Have you ever seen a velvet cat or a Madagascar centipede? No, these are not characters from the movie "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them". These are really rare and endangered animals. You can see them in Bristol!
A zoo doesn't surprise anyone. Almost every city in the world has its zoo. However, Bristol zoo is special. First, it is one of the oldest in the world. It was built in the Victorian era, so it is also a monument of architecture. Secondly, the zoo in Bristol is not just for the fun of the public. Its main goal is to breed those animal species that are threatened with extinction or destruction. They save animals there! And the zoo has been doing this great job since 1836. For example, there was the first cub of black rhinoceros born in captivity in Britain, the first cub of the chimpanzee, and the first squirrel monkey offspring.
Walking around the Bristol zoo, you can wander into the "twilight zone", where night becomes day and day becomes night. Take it literally! The "twilight zone" is designed specifically for observing nocturnal animals. It includes four zones. There you can find yourself in four different places: a desert, a rain forest, a cave, or a house. In the desert, you can see a velvet cat, mongoose, and rattlesnakes. Going to the rain forest, you will see how Malagasy Reconozca and opossum lives. In the cave, you will observe the amazing life of blind fish and bats. When you get to the last zone, you will finally understand who is rustling in the dark: there you can learn about the life of rodents.
Zoo in Bristol does not have to boast a huge aviary, but there is an atmosphere of unity with nature, the actual help and care for the animals and their future.