Parco Natura Viva

Zoological garden and centre for breeding endangered species

Parco Natura Viva-Garda Zoological Park (PNV) is much more than a place to go and see animals. European modern zoos are dedicated to conservation of native and exotic species to ensure the survival of species in the wild and the continued good health of captive animals. Modern zoos have a great importance because they are involved in breeding programs, conservation projects, re-homing projects and so on. There are different European husbandry guidelines for different species with rules for minimum accommodation, husbandry, diet, management and other important aspects of the captivity. This makes the work at PNV all the more amazing, with complete dedication to each and every species.

“Parco Natura Viva was opened in 1969. It covers about 40 hectares of land and is a natural zoological garden which is home to some 1,500 specimens belonging to over 250 wild species. Each year PNV is visited by around 40,000 school students, from kindergarten to high school, as well as almost half a million individual visitors. PNV is divided into two main areas to visit: the Safari Park, in which the visitor stays in his vehicle, and the Fauna Park, which is for pedestrians only. PNV’s predominant activity involves the breeding of wild animal species, in coordination with leading zoological institutions in Europe. The usefulness and necessity of a modern zoo was officially defined by the Rio Conference in 1992, where the value of conservation, ex situ integrated with in situ, for the protection of biodiversity was strongly stressed. The outlook of PNV is inline with the world: in addition to contacts with local and national organisations, a modern zoo must cultivate a dense network of international contacts in order to coordinate the management of animal populations to avoid risks of inter-breeding and to promote initiatives for the reintroduction of endangered species into the wild”.

Visit the Parco Natura Viva website to learn more …. here

Read about the Chelonia Project at PNV on our projects page here

http://www.parconaturaviva.it/