9. Parque Zoológico de Gouveia, 6290 Gouveia
The Zoo de Gouveia is a small zoo located between Oporto and Coimbra but
much further inland.
At the park they exhibit different species of deer, interesting native
rare breeds of dogs and donkeys
and some small mammals like civet cats. 10. Europaradise, 3140 Montemor o Velho (www.europaradise-park.com)
See report and pictures 11.
Zoo-Oeste, 2565 Ramalhal (www.zoooeste.com)
Zoo-Oeste is the small zoo of an animal dealer. Again the collection is
located on a quinta – an
ex-farmland area. The dealer provides a small café for the people
visiting the zoo. Large hoofstock
from sitatunga to giraffe are kept in simple fenced paddocks. There is a
pond for waterfowl with some
geese, ducks and swans. Established in 1994, the site is only for
dealing and thus for commercial
purposes. One can find it about 50 km north of Lisbon. 12.
Centro de Recuperação do Lobo Ibérico, 2669 Malveira
(www.lobo.fc.ul.pt)
The Iberian Wolf Recovery Centre was founded in 1987 to help rescue this
subspecies (Canis
lupus signatus). The people running the sanctuary insist on the fact
that the IWRC is not a zoo.
The seven-ha site is located 30 km north of Lisbon in an isolated valley
with dense forest vegetation.
Several packs of the wolves live in different enclosures. Information
about each individual is provided
for interested visitors. To visit the park is possible only with an
appointment, which can be made
by phone or mail. The entrance fee is €2.50. 13. Jardim Zoológico de Lisboa, 1549 Lisboa (www.zoo.pt)
See report and pictures 14.
Quinta Pedagógica dos Olivais, 1800 Lisboa (www.cm-lisboa.pt)
This farm dealing with animal and agricultural matters was created for
educational purposes. Here
school groups especially, but also some tourists and private families,
can learn about life on a farm
and enjoy the contact with live domestic animals. Traditional
handicrafts are shown to interested
visitors. After being reopened in January 2005, the farm is open all day
during the week. An
appointment is only necessary for groups. 15. Oceanário de Lisboa, 1990 Lisboa (www.oceanario.pt)
See report and pictures 16.
Aquario Vasco da Gama, 1495 Cruz Quebrada (http://aquariovgama.marinha.pt)
See report and pictures 17.
Parque Marechal Carmona, 2750 Cascais
(www.bicharada.net/animais/index.php)
Located between the hippodrome and the harbour, this beautiful old park
is a great place for people
and visitors to relax in Cascais. The little village is located by the
sea 30 km west of Lisbon. In the
park a mini-zoo with some small mammals such as rabbits and porcupines
as well as some typical
birds like peacocks, pheasants, pigeons, parrots etc. can be seen. In
the centre of the park visitors
can enjoy a lake with swans, geese, ducks and pond turtles.
People use this park for recreation, running and walking. A children's
playground and an area for
traditional Portuguese games can also be found. The 70-year-old park is
open from morning to night
during the summer months and some hours less in the winter. 18.
Museu Oceanográfico, 2900 Portinho da Arrábida
(www.azeitao.net/arrabida/forte.htm)
Museu Oceanográfico is a small museum with some fish tanks displaying
the fish of the region.
It is located in the historic fortress of Santa Maria da Arrábida. The
building stands right by the sea
50 km south of Lisbon and some kilometres west of Setúbal. The region
around the fortress is the
beautiful Parque Natural da Arrábida, a national park famous for its
vegetation, megalithic
monuments and some historical buildings. In 1987 the fortress was
integrated into the national park
for public reasons and in 1991 the aquarium was built inside the
fortress. The entrance fee to the
fortress was €1.50. 19. Coudelaria de Alter do Chão, 7740 Alter do Chão
(www.snc.min-agricultura.pt)
The coudelaria ('stud farm' in Portuguese) is located a long way inland
close to the Spanish
border, about 220 km north-east of Lisbon.
In 1996 the historic group of buildings was transformed into a tourist
attraction and opened to the
public. The 300-ha property is devoted to the breeding and conservation
of the Lusitano horse, an
old Iberian breed. Founded as a royal stud farm in 1748, the farm went
through different periods
of use. A museum on the site explains the developments, ups and downs. A
falconry, historical
buildings and sometimes horse events can be seen during a visit. A café
is available for the public.
The stud farm is open in the morning and afternoon, but closed over
lunch time. 20. Fluviário de Mora, 7490 Cabeção/Mora (www.fluviariomora.pt)
Opened on 20 March 2007, the Fluviário de Mora is the largest river
aquarium (fluviário) in
Europe. More than 500 species of freshwater fish, aquatic reptiles such
as the anaconda, and some
amphibians are displayed in large and modern tanks, often open-topped.
The educational aim is to
explain about native Portuguese river ecosystems, but also to show some
tropical rivers with piranhas,
etc. Life in a lake is displayed and Mediterranean pond turtles
(Mauremys leprosa) are shown.
A highlight is the exhibit for the only mammal species – the Asian
small-clawed otter (Aonyx
cinerea). Seeing them swimming under water in the small river bed and
entering their burrow under
water is quite amazing.
In the first 12 days more than 10,000 people visited the collection in
Mora, which is located about
100 km east of Lisbon. The entrance fee is €6.00. 21. Monte Selvagem, 7050 Montemor-o-Novo (www.monteselvagem.pt)
See report and pictures 22.
