The Sóstó Zoo is one of the best zoos in Europe

It was a good year for the Nyíregyháza Zoo: it had 430 thousand visitors in 2015, many animals were born and it even won a prestigious award.

Travelo.hu writes that the zoo of Nyíregyháza, in draw with two Danish zoos, finished in first place in the ‘under five thousand visitors’ category according to the survey of an independent zoo analytical organisation.

Anthony Sheridan’s professional zoo foundation looked at a 100 European zoos divided into three categories by the number of visitors. The zoo of Nyíregyháza finished in first place along with the zoo of Aalborg and Odensee, in the category of zoos with visitors between 250 thousand and 500 thousand. By analysing the number of visitors they get a view at the income generated by the number, which determines the opportunities of a zoo.

The zoo is not only the most visited countryside zoo in Hungary but also the one that functions the most effectively in proportion to the population of the city. Moreover, it doesn’t make use of maintainer’s support; the zoo maintains itself so it is also a very successful economic enterprise.

2015 was quite a reproductive year with 173 animals born. The star of the year was an African baby elephant. Visitors could see its growth through from the beginning and even its name was chosen from visitors’ suggestions. Kito, which means a child feared for and dear treasure in Swahili, is healthy and he is doing great.