Shanghai Zoo

It was originally built in Xijiao park. Shanghai Zoo is a national large-scale zoo, covering an area of 743000 square meters. It has more than 620 kinds of animals on display, and the museum area for raising animals on display is 47237 square meters. It is one of the top ten zoos in China and the second largest city zoo in China.

Shanghai Zoo

Shanghai Zoo is located at 2381 Hongqiao Road, Changning District, Shanghai, close to Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport. It was built in 1954, formerly known as Xijiao park. Shanghai Zoo is a national large-scale zoo, covering an area of 743000 square meters, raising more than 400 kinds of animals on display. The museum area for raising animals on display is 47237 square meters. It is one of the top ten zoos in China and the second largest city zoo in China.

Shanghai Zoo has an area of about 74 hectares, raising and displaying more than 400 kinds of rare and precious wildlife and more than 6000 animals (heads). Among them are the world-famous giant panda with the name of "national treasure" and "living fossil", as well as China's special rare wild animals such as golden monkey, South China tiger and Chinese alligator, as well as representative animals around the world such as gorilla, African lion, giraffe, kangaroo and Tapir. Nearly 600 kinds of trees and more than 100000 trees are planted in the park, especially 100000 square meters of fresh and open lawn, which basically maintains the terrain of the golf course 50 years ago. Every green landscape in the park is combined with the ecological environment of animals. Especially in Swan Lake, there are reeds and trees inside and outside the lake area, and groups of pelicans and geese often hover in the blue sky, with beautiful and vigorous posture. In recent years, with the goal of building an Urban Ecological Zoo, Shanghai Zoo has gradually transformed and built a new visual barrier free ecological animal exhibition area to make visitors feel as if they are in the nature and enjoy the beauty of the wild.

Since its opening, Shanghai Zoo has received nearly 160 million visitors, from a simple place to a comprehensive park with four functions: entertainment and leisure, animal knowledge popularization, scientific and technological research and wildlife protection. With beautiful landscape, wonderful wildlife world, ecological wildlife exhibition area, and harmonious coexistence between human and animals, Shanghai Zoo will give visitors good memories and love for nature.

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Historical evolution

Shanghai Zoo was originally a golf course. According to the recollections of several old workers in the field, about the 26th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1900), the British Overseas Chinese opened the old Yutai stable here, covering an area of more than 20 mu (1.33 hectares), which expanded to about 100 mu (6.67 hectares) during the reign of emperor Xuantong (1909-1911). In 1914, eight British businessmen, including Swire Pacific, Jardine Pacific and HSBC, bought the land. In 1915, a golf course Club (also known as Hongqiao dipper course) was established. The land use was expanded to about 150 mu (10 HA) and increased to 417 mu (27.8 HA) in 1930.

In June 1954, the general office of the State Council announced to the Shanghai Municipal People's government that an elephant presented to Chairman Mao Zedong by the Dai people of Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, would be displayed in Shanghai. So the idea of building the western suburb park into a zoo was put on the agenda. In July, the Municipal Public Works Bureau sent a group of engineering and technical personnel and zoo management personnel headed by Cheng XuKe, deputy director of the park management office, to Beijing Zoo to study, and invited sasnowski, director of Moscow Zoo in Beijing, to discuss the planning and related matters. In August, sasanovsky and leandrova, the veterinary director of Moscow Zoo, came to Shanghai to assist in the survey of Xijiao Park, Longhua nursery and Huajing Changqiao Town, and finally decided to expand Xijiao Park into a zoo. The planned zoo integrates exhibition, production, scientific research and science popularization, with a total area of 2000 mu (133.33 HA). Before the completion of the zoo, the original cultural rest park will be retained, but new facilities for mass cultural activities will not be built.

