Zoopark Tirana () is a public zoo located in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. It is the only zoo of its kind in the country. Built during 1960–1961, the zoo is concentrated in an area of in the southern part of the city, between the Grand Park and the

Botanical Gardens A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

Infrastructure

Presently the infrastructure of the zoo is in a bad state, needing funds for reparations and animal care. There are not many animals on display, just some:

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...

lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the tip of its tail. It is se ...

llamas The llama (; or ) (''Lama glama'') is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since the pre-Columbian era. Llamas are social animals and live with others as a herd. Their wool is so ...

monkeys Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes. Thus monkeys, in that sense, co ...

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

foxes Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

, and some

birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

. The cages are small, not very clean and visitors are advised not to stress the animals. Despite its poor appearance, the zoo is still popular with local visitors and children who come here to play.

Controversy

The zoo has been described by many visitors as an animal prison, mostly because of the bad conditions in which the animals live. On 2015 it was closed because a video footage was released, in which a bull attacked a donkey and nothing was done to help the animal. Animal Activists and Environmentalists always pressured the local authorities to close the zoo down and end the cruelty towards the animals kept there. Tirana's Municipality recently announced its intention to extend the zoo into a park, creating better conditions for the animals. The natural landscape of the zoo full of trees and green spaces has been tarnished considerably with the rise of new apartment flats in the area. 6 of the saddest zoos in the world
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References

Buildings and structures in Tirana 1966 establishments in Albania Zoos established in 1966 Tourist attractions in Tirana Zoos in Albania {{Albania-struct-stub