Last week I had the pleasure and the opportunity to visit the biggest and most beautiful zoo of my country. This amazing zoo is situated in Targu Mures (Romania), on the top of a hill, in the middle of a nice forest. It's not only a zoo, but a learning center for kids.
I've been to this zoo several times and can say that what makes it different from the other zoos is the no. 1 priority of the zoo, which is the well being of the animals. You see zoos in tv all the time, where the only priority of the people running the zoo is to get as much income as possible, neglecting everything else. Animals are not treated well, are malnourished and kept in small cages without any medical care. That is cruelty and anyone doing that should face serious jail time.
How To Get There
As I said earlier, the zoo is situated on the top of the hill, above the city and there's no public transport there at the moment. Usually there's a public transport, a bus going up there during summer but now with the lockdown that is not available. You can drive up there, take a cab or walk. It's a nice walk that will help you burn some calories.
Tickets And Opening Hours
The zoo is open for public between 9am and 6pm every day.
Ticket prices: 1.03€ for kids and pensioners, 4.13€ for adults, 0.52€ for a group of kids (more than 10), 2.07€ pupils and students. A family ticket would cost you 9.30€ (2 adults and 2 kids), or there's another option, 10.33€ for two adults and 3 - 5 kids. Entrance is free for disables people.
History
The zoo was established in the 60s and had an area of 600 - 700 m2. Very soon, in 1965 the surface of the zoo was increased to 20 hectares and had 3 wolves, 2 bears, 2 wild boars, 2 pheasants and a deer. These are native animals living also wildly in the country.
The number of the animals expanded gradually over the years and now it is about 500, about 80 species and the total surface of the zoo is now 40 hectares, 98.84 acres.
Welcome To The Zoo
At the entrance of the zoo, these two stone lions are greeting everyone for years now, regardless of the weather of season. They are also watching the zoo, making sure everything is in order, no one wants to leave of those who are not supposed to. Kids love this statue, they are always climbing on the lions, playing with them as these are not so dangerous as the real ones you're going to see in my post.
The whole zoo is a big park basically, with old trees offering a cool environment to visitors, even on the hottest day of the year, you are safe here. To my surprise, the huge parking lot outside the zoo was full of cars from all over the country. People are choosing domestic traveling due to the pandemic and visit places reachable in one day. Families with little kids were enjoying the good weather and what the place has to offer. This is a strange, unusual situation but also good for domestic tourism. Money that supposed to be spent abroad are now spent in the country, supporting the country's economy, which is much needed in those tough times.
Because the zoo is huge, there are benches everywhere, so you can sit down to have some rest and enjoy the flowers, trees and birds flying around freely. Two years ago when I last visited, I saw some small chariots for kids, very funny, made of wood and painted in different colors that parents could pull their kids in. I don't know if that was free or you had to pay for it, but kids loved it. Unfortunately those are not available for use at the moment, I believe due to risk of contamination spread. This way you have to carry your children if they get tired of walking.
The Bird Pavilion
For me, this pavilion has a special meaning as this is not only full of interesting and colorful birds, but also hosts the most amazing and exotic plants you can't find outside. Romania has four seasons (theoretically), which means temperatures are ranging between -30°C and +40°C.
These exotic plants would not survive outside, therefore it's good to have a place where you can enjoy them. Humidity here is higher that to what we're used to, it feels like you're in a sauna but worth it.
Birds
These are two lovely military macaws, exotic birds for us. An adult macaw can grow to 70cm and can weigh up to 1.1kg. These two didn't look like adults though. I love those colorful feathers.
This one looked like an adult. He was busy with cleaning his feet although I don't know if it's a male or female. It's a joy to see these birds live as we don't have them living free. Here people have small birds as pets but those are mostly very small birds, that they can keep in a bird cage. Not many can afford to have a bird this size.
These are Budgerigars, parrots. These are, let's say common as you can buy them at the pet shop and people prefer them as they are small and relatively easy to take care of them. However, once they accidentally get out, they have no chance to survive once temperature start to drop.
A red-crowned parakeet, which can grow 25cm long and has 0.6 kg.
On nice rose-ringed parakeet, from Africa and South Asia, the green one, and two eastern rosellas, native to southeast of the Australian continent and to Tasmania, enjoying their lunch.
Stay tuned for the next part of the journey.
Check out my latest travel posts:
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- The Medieval Fortress - Part 2.
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- The Medieval Fortress - Part 1.
- The Medieval City - Part 3.
- The Medieval City - Part 2.
- The Medieval City - Part 1.
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