Insectozoo, 7940 Vila Ruiva (www.cappas-insectozoo.com.pt)
In 1998 Mr João Pedro Cappas e Sousa opened his museum for mainly social
bees and other social
insects he had worked on and with during the previous years. The
entrance fee is €10.00 and a visit
has to be arranged beforehand. Group sizes are up to 15 persons. The
owner or one of his employees
will guide the groups. The insect zoo is located 180 km south-east of
Lisbon. During a visit one learns
about the relationship between man and insects, and sees various species
of termites and ants as well
as bees and wasps. 23. Badoca Safari Park, 7501 Vila Nova de Santo André (www.badoca.com)
See report and pictures 24.
Zoonatura, 7700 Almodôvar
This small theme park is located about 75 km north of Faro in the
Algarve region. Besides a
children's zoo and some domestic species the park offers donkey rides
and also carriage tours. 25. Omega Parque, 8550 Monchique (www.omegaparque.com)
See report and pictures 26.
Parque Biológico da Serra de Silves (Centro Cinegético), 8300 Silves
This little collection is located in a dry and dusty valley close to
Silves, about 15 km from the coast.
The hoofstock such as wild boar, horses and ponies are housed in some
paddocks. Birds like
waterfowl live in concrete ponds, and some mammals - including large
primates like olive baboons
and small mammals like mongooses, rabbits etc. - live in a few extremely
small and dark cages. Even
the owners did not know about the exact size of their property, though
they have apparently been
running the place for 20 years.
A Portuguese zoo insider told us that some of the animals were recently
rescued
from the park and taken to a sanctuary in Wales. At the time of our
visit the park was still open to the public and - believe it or not - claimed to be dedicated to
educational purposes for school
children! 27. Krazy World - Algarve Zoo, 8365 Algôz (www.krazyworld.com)
In a review of the history of this place the management claim that it
has been 'a fully fledged zoo' since the opening of 'Amazonia', which sports snakes, crocodiles and
alligators.
Krazy World theme park was opened in 1994 as a mini golf course. Proving
to be very popular,
it soon expanded and in 1996 the first animals - from ostrich to llama,
wallaby, emu, goat and deer - arrived for the children's zoo. In 1998 camels arrived and the
Amazonia complex was built to house
'spectacular' tropical animals like parrots and reptiles, and even for a
daily crocodile show. Amazonia
consists of several buildings and open-air exhibits.
In 2007 at Krazy World 27 species of reptiles were kept, as well as nine
species of mammals and
eight of birds. The entrance fee of €17.50 perfectly demonstrates the
purely commercial purposes
of this theme park and thus a visit would be interesting merely for
reptile specialists. The name 'Algarve Zoo' is a bit misleading, as this is just an exhibition of some
animals between mini golf
courses and some rides. Krazy World is located 13 km north of Albufeira. 28.
Parque Zoológico de Lagos, 8600 Lagos (www.zoolagos.com)
See report and pictures 29.
Zoomarine, 8200 Albufeira (www.zoomarine.com)
See report and pictures 30.
Oásis Tropical Park and Aqua Show, 8125 Quarteira
(www.aquashowpark.com)
Aqua Show is a water theme park with various pools, slides and water fun
events. Besides all this
a parrot show and a bird of prey show are offered to entertain the
visitors. In the latter a secretary
bird is presented. At the Oásis Tropical Park more than 60 species of
birds are exhibited, among them
flamingos, toucans and parrots. The park is located on the Algarve coast
road 125 a few kilometres
west of Faro. The entrance fee in 2007 was €20.00. 31.
Museu e Aquario Municipal do Funchal, 9004 Funchal
(www.cm-funchal.pt)
This aquarium is located on the island of Madeira in the historic palace
of São Pedro. The collection
of fish and other marine life was founded in 1929. The entrance fee in
2007 was €2.30. Besides the
aquarium, the natural history museum and the official municipal library
are located in the old
building. The museum displays hundreds of mounted animals like sea
birds, marine mammals and
fish species in permanent exhibitions. More places to see animals 32.
Jardim da Alameda
João de Deus, Faro
In Faro, the oldest garden in the Algarve, the 'Jardim da Alameda
João de Deus' is very famous
for its various old trees. Since its reopening in 2005 a lot of new
vegetation has been planted, leisure
facilities like mini-golf are being installed, and the old bird cages,
waterfowl on the lake and freeranging
peacocks are still on the site. 33. Parque Natural da Ria Formosa, 8700 Olhão
(www.olhao.web.pt/parquenatural)
The nature park was founded in 1987 and covers an area of 184 km². Sixty
km of the coastline
are integrated with this park, the major part being around Faro where
the most of the sand dunes and
small islands are located.
Just 5 km east of Faro the nature education centre of Marim is located.
Here people can enter a
60-ha area which is part of the nature park. A visitor centre explains
about the idea of the nature park.
Fish breeding ponds, bird breeding areas, salt production and a bird
sanctuary are open for visits.
On this estuarine piece of land one finds wild chameleons, native wading
birds, herons and waterfowl,
interesting crustaceans like fiddler crabs (Uca tangeri) and a breeding
station for a local dog breed,
the Portuguese water dog. The symbol of the park is the purple swamphen
(Porphyrio porphyrio),
which lives and breeds on the site. This scientific and tourist park
gives a good impression of seashore
life in the past and today. It is definitely worth a visit.
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