The announcement was made by government spokesman Zoltán Kovács at a press conference on Thursday following the cabinet’s Wednesday decision.

The project, which is interconnected with the Liget Budapest scheme to renew the adjacent Városliget municipal park, envisages several phases of development, finally resulting in a zoo fit to European and world standards and a unique wildlife centre. The government is providing a framework sum of HUF 25 billion to the capital and the municipal zoo to carry out the plans, the spokesman said.

Budapest Zoo, which is among the most famous in Europe and the entire world, will celebrate 150 years of operation next year. In the course of the previous 100 years, it had around 100 million visitors, making it by far the most popular Hungarian cultural attraction which is now ready for enlargement, Budapest mayor István Tarlós said.

Pannon Park, which is to be established on the area of a former amusement park next to the original boundaries of the zoo, will be centred around a so-called “biodome”, an enormous covered arcade and community area including Central Europe’s largest and most modern aquarium and spacious roaming areas for animals.

Source: hungarytoday.hu

Republished with permission