Penguins in Szeged

Both children and adults can pay an exciting visit to the Safari Park of Szeged, where by early Saturday new penguins have arrived.

The Safari Park of Szeged established a new glass-walled pool for the new-comers, which was inaugurated by Dr. László Botka, mayor of Szeged. He also stated that last year a sum of 700 million Hungarian Forints were appropriated for the renewal of the zoo.


Each and every year about 200 thousand visitors come to the Park to have a wonderful day or afternoon and to chill out here. According to the owners' hints, in the near future Black and Hook-lipped rhinoceros species will arrive to Szeged, too.

But now the main attraction of the Safari Park is the pool of the African Penguin, also known as the Black-footed penguin. It's confined to the Southern African waters, also widely known as the "Jackass" Penguin for its donkey-like bray, although several species of South American penguins produce the same sound.

Dr. László Botka - mayor of Szeged is feeding the new penguins

They grow to 68-70 cm (26.7 - 27.5 inches) tall and weigh between 2 and 5 kg (4.4 and 11 lb).

They have a black stripe and black spots on the chest, the pattern of spots being unique for every penguin, like human fingerprints. They have pink glands above their eyes, which are used for the regulation of temperature.

The hotter the penguin gets the more blood is sent to these glands so it may be cooled by the surrounding air, thus making the glands more pink.

This monogamous penguin is at a great threat nowadays. Of the 1.5 million African Penguin population estimated in 1910, only some 10% remained at the end of the 20th century.

Commercial fisheries have forced these penguins to search for prey farther off shore, as well as making them eat less nutritious prey. Penguin eggs were also considered delicacy and are still being collected for sale. Unfortunately, the practice was to smash eggs found a few days prior to gathering, to ensure that only fresh ones were sold.

Many steps have been taken to halt the decline of the African Penguin species, such as taking them to protected zoos and safari parks to conservate them. The penguins of Szeged have arrived from Germany (by the program of EEP) safe and sound and the visitors can pay an enjoyable visit to our venue.

Ticket prices:
 - adult: 1480 HUF
 - child: 970 HUF
 - child under the age of 3: FREE
 - Retired: 1070 HUF
 - Family (2+1): 3500 HUF
 - Family (2+2): 4070 HUF additional fee for more children: 570 HUF
 - Kid, school and retired group: 700 HUF/child, person
 - adult group: 1300 HUF/adult
 - Courier/guide (2-3 hours): 11000 HUF - in English: 14500 HUF
 - Courier/guide (30 minutes): 3100 HUF
 - Birthday in the zoo: 13500 - 15500 HUF

Open from 9am to 4pm.                                                                  Map - How to get there?

e-mail: info@zoo.szeged.hu                                                  Zoo homepage - for more information
Telephone: +36 62 542 530
                   +36 62 542 531
Fax: +36 62 445 299

Zoo at Night in Szeged

There are compulsory programmes in Szeged like visiting Dom square or eating fish soup  but there are places an average visitor would not think of going to while on holiday. Such an example of that is visiting a zoo. You can say there are zoos everywhere in the world and if you go on holiday you don’t want to spend your money on that.

But there is a special programme in Szeged zoo. It is not really a zoo, it is more like a wildlife park, where you can see rare species as well, not far from the centre of Szeged. It was opened in 1989 and since then lots of new animals have found a home int he park. The main purpose of the wildlife park is to save endangered species and make their places as natural as possible.

There are no animals in small cages in Szeged. During the summer it offers night visits when you can observe animals after 7 p.m. Going to a zoo at night is very different from visits during the day and there are special programmes organised by the staff.

One of these programmes is the feeding of  animals which is intriguing. The first animal is either the Siberian tiger or the wolverine around 8 p.m. They are usually very active so visitors can see some action.

Then at about nine you can see the most memorable part, the feeding of lions.

The third part is either the puma, the jaguar or the wolves. All the animals get more meat during the night feedings and usually they have to solve a challenge to get their food. For example the food is put in a sack and they have to find it. There is another event during the night and it is the touching and striking of animals people are usually scared of.  Such animals are reptiles, arthropod or amphibian. The purpose is to see that they do us no harm and in many occasions people get over their fear. Children usually love this kind of programmes and enjoy touching animals they cannot meet in everyday life. So if you have seen all the sights or cannot sleep at night go to Szeged zoo and enjoy a late night visit there.

The next time you can visit Szeged zoo at night is 23rd July and after that on 13th August.

http://www.zooszeged.hu/foreign/english

Some photos from Szeged zoo


There are lots of colorful birds to see in Szeged zoo




Much more active during its night feeding




A less exciting feeding time




There is always someone who pays attention!




His royal highness