CAIRO — The Giza Zoo, built by Khedive Ismail Pasha and opened in 1891 under Khedive Muhammad Tawfiq Pasha, was considered a world-class facility when it opened. Covering an area of about 80 acres, the oldest zoo in the Middle East now houses approximately 6,000 animals, including some endangered species. In 1993, it ranked as the third best zoological garden in the world. Today, the zoo no longer figures among the top 330 such facilities. In 2004, it lost its accreditation from the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).
Salah Talaba, a famous Egyptian animal breeder known as “Africano Talaba,” claims that the situation at the zoo is so dire that he will pay the Ministry of Agriculture 10 million Egyptian pounds (about $550,000) a year as rent in return for managing the park. Currently, the zoo is overseen by the ministry's Central Administration for Zoos, which is affiliated with the ministry. Talaba's family has been in the animal breeding business for more than 100 years and owns a mini zoo in Kerdasa, a village in the Giza governorate.
