The Costa Rican zoo Simón Bolívar has been surrounded by controversy for some years now, this zoo was created in 1916, initially as a botanical garden and as of 1921 also as a zoo, it’s the oldest zoo in Costa Rica and it’s located in downtown San Jose. In one hundred years a lot has changed, and although this park has served as a home for many injured and rescued animals many activists claim that the old enclosures no longer meet the necessary requirements for the animals that live there.

The Simón Bolívar Zoo is administered by Fundazoo a nonprofit foundation ,the animals are cared for by veterinarians, zoologists and biology experts among others; perhaps the most famous resident of the zoo is the lion, Kivu, who is now 18 years old, the zoo has been undergoing changes and remodeling the different areas where the animals live. A lot has been said about the possibility of moving the animals over to the Santa Ana Conservation Center, and leaving the Simón Bolívar exclusively as a botanical garden, but this has not been confirmed yet; what was confirmed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG in Spanish) and the
Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE in Spanish) is that the lion must be transferred to Santa Ana Conservation Center to a new area specially designed for him within the next two months. Fundazoo must make he necessary arrangements to provide an appropriate new enclosure for Kivu in Santa Ana while also make an effort to remodel and recondition the different areas of the current zoo to provide the rest of the animals with a more suited habitat that complies with international requirements.

This zoo and botanical garden is sort of an oasis in the middle of the congested city, we are used to noise, traffic and pollution when we talk about San Jose, so finding this place full of beautiful gardens and animals in the center of all this activity is certainly nice, and much needed, the vegetation here serves as a lung to the city of San Jose.

Jaguars, monkeys, raccoons, sloths, tapirs, are just some of the mammals that have called the Simon Bolivar Zoo their home for years now; there are also reptiles, birds and amphibians. The lagoon in the zoo is one of the few wetlands that are protected in San José, it’s the natural habitat of the blue-sided leaf frog, which is an endangered tree frog, the population of these frogs in the Simón Bolivar Park is the only one that has been studied and is well documented.

The Simón Bolívar Zoo is certainly not the nicest zoo Costa Rica has to offer, but it has a historical value and each animal that lives here has a story to tell, this is the home they’ve known for years, and it’s also a small natural area in the middle of the city.