Are you looking for the biggest zoo in Nigeria? If yes, you are in the right place. Here in this post, we are going to take a look at the Largest Zoo In Nigeria. We hope you enjoy reading this informative piece.
Nigeria is home to a lot of tourist attractions, which most importantly are zoos. The sight of beholding a wild animal is so intriguing and captivating.
No wonder many people love to go to a zoo to look at the animals there. Zoo attractions have been top most of any tourist site in the world, though in Nigeria, it has not gained the prominence which it is supposed to get, due to lack of good management and maintenance of the zoo. Actually Nigeria has several zoo or animal parks around Nigeria, in different locations.
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People set up zoos to showcase the beauty of African wildlife in Nigeria, instead of leaving the animals in the forest and making it impossible to get a view of them, they are brought out from the forest and then placed in the zoo for sightseeing, and then they are being taken care of by the zoo management. Before we go straight to the details of the largest zoo in Nigeria, let us look at the various zoos in Nigeria:
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1. The Audu Bako Zoo
The Audu bako zoo is located in Kano. It is one of the first zoos to be established in Nigeria. It was established in the year 1971 by the then Military governor named Audu Bako.
Currently it is managed by the Kano state zoological and wildlife management. The zoo houses a lot of animals. With lots of visitors and tourists from all over the country, the zoo is a top attraction to many people.
2. National Children’s Park and Zoo
The zoo is located in Asokoro district of Abuja. As the name suggests, it has ample facilities for children to play and is very friendly to children. With a large playground for lids and a lake, with a refreshment place where you can get snacks and drinks while at the zoo. It is a perfect zoo or recreational place for children especially
3. Ogba Zoo
The zoo took the name of its location OGBA. It is situated in a village called Ogba. The zoo covers a massive area of twenty hectares is one of the largest in the country.
With a lot of beautiful sights to behold like the restaurant, landscaped grounds, a large car park and picnic areas. These place is another perfect relaxation spot for family. It is located in Edo state.
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4. Portharcourt Zoo
It is a state owned zoo in the capital city of Rivers State, along Trans-Amadi road in Obio Akpor LGA. It was established by the then military governor; Alfred Diete-Spiff.
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5. Jos Wildlife Park
The Jos wildlife park which is located in Plateau State, it was built in the year 1957. It is specifically along Miango road in Rantya.
It is also known as the Jesse Aruku Wildlife park and covers an area of 8sq kilometres, with a picnic spot all around the park, a children’s playground and a restaurant with a museum in it. This provides a lot of sightseeing opportunities and relaxation spots.
6. Omu Resort
Omu resort is a privately owned zoo which is located in Bogije town, just around Lakowe Lakes Golf Course, Lekki area, with a lot of attractions and animals to be viewed.
It is situated in a Rainforest area to give the animals a feeling of being at home. The zoo boasts of a lot of attractions apart from being zoo, like an amusement park for children, Quad biking, Mini-golf course, Hook and Grill centre, a wax museum and other side attractions.
It is actually the first to have a wax museum in Nigeria. It is also introducing a lot of attractions this year to boost up its activities. It is approximately a 22 hectares land area.
The last is always saved for the best. And I think in this case the Last was saved for the largest.
This article is aimed at identifying the largest Zoo in Nigeria.
7. Lekki Conservation centre
The Lekki Conservation centre is the biggest Zoo and conservation centre in Nigeria.
It spans over 78 hectares of land in Lekki, Lagos state. It was set up in 1990 to serve as a biodiversity conservation and environmental education centre. It has a lot of swamp habitats and also different species of animals. The Lekki Conservation Centre also boasts of the longest canopy walkway in Africa. It is the best place to feel real nature with various species of animals around you.
It is managed by the Nigeria Conservation Centre, boasting also of large wetlands to serve as home to a lot of creatures.
It so comes with a lot of other attractions. The fee for entrance into the zoo is 1000naira per adult, for children is around 200naira while for teens it is put around 300naira. The establishment of the Lekki Conservation Centre was spurred by the need of the government to protect and conserve wildlife and nature’s own beauty from major urban development. It also aims at preserving the ecosystem and promotes sustainability.
Some of the major side attractions are a swamp outlook, tree houses ad a walking trail. The tree house houses a lot of beautiful birds.
The conservation centre has also served as a place of excursion for students and schools. They have a wide variety of amphibians and mammal life.
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It has an auditorium for lectures, meetings, seminars and conferences. With this structure housing a lot of wild animals which are rarely seen like; bushbucks, crocodile, monitor lizards, hogs, giraffes, hyenas etc.
The structure was erected by the Chevron Corporation, as you can see in this post that the Lekki Conservation Centre is the biggest zoo in Nigeria due to its size and the structures and activities included in it.
Due to its many facilities and side attractions, the price of entrance and most other activities in it tend to be on the high side, thereby generating a lot of income for the management to spend on maintenance and management of the Lekki Conservation Centre.
Probably if you are thinking of a Zoo to visit to see a lot of good things of nature, you should think of the Lekki Conservation Centre.