After visiting the Tashkent Botanical Garden, I decided to check out the local zoo. Both attractions are close to each other, and such a walk in the shade of trees, I’m sure, will appeal to travelers tired of the summer heat in Tashkent.
How to Get There
The zoo is quite far from the Tashkent metro lines. It's about 30 minutes from the "Badamzar" station and 45 minutes from the "Buyuk Ipak Yuli" station, which is where I traveled from. Those who prefer not to walk long distances can use a taxi or public transportation: there is a bus stop with the same name right at the north entrance to the zoo.
The cost of visiting the zoo in the summer of 2024 is 40,000 sums. Discounts are available for pensioners and children.
A Walk Through the Zoo
The first Tashkent Zoo appeared exactly one hundred years ago in the eastern part of the city, on the site of the former governor's dacha. By the 1940s, there were about 200 species of animals here. An encyclopedia from 1984 stated that the number of zoo visitors was over one and a half million per year. Later, the zoo was relocated, and the new site opened in 1997, with the old location now housing the Central City Eco-Park named after Z. M. Babur.
Currently, Tashkent Zoo has over 370 species of animals. The territory is divided into thematic zones, including an aquarium, a terrarium, and sections for primates, birds, predators, and invertebrates.
On online maps, the zoo appears relatively small, but in reality, my walk around the grounds took over two hours. Here you can see not only familiar animals like goats, rabbits, and ducks but also more exotic ones such as elephants, giraffes, and even an albino kangaroo.
In the western part of the zoo, there is a pavilion with large, colorful parrots. In this small room, you can take several photos with the birds; entry is charged separately. On the day of my visit, there was work being done to create a Jurassic World dinosaur exhibit. According to online information, this pavilion is now open to visitors.
If you have free time after your visit, you can head to the Tashkent Botanical Garden. As mentioned at the beginning of the article, it is located next to the zoo.
Have a nice trip!
