- Korkeasaari
Korkeasaari (Swedish: Högholmen) is an
island inHelsinki ,Finland where the country's biggestzoo is situated. The English name of the zoo is Helsinki Zoo.The
zoo is located on a 22 hectare rocky island. It's connected to mainland via a bridge toMustikkamaa , where there is access to the zoo all year round. A ferry and water buses take visitors to the island summertime from Kauppatori andHakaniemi .Korkeasaari is one of the most popular places among visitors in Helsinki. The animals on display are divided geographically to Amazonia, Africasia and Borealia. Animal species number to about two hundred, and plant species to a thousand.
History
Korkeasaari has been a recreational park for
Helsinki people long before the zoo was founded - since1569 . It was first used as pasture and for fishing. In 19th century it was used for storing timber. DuringCrimean war the island was a military area. Helsinki city got it back1864 and then the recreational use really started: steam boat traffic was started, and a restaurant and facilities for dancing, bowling and picnic were provided.The zoo was started
1889 .Collection
As in all zoos, the main collection is made of
mammal s andbird s, but evenreptile s,fish andinvertebrate s are on display. (The "Amazonia" building has an aquarium department.) No big mammals (elephant s,giraffe s,hippopotamus ) are on display, as all warm climate animals must be indoors for wintertime. The collection ofbig cat s is quite good, and thesnow leopard s born in Korkeasaari are famous.Two or three times a year the zoo organizes "night walks", when visitors can see the
big cat s and other nocturnal animals in their natural waking hours.External links
* [http://www.zoo.hel.fi/index_eng.html Helsinki Zoo website in English]
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