Jersey Zoological Park

Jersey Zoological Park

Jersey Zoological Park, zoo on the island of Jersey, in the British Isles, primarily devoted to keeping and breeding endangered species, especially island forms and small mammals and reptiles. The zoo, situated on 14 hectares (35 acres) of rolling hills, was founded in 1959 by the British author Gerald Durrell. Its management was turned over to the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust in 1963. More than two-thirds of the zoo’s 1,500 specimens, which represent about 100 species, were bred on the park grounds. The zoo does not maintain a monopoly of any rare species it breeds; all surplus animals are sent to other institutions to provide breeding stock if illness or disaster strikes a particular colony.

The Jersey Zoological Park breeds many rare primates, including seven species of marmosets, Mayotte brown lemurs, colobus monkeys, and gorillas. Other rare mammals bred there are spectacled bears, tenrecs, and Rodrigues fruit bats, the rarest species of bat in the world.