Pinnawala Open Zoo

Coordinates: 7°18′2″N 80°23′18″E / 7.30056°N 80.38833°E / 7.30056; 80.38833
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Pinnawala Open Zoo
Entrance
Map
7°18′2″N 80°23′18″E / 7.30056°N 80.38833°E / 7.30056; 80.38833
Date opened17 April 2015
LocationPinnawala, Rambukkana
Land area44 acres
No. of animals100+
No. of species30+
Major exhibitsMammals, Birds, Reptiles
Location of Sri Lanka

Pinnawala Open Zoo (also called Pinnawala Zoo: Sinhala: පින්නවල සත්වෝද්‍යානය) is a zoological garden in Pinnawala, Sri Lanka, which is situated closer to the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. The zoo was opened for public on 17 April 2015. This is the first open-air zoo in Sri Lanka and second zoo in Sri Lanka after Dehiwala zoo. The zoo was opened for the visitors free of charge from 17 – 30 of April 2015.[1][2]

History

Sri Lanka has a rich diversity of animals across the country. Basically, the Dehiwala zoo provides all the facilities for many animals all over the world and due to high abundance of species, there was a difficulty of keeping endemic and native animals of Sri Lanka in those controlled condition. The commencement of Pinnawala Open Zoo first came through the period of former President

Mahinda Rajapakse's period.[3] The zoo was opened on 17 April 2015 by Tourism & Sports minister Mr. Navin Dissanayake and National Zoological Gardens Department Director General Anura de Silva. The expenditure for constructing the zoo is 862 million LKR.[4]

Zoo

The Pinnawala zoo is home for the many endemic animals in Sri Lanka. The zoo is divided into 7 enclosures, where the monkey island, Bird aviary, Amphibian area, and Pet area 2 are still in construction. There are internal road network throughout the zoo.

The 7 main enclosures are:

  • Pet area
  • Swan pond
  • Deer enclosure
  • Crocodile enclosure
  • Leopard enclosure
  • Bear enclosure
  • Butterfly garden

Animals

The zoo is divided into two sections: the Sri Lankan zone and the World zone. Currently, the zoo is home for many boring animals such as

Purple-faced leaf monkey, Wild boar, Sambar, Asian elephant, and different endemic bird species. The leopard watching area is the largest of them all.[5]

Gallery

  • Flamingo section
    Flamingo section
  • Leopard enclosure
    Leopard enclosure
  • Leopard watching room
    Leopard watching room
  • Sloth bear enclosure
    Sloth bear enclosure
  • Butterfly garden
    Butterfly garden

See also

References

  1. ^ "Opening of Pinnawala Open Air Zoo on April 17".
  2. ^ "Pinnawala open air zoo opening today | Daily News Online : Sri Lanka's National News". dailynews.lk. Archived from the original on 2015-04-17.
  3. ^ "Pinnawala open air zoo opening today | Daily News Online : Sri Lanka's National News". dailynews.lk. Archived from the original on 2015-04-17.
  4. ^ "An Open Air Zoo to be declared open in Pinnawala". 15 April 2015.
  5. ^ "The First Open-air Zoo in Sri Lanka to Open in Pinnawala".

External links