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.

Beijing China Zoo has developed rapidly and by 1987 it covered an area of over 40,000 square meters. Bears, elephants, Beijing Zoo Peacock, 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 Beijing China Zoo houses over 7,000 creatures of 600 different species, including the Beijing Zoo Peacock ,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.