The Emperor Valley Zoo is the only
zoo
A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes.
The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoo ...
in
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
. It is located North of the
Queen's Park Savannah
Queen's Park Savannah (QPS) is a park in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Known locally as simply "the Savannah", it is Port of Spain's largest open space. It occupies about of level land, and the distance around the perimeter is about 2.2&n ...
and West of the
Royal Botanic Gardens in
Port of Spain.
The zoo was first opened on 8 November 1952 by
Governor Sir Hubert Rance. At that time, there were 10 cages containing 127 animals, mainly indigenous species. It now has a collection of over 2300 individuals and over 200 species.
The zoo was named after the large, blue Emperor or Morpho butterfly which once frequented the valley in which the zoo is situated. It covers 7.2 acres.
There are both local and foreign animals:
lions,
ocelots,
parrot
Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoide ...
s,
macaws and many more including
snake
Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...
s,
caiman
A caiman (also cayman as a variant spelling) is an alligatorid belonging to the subfamily Caimaninae, one of two primary lineages within the Alligatoridae family, the other being alligators. Caimans inhabit Mexico, Central and South America f ...
,
wildfowl
The Anatidae are the biological family of water birds that includes ducks, geese, and swans. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on all the world's continents except Antarctica. These birds are adapted for swimming, floating on ...
giraffes,
tigers
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...
and others. The categories include small
mammals
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur o ...
,
large cats, a reptile house, aquariums, a deer park, primates and ponds.
The zoo has undergone major upgrades over the past few years, both for upkeep to its existing infrastructure to bring it up to international standards as well as in preparation for additions to its animal stock. These upgrades have been undertaken by the Zoological Society of Trinidad and Tobago (ZSTT).
with financial assistance from the government of Trinidad and Tobago to the value of
TTD $56 Million.
During the upgrade period there has been the construction of a Giraffe enclosure, which was populated in December 2013 by two giraffes and the addition of a Tiger exhibit which received three tigers in 2014 - two white Bengals and a ginger Bengal. The White Bengals have successfully bred and have had two cubs in January 2015.
On 12 October 2016, the zoo announced that they had received six llamas from a nature park in Texas, USA. Zoo officials stated that of the six llamas, four are female.
References
{{Reflist, refs=
[{{cite web , url=http://www.zstt.org/images/pdf/evz_species_list.pdf , title=List of Species , publisher=Zoological Society of Trinidad and Tobago Inc. , accessdate=2011-10-04]
[{{cite web , url=http://www.zstt.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5&Itemid=13 , title=Current Projects - Infrastructural Development & Upgrade (Expansion) Project , publisher=Zoological Society of Trinidad and Tobago Inc. , accessdate=2011-10-04]
[{{cite web , url=http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,98007.html , title=Emperor Valley Zoo spreads wings , publisher=Newsday , date=2009-04-06 , accessdate=2011-10-04]
External links
Emperor Valley Zoo website
Buildings and structures in Port of Spain
Tourist attractions in Port of Spain
Nature conservation in Trinidad and Tobago