Nyíregyháza Zoo Closes Successful Year

In addition to about two hundred pets, three African white lions and rare cats were born this year at the Nyíregyháza Zoo, which received approximately 400,000 visitors despite the coronavirus epidemic.

Sóstó Zoo is situated in a distance of five kms from the city of Nyíregyháza, NE Hungary, in the holiday resort of Sóstó, where the beach, the open air museum and the forest offer various recreational activities for visitors. The Zoo is placed deep in an oak forest, in a natural, almost untouched environment. In the area of 35 hectares visitors are welcomed by so-called 'continents', which enable them to 'walk round the Earth' and to observe how animals live in the different parts of the world.

Zoo director László Gajdos explained to the Hungarian news agency MTI that while in the record year of 2019, they received about 600 thousand visitors, this year this number approached 400,000, and the pandemic lockdown reduced the park's budget by about HUF 500 million. However, the biggest tourist attraction in Eastern Hungary was able to stay afloat, partly with savings, reorganization of works, government assistance realized in the autumn and relying on its owner, the local government. The interest is well indicated by the fact that the three hotels in the 35-acre park operated continuously with a full house until they were allowed to receive guests.

Most of the two hundred animals in 2020 at the 5,000-animal attraction were relocated to other zoos. The staff was able to focus on the breeding of special animals: in addition to the three white lion offsprings, one of the world's rarest felines, the South American Geoffroy cat also raised an offspring. In addition to the toucans, vase parrots, molukken cockatoos and Grevy zebras that arrived as part of the exchange program, Jack, the African elephant bull, who had already begat two offsprings in Nyíregyháza, was returned from Switzerland and very quickly found Kwanza, his favorite female.

The expert noted that the new attraction of the Nyíregyháza Zoo, the India House, was completed as a Christmas present and they would like to present it to the general public at the opening in the spring.