The Giza Zoo, Cairo

The Giza Zoo is a zoological park located on the site of a former harem. It is one of the few green spaces in Cairo and is home to several imported and native animals.

The Giza Zoo was built by Khedive Ismail and consisted of 180 birds and 78 animals from his private menagerie. It was located on the site of the harem gardens and covered an area of over 52 acres. He imported plants from India, South America and Africa and a banyan tree from India still grows within the zoo. In the 1870s, the state took over the park from Khedive Ismail and it opened as a public zoo in 1890. The former harem building became a natural history museum.

The gardens have paths paved with black stone flags and pebbles laid artistically like mosaics. A suspension bridge designed by Gustave Eiffel helps visitors view animals from above and is the first elevated viewing bridge in the world. There are primate and bear grounds and a separate space for chimpanzees. It has a reptile house and taxidermist workshop. The Giza zoo is a research facility and many species including the Californian sea lion have been successfully bred here.