Beijing Zoo
Beijing Zoo, situated to the west
of Beijing Exhibition Center, was known for a short
time after the founding of the People's Republic as
the Western Suburbs Park (Xijiao Gongyuan). The grounds
combine cultivated flower gardens with stretches of
natural scenery, including dense groves of trees, stretches
of grassland, a small stream, lotus pools and small
hills dotted with pavilions and halls.
In the 18th century, the zoo was known as the Sanbeizi
Gardens, supposedly named after the third son of Emperor
Kangxi, Prince Cheng Yin. Another explanation is that
Sanbeizi refereed to the Qing courtier Fu Kang' an and
the Gardens the site of his villa. In fact, as early
as the Ming Dynasty, an imperial mansion called the
Garden of Happiness and Friendship constructed for Prince
Kang stood here, and during the Qing, part of the Sanbeizi
Gardens called the Garden of Continuity (Jiyuan) became
the private property of an official in the Bureau of
Palace Affairs.
In 1906, during the reign of Emperor
Guangxu, the park area became an agricultural experimental
farm and a zoo. Known as the Garden of Ten Thousand
Animals (Wanshengyuan), it opened to the public in 1908.
Under the successive rule of the Northern
Warlords, the Japanese and the Kuomintang, the park
became increasingly desolate. The only elephant died
in 1937, and the Japanese, under the pretext of protecting
themselves against air raids, poisoned the remaining
lions, tigers and leopards. On the eve of the founding
of the People's Republic of?China in 1949, the park
housed only 12 monkeys, two parrots and a blind emu.
The park was reopened to the public in 1950, and on
April 10, 1955 formally named the Beijing Zoo.
The zoo has developed rapidly and
by 1987 it covered an area of over 40,000 square meters.
Bears, elephants, pandas, lions, tigers, songbirds,
hippopotamuses, rhinoceroses, antelopes and giraffes
were brought in the late 1950s, and a gorilla cage,
leaf-monkey cage and aquarium house, was opened, containing
specimens of over 100 species of reptiles from all over
the world, including crocodiles and pythons.
At present, the zoo houses over 7,000
creatures of 600 different species, including the giant
panda, red-crowned crane and Pere David's deer-all unique
to China-as well as the African giraffe, rhinoceros,
chimpanzee and antelope; American continent; wild ox
from Europe; and elephant and gibbon from India.
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