Givskud Zoo

About

Givskud Zoo is a zoo and safari park in Givskud, 20 kilometres (12 mi) north west of Vejle in Denmark. The park opened in 1969 under the name of "Løveparken" (the lion park) with lions as the only animals. In 1970 Asian elephants arrived and today the park has more than 700 animals representing more than 70 species.

The zoo is one of only ten attractions to be awarded 5 stars by the Danish tourist guide Jyllands Attraktioner and receives about 325,000 visitors a year. It covers a total of 120 hectares (300 acres), including 65 hectares (160 acres) currently in use for the zoo and safaripark. It was announced in 2014 that the remaining area will become part of a future zoo, with first phase opening for the zoo's 50th anniversary in 2019, under the name Zootopia.

Givskud Zoo has been home to several famous animals, among them the white rhino Brutalis, who arrived in 1990 and was very aggressive towards stable equipment, other rhinos and humans (likely because he was brought up without contact with other rhinos, having been rejected by his mother shortly after his birth at Knowsley Safari Park in 1977). As a final solution, he was shipped to the private game reserve Ongava in Namibia in...