Zoo de Lagos

West of Lagos, in the green country of Barão de São João, the Zoo de Lagos gathers animals from the five continents in a park of lakes and woods: hundreds of species between the birds of the great aviaries, the primates of the islands and the animals of the African plains. It is the great animal park of the western Algarve, a short drive from the beaches of the Costa Vicentina.

The zoo

The zoo opened at the beginning of the 2000s and grew around its lakes and wooded paths, with a collection that today reaches more than a hundred and fifty species — from the colobus monkeys to the flamingos and the great birds of the aviaries. The park takes part in European conservation programmes for endangered species and works on environmental education, receiving schools and families beside the beaches of the western Algarve.

What to see

• The primates and the animals of the islands and plains.
• The great aviaries and their birds, around the lakes.
• The woods and paths of the park, in the Barão de São João country.
• The conservation programmes for the endangered species.

Visiting

The zoo is in Barão de São João, around ten minutes by road from Lagos, in the western Algarve; the times and tickets are published by the zoo, and the visit combines well with the beaches and cliffs of the coast — from Lagos to the Costa Vicentina.

Nearby

The town of Lagos , Ponta da Piedade are the anchors of the coast around the zoo.

Information: zoolagos.com.

Image credit: Colobus monkey at the Zoo de Lagos, by William Warby, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.