recently refurbished. 2. Fayoum, five feddans, called 'El Fayoum Garden'. 3. Beni Suef, (new, opened in '98 or'99) 4. Tanta, five and a half feddans, called 'The Andalus Garden'. 5. Kafr El Sheikh, three feddans, called 'Sanaa Garden'. 6. Sharkaya, five feddans, called 'Zagazig Garden'. 7. Wadi El Rayan, 25 feddans, still under construction, and soon to open. 8. El Arish, called 'El Arish'. 9. The Fish Garden (in Cairo) is nine and a half feddans. This was also refurbished. By Hoda Nassef
