The Attica Zoological Park opened in May
2000, initially as a Bird Park, hosting the 3rd largest bird collection in the
world (1500 birds from 300 different species), farm animals for the younger
visitors and 3 very impressive big aviaries with birds from the 3 continents of
Asia, Africa and America where visitors can walk through. In April 2001 we
opened a new section, the "World of
reptiles " with Pythons, Boas, Crocodiles and other reptiles and in July 2002 the
"Greek fauna " section was inaugurated with Wolfs, Brown Bears, Foxes, Wild Cats,
Lynxes etc. In February 2003 we
added a major extension, the "African
Savannah " (Giraffes, Zebra, Antelopes etc) as well as Lamas, Jaguars, Snow Leopards
, the very rare White
Lions and other beautiful
mammals.
At the end of June 2003, another extension was added to our Park, where
the visitors have the opportunity to observe the closest relative to man,
the Monkeys and Apes . In December 2004 the
session of the wild cats was extended with Tigers, Servals and
Ocelots , a big area was added to the African Savannah and a part of the New
extension was opened with Pygmy
Hippos and Prairie dogs. The new extension will be completed mid 2005 with African wild dogs, Alligators , trained
Seals and theforest of the Monkeys. Our Park offers recreational as well as
educational experiences. We believe that creating awareness is very important
for the protection of wild life and the environment in general and accordingly
we offer educational programs as well as guided tours for school
children.
Our Park is a recognized member of EAZA (European Association of Zoos and Aquaria) and as
such we apply all standards required by the Association (animal husbandry,
animal welfare, education of visitors, etc) Within the EAZA framework we
participate in 9 European Endangered Species Programs (EEP's) and 18 European
Studbook Programs (ESB's) with a view to develop captive breeding of threatened
species. Since early 2004 all our animals are registered and followed
through ISIS (International Species Information System) and
ARKS (Animal Record Keeping System) and as such we have also access to an
international inter-zoo database for all the species we keep and as well as
others we eventually intend to keep.
|
For visitors, Zoos are a place for entertainment and relaxation.
For us it is also a place of education and species
conservation.
The massive growth of the world's human
population has caused a very serious crisis for
the natural resources, the environment and all the
wild species of plants and animals which depend on
it for their survival. Many species are in threat
of extinction because their habitat have already
been degraded or destroyed. For some of these
species their only hope of survival is human care
in Zoological Parks and captive breeding
centers.
Zoos worldwide are visited by over 700 million
people each year, and their potential for making
people of all ages aware of the threat to the
global ecology is unlimited.
We believe that
today, and even more in the future, we can offer a
small contribution to all the above.
|