Budapest Zoo in Hungary


Budapest Zoo


Typezoo
Owner
Size10,7 Hectar
Total nrs4000
Founded1866
First elephant arrived1875
Opened for public1866
Number of animals4000
Address Állatkerti krt. 6-12
Zip-code 469
Place Budapest 5
Country Hungary
Website Website
Directors1866-1873: János Xántus
1873: Károly Serák

1994-2020: Miklós Persányi
2020: Roland Szabó, Deputy Director General
Key People: Kristian Keresztes (elephant consultant)
VeterinariansEndre Sós, Director of Conservation and Veterinary Services.
Elephant department
Elephant managementProtected Contact, since
Head keepers
of elephants		 -2012: Károly Pintér
(elephant head-keeper)
Elephant keepers -1908: István Szokola (elephant keeper)
Record history
History of updates2025-03-18: 2025-03-20:
Latest document update2025-03-20 13:53:57
Google map
Description

Budapest Zoo, located at Állatkerti krt. 6-12, in Budapest 5, Hungary , was founded in 1866, opened for public in 1866 and the first elephant arrived in 1875

Budapest Zoo elephants are managed in Protected Contact, since

.

Living elephants

At the Budapest Zoo lives 3 elephants with records in this database: (detail list)
  1. ♀ Angèle born 2001-11-05
  2. ♂ Assam born 2000-10-07
  3. ♂ Shamu born 2021-04-24

Taxidermy specimens

Budapest Zoo has in its collection 1 elephantine museum specimens with records in this database:

(Measurements of teeth and body parts follow the system described by Maglio (1973; P = plate number, L = length, W = width, H = height, LF = lamellar frequency)

Sziam Accession nr: . Received: ♂ Sziam
Species: Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)
* Born 1890? at Thailand unspecified location † Dead 1944-09-14 at Budapest Zoo
Death: killed Death reason: destroyed during the siege of Budapest
†† Buried 1944-00-00 at secluded part of the Zoo (where the giraffes' runway is today)

Casualties

2 casualties
  1. 1907-04: elephant keeper István Szokola attacked by Sziam. Siam grabbed his caregiver, István Szokola, with his nose, cut him to the ground, and even trampled him. István Szokola Survived. Szokola had to be taken to hospital.
  2. 1908-09: elephant keeper István Szokola fatal attack by Sziam. Siam attacked Szokola again † István Szokola Died 1908-09, Budapest Hospital. István Szokola suffered such severe injuries that he died at Bethesda Hospital the same day.

Comments / picturesThe Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden is the oldest zoo in Hungary and has the largest collection of animals and plants — 300 Species of plants and 900 animals. It was the only such institution in the country from 1866 until the 1950s, when the first rural zoos were established.

1875: In the fall of 1874, the Zoo finally had the opportunity to make an offer to purchase an elephant as part of a major African animal purchase. By April 1875, the Zoo had already received news that the animals ordered were in Cairo and would soon be shipped to Trieste. The consignment finally arrived in Budapest in early July, including two ostriches, baboons and, among several other African animals, an elephant named Ali.

In 1878, for example, a "Nubian caravan" performed in the "ethnographic stunts" section of the Zoo, and 14 elephants traveled with this caravan: they were, of course, all very young, animals.


Budapest Zoo in Hungary HungaryHead elephant keeper Károly Pintér (1954-2022) with Arun and Kali, Budapest Zoo, 1980s.

An elephant birth eventually occurred here in the 1990´s. The baby was not accepted by its mother,and was taken care of by the vet. Later, she was passed to Circus Josef Gärtner, where she died.

2013: On 14 February 2013, the zoo welcomed its first elephant calf since 1961.

Budapest Zoo in Hungary Hungary

Elephant house and enclosure 2007. Photo: Lillian Berthung

Budapest Zoo in Hungary Hungary

Elephant house and enclosure with Angele and Asha, 2013. Photo © Jörgen Gustafsson, Munkedal, Sweden

References for records about Budapest Zoo

Recommended Citation

Koehl, Dan (2025). Budapest Zoo, Elephant Encyclopedia. Available online at https://www.elephant.se/location2.php?location_id=149. (archived at the Wayback machine)

Sources used for this article is among others:


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