Moscow Zoo

The Moscow Zoo is one of the oldest zoos in Europe. It was opened on 31 January 1864 in the old style and was called a zoo. The Moscow Zoo was organized by the Imperial Russian Society for Acclimatization of Animals and Plants. The beginning of its existence is connected with the remarkable names of professors of the Moscow University Karla Francevich Rule, Anatoly Petrovich Bogdanov and Sergei Alekseevich Usov. The area where the old territory of the zoo is now located was called «Presnenskoye ponds». There was a fairly wide river Presnya, and it was one of the favorite places for Muscovites - green hills, meadows, flowering gardens surrounded the area.