Egypt’s zoos re-open after long hiatus

CAIRO – 25 August 2020: All zoos across Egypt opened their doors Monday to receive visitors after a 6-month closure due to COVID-19 spread.

This comes in application to the recent decision announced by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli to re-open parks, including Giza Zoo and Alexandria's Montazah Gardens, with a limited number of tickets daily.

However, the decision excluded re-opening public gardens and beaches.

The zoos that are set to re-open include the Giza Zoo, and zoos in Fayoum, Beni Suef, Arish, Kafr el-sheikh, Alexandria, Sharqia and Ghabriya.

Giza Zoo has set regulations for visitors to stay safe while being inside the zoo, including setting a limited number of visitors per day to 3,000.

There will be patrols inside the zoo to maintain safe distancing between visitors who are obliged to wear medical masks, in addition to measuring temperature of the visitors at the entrance and spraying the zoo with disinfectants.

Mohamed Rajaei, head of the Central Administration of zoos, said that all measures have been taken to open zoos, especially the Giza Zoo, which is the largest park, whether in terms of area or number of animals.

Visitors of Giza Zoo will enjoy several shows by the animals, including shows by the hippo, red Kangaroo, Bengal Macaque, Gazelles, Asian female camel, Anaconda, and Bengal tigers among others.

Giza Zoo is Egypt's most famous and historic zoo; it is also considered the biggest animal park in the Middle East, and it was opened for the public in 1891 during the rule of Khedive Tawfiq. Many kinds of rare and endangered animals and birds live in the park.