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El Paraíso Zoo at Sierra de los Padres

Pablo Etchevers

Not only is El Paraíso a zoo full of animals but it also works as a botanic garden. Just a few minutes from Mar del Plata, this spot is ideal both for children and grown-ups to have a closer approach to mother nature.

Visit to the “El Paraíso” Zoo in Sierra de Los Padres

As if They Were at Home

The “El Paraíso” Zoo was inaugurated on March 24, 1994. It is located in an 8-hectare venue and has been outlined in accordance with the beautiful surrounding scenery to such an extent that visitors have the feeling that they are crossing a natural forest.

Its 120 varieties of trees generate a special micro-climate that permits the growth of guayabos, fruit plants from the Caribbean, and also myrtle trees, from the South of
our country.

It is within this frame that the real reproduction and breeding post of local, exotic and farm animals operates, where creatures co-exist just like in their natural environment.

Maybe for such reason, the zoo is divided into three sections that both adults and children may visit and enjoy:

The Educational Farm:
Here are those animals which would supply men with warm clothes, food or tansportation through history: cows, rabbits, pheasants, goats, ducks and horses, to mention a few.

Local Animals:
Monkeys, cougars, toucans, hares, Patagonian hares, llamas, guanacos, pecaríes, brocket deers, American ostriches, flamingoes, turtoises and parrots stand out.

Exotic Animals:
African lions, red deer, fallow deer, African jackals, buffalos, black antelope and peacocks of all colors and sizes wander loose from one place to another without any kind of inhibition.

The most amusing aspect of this place is that most animals, except for the felines or other wild animals, are loose. This means that, as we walk along the really charming circuit, we are surprised by the presence of the animals: something that amazes children, as they sometimes have the possibility of touching them or even stroking them.

The zoo has more than 300 species, which have been obtained by exchange with other zoos or rescued from abandonment. But its biggest pride is that most species are reproduced on site, which means that the facilities are a real breeding post.

Dressed for the Evening

All the excursions and educational programs in “El Paraíso” are more than interesting. Educational and recreational programs for schools, birthday parties and even excursions leaving from the center of the city of Mar del Plata stand out among the tourist activities during the summer season.

But the most amazing proposal was a night outing that visits the entire circuit so as to appreciate the nocturnal behaviour of the same animals that surprise us during the day.

This show is quite innovative. A visit to the the natural habitat of countless species in the moonlight under the stars. A fascinating ride that awakes our five senses.

Thus, visitors walk the trails listening to and identifying various sounds: the lions' roar, the frogs and toads' croak, the birds' song, the donkeys' bray or else the famous sound made by the peacocks, which sometimes reflect their long phosphorescent feathers in the moonlight.

It is possible to discover the sky of Mar del Plata from a different point of view where visitors may also perceive the penetrating smells of the flowers and the aromatic plants or else go into raptures about the perfume of the jasmines and the lime trees.

But the most interesting point about this outing is to observe how, when the night falls, most animals take advantage of the moment in order to eat. Among them, the cougars, the lions, the foxes, the fast wild cats, the armadillos, the weasels, the vizcachas and the mulitas stand out.

Watching the yellow piercing eyes of the the owls and the ñacurutúes, which lie in wait for their preys in the heights, is another wonder of this kind of rides. All this, of course in the company of an expert guide, who will not only be in charge of the group safety but also of giving all the explanations and knowledge about each of the animals.

El Paraíso: a site where ecology is not in fashion but is a real philosophy of life.