World Animal Day In Budapest's Zoo and Botanical Garden

On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, visitors to the Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden can enjoy special programs celebrating World Animal Day and the 200th anniversary of the birth of the institution's founding director, János Xántus.

According to a statement released by the Budapest institution on Thursday, World Animal Day is celebrated around the world every year on October 4. To mark the occasion, the Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden will hold an Animal Love Festival from Friday to Saturday.

In addition to the animals and plants on display at the Zoo and the programs related to their presentation, visitors can enjoy a sustainability playhouse, a beekeeping demonstration, and experiential education stations at various points throughout the garden, as well as a presentation on the wildlife rescue activities of the City Park institution.

On Saturday, there will be a craft station, a nature photography stand, and a bat station for those interested, as well as four educational presentations in the Varázshegy Csillagterem (Magic Mountain Star Room): Endre Sós, Director General of the Zoo, on wildlife rescue; Anna Farkas, Deputy Director of Nature Conservation at the Herman Ottó Institute, will talk about the Hungarian grasshopper mouse; Áron Mirtse, a member of the Zoo's Education and Outreach Department, will talk about native animal species; András Benyó, Head of Collections at Varázshegy, will talk about arthropods, according to the announcement.

They recalled that János Xántus (1825-1894), traveler, ethnographer, zoologist, and first director of the zoo, was born two hundred years ago.

To mark the anniversary, a commemoration will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday at the Fiumei Road Cemetery, at the tomb of János Xántus, and at 1 p.m., his statue in the Zoo will be decorated with wreaths.