Rostov Zoo
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}{{Infobox zoo
|name=Rostov-on-Don Zoo
|native_name=Ростовский зоопарк
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|image=Rostov-on-Don-Zoo-Rhino.jpg
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|location=Rostov-on-Don, Rostov Oblast, Russia
|coordinates={{Coord|47|15|09|N|39|40|15|E|display=inline,title}}
|area=98.2 hectares
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|num_animals=5.000
|num_species=400
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|annual_visitors=↘184 370 (2014), ↗185 555 (2015)
|members=
|exhibits=1
|owner=
|director=Alexander Zhadobin
(since Dec 2016)[https://news.mail.ru/politics/28335332/ Ростовский зоопарк официально возглавил Александр Жадобин]
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|website={{URL|http://zoopark-rostov.ru}}
|date_established=1927}}
Rostov-on-Don Zoo is a zoo in Russia located in Rostov-on-Don. The zoo is a member of 38 programs involved in the conservation of endangered animals.
It features such animals as tigers, lions, pygmy hippopotamus, Asian elephants, Dagestan and Bezoar goats, Siamese crocodiles, and flamingos.{{Cite web|url=https://dontourism.ru/en/ShowplaceView.aspx?id=789|title = The Rostov Zoo - Tourist attraction Dontourism.ru}} Rostov-on-Don Zoo is a member of the International Species Information System. A large park is a main feature of the zoo, making it a popular place among local citizens.
History
{{Expand section|date=June 2018}}
File:Ammotragus_lervia_in_Rostov_zoo.jpg in Rostov-on-Don Zoo, 2010]]
The zoo was founded in June 1927 to serve as a pet enclosure for a nearby school named after Marshal S. M. Budyonny (now known as School No. 43 on Budennovsky Street, 64). The school's collection of animals was moved to the outskirts of the town in the autumn of 1929.
On 5 September 2009, Rostov-on-Don Zoo received three elephants, which had previously been held at the Berlin Zoo Friedrichsfelde. The zoo, which hadn't had elephants in over twenty years, now hosts them in exchange for a polar bear.{{cite web|url=http://eco.rian.ru/nature/20090907/184043306.html|title=Ростовский зоопарк поменял белого медвежонка на трех слонов|author=Юлия Насулина|date=7 September 2009|publisher=РИА Новости|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120709041326/http://eco.ria.ru/nature/20090907/184043306.html|archivedate=9 July 2012|url-status=dead|accessdate=19 September 2009}} In December 2010, a female baby elephant was born in the zoo.{{cite web|url=http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=417793|title=Ростовскому зоопарку достался "лишний" слонёнок|author=Вероника Богма|publisher=Russia-1|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101230230759/http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=417793|archivedate=30 December 2010|url-status=live|accessdate=7 January 2010}}
Collection
File:Rostov-on-Don-Zoo-Rhino.jpg in Rostov-on-Don Zoo, August 2008]]
The zoo is home to about 5,000 animals belonging to 400 species.{{Citation needed|date=June 2018}} There is also a section of the aquarium which presents inhabitants of the underwater world — from the fish of the Don region to freshwater stingrays and crabs from South America. There are a crocodiles from Southeast Asia, turtles, snakes from Central Asia, Africa, America, as well as other reptiles kept in terrariums.