On March 20, 1953, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs approved the report of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government on the resumption of the golf course in Xinjing district. On June 12 of the same year, the Municipal Foreign Affairs Office discussed with the Municipal Public Works Bureau, the Municipal Real Estate Administration Bureau, the Municipal Labor Bureau and the Xinjing District Office of the Municipal Federation of Trade Unions about the recovery of Hongqiao Golf Course. In July of the same year, the park management office of the municipal works bureau took back the land of the golf course according to law, and purchased the buildings and other facilities at the same time with 17000 yuan. In October of the same year, the Municipal Construction Committee decided to build a cultural park here. Xu Jingyou, the gardening branch of the park management office, was responsible for the overall planning of the project. In October 1953, the office was responsible for organizing the construction. By May of the next year, the greening, roads, sewers, lighting and other supporting projects had been completed, including bamboo gate, Wuqu corridor, octagonal corridor, double eaves tower, hexagonal pavilion, small square Pavilion and other buildings, as well as skating rink and children's garden. The investment is 853300 yuan. On May 25, 1954, the park with an area of 421 mu (28.07 hectares) was opened to the public and named Xijiao park. During the first ten days of opening up, the number of tourists per day was as high as 30000-150000, traffic jams outside the park and damage to flowers and trees inside the park. Therefore, an emergency decision was made on June 5 to suspend the opening of the park. During this period, the Municipal Bureau of works, together with relevant departments, took some corresponding measures: building a 12 meter wide gate and an 8 meter wide wooden bridge in the southeast of the park; building a 21 mu (1.4 HA) non motor vehicle parking lot outside the park; and making appropriate improvements in ticketing methods, traffic management, catering supply and facilities inside the park. The park reopened on June 21.

In December 1954, after the criticism of "anti waste", the planning area of the park was reduced. Finally, it was decided to requisition 373 mu (50.27 hectares) of land in the north of the western suburb park on the basis of the original 421 mu of land. Wu Zhenqian, the gardener, was responsible for the overall planning. The main design personnel, Yu Songhua, Gu Zheng, Xu Jingyou, Hong Weilie, Yan Deqing, and the East China Architectural Design Institute and the Engineering and technical personnel of Shanghai Civil Architecture Design Institute. Construction began immediately. The building area of the animal cage is 1857 square meters. Except for the elephant room, which is a reinforced concrete building, the rest are simple facilities. In the summer of 1955, the Municipal Park Management Office transferred some animals from Zhongshan Park Zoo and Fuxing Park Zoo to the western suburb park for exhibition.

At the same time of building the zoo, the park management office of the Municipal Bureau of works sent Chen Keli, deputy director of the western suburb park, to lead six technicians and breeders to Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province to pick up and transport elephants. At that time, not only was there no railway in Southwest China, but there were no roads in many places. The transport personnel overcame all kinds of difficulties in life, language, transportation and so on. It took more than seven months to transport the elephants safely to Shanghai on June 12, 1955. During this period, more than 20 species of animals such as monkey, tiger, bear, golden cat, red deer, red wolf and giant salamander were collected in Yunnan and Guizhou, and transported back to Shanghai with elephants. On July 9, an elephant named Nanjiao was officially on display. In that year, 46 animals of 31 species were exhibited in Xijiao Park, covering an area of about 40000 square meters.

At the turn of spring and summer in 1955, Beijing newspapers and periodicals focused on Sanlihe office building and friendship hotel, criticized the "retro" of architectural design, and set off a trend of anti waste. Shanghai newspapers and periodicals also focus on the elephant room in the western suburb park, criticizing the design idea of "pursuing form, ignoring practicality, extravagance and waste". Therefore, the construction plan of the zoo was re examined, and the area was reduced to 279 mu (186000 square meters), including 645 mu (430000 square meters) including the park.

In the late spring and early summer of 1956, the Chinese Academy of Sciences suggested that in addition to Beijing, 10 big cities such as Shanghai should also build zoos. This proposal was supported by some national, provincial and municipal leaders. As a result, the planned area of Shanghai Zoo was changed to 990 mu (66 hectares). The original cultural rest Park was no longer retained, and the whole park was rearranged as a complete zoo. According to the law of animal evolution, the cages were set up from low to high, and made consistent with the visiting route. During 1956-1957, most of the simple cages were demolished, and new large swimming pool, wading pool, songbird cage, raptor cage, canine cage, small omnivore cage, Shihu room, Bear Mountain and monkey mountain were built. In March 1959, 319 mu (21.27 HA) of land was resumed, and the park area was expanded to 1055.7 mu (70.38 HA). Swan Lake, Shihu mountain, xiongmaoling, yeniushan, Luyuan and Baihua hall were built in the park, initially forming the appearance of a large comprehensive zoo.

After 1960, giraffe hall, sea lion pool, pheasant garden and small cage were built one after another. After 1970, it also built banma house, goldfish Gallery, songbird house, Penguin House, ostrich house, orangutan house, hippo house and kangaroo house. In 1978, another animal breeding farm with an area of 37000 square meters was set up in zhongxinjing, Hami road. After 1980, rhinoceros house, small animal garden and giraffe hall were built. By 1989, the building area of animal cage had reached 114000 square meters. In view of the fact that most of the cage houses built in the early days were old and damaged, a large-scale reconstruction was carried out with the approval of the Municipal Construction Committee in

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