Matecaña City Zoo


The Matecaña City Zoo is a zoo located in Pereira, Colombia.
The zoo has a collection of 800 individuals from 150 different species, including birds, mammals and snakes from the Americas, Africa and Asia, as well as endemic species. The design allows the surroundings of each species to closely mimic their natural habitat. The botanic gardens also have diverse native and non-native flora.

History

It was established in 1951 by the Pereira Society of Public Improvements on of land from the Matecaña farm. The original purpose had been to build a football stadium, but the ground was not considered suitable.
In 1959 the first secure cages were built to lock the few captive animals, the project was made official and the purchase of animals was authorized. In 1961 was the chronological accuracy of its foundation and opened an item in the budget for food, maintenance and management of animals like condors, Bengal tigers, eagles and the Colombian Atlantic coast flamingos. In 1968 the park was visited by dignitaries from Mexico and made contact with the Chapultepec Zoo. The animals purchased were an Asian elephant, a zebra, two hippos, sacred baboons and sable antelopes. expanding the collection.
The collection was maintained until 1993 when exotic African fauna arrived from Hacienda Napoles. In 1999 the education department was established to coordinate environmental education programs for the conservation of biodiversity in Colombia and spread the importance of all species of wild fauna and flora.

Matecaña zoo sites