Visit lion, tigers and (panda) bears – Oh, my! – with Street View
August 21st, 2013 | Published in Google Earth, Google Maps
Animal-lovers, rejoice! If you enjoy watching wildlife, but find yourself stuck in the urban jungle, never fear. You can now use Google Maps and Street View to preview the must-see spots at zoos around the world before heading there in person, or take a virtual trip to some of the most famous zoos and animal parks, right from your living room.
Lions and tigers may be standard attractions, but starting today, you can also use Street View to see the panda bears noshing on bamboo and tumbling around the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China. More than 30 percent of this endangered species calls this important conservation and breeding facility home.
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Giant pandas at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding
And for those who just can’t get enough of pandas, the site is also a refuge to other endangered animals including the smaller red panda!
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Red pandas at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding
To provide you with more comprehensive imagery in Google Maps, you can also check out a number of other animal parks around the world. In North America, you can see imagery from the world-renowned San Diego Zoo, as well as those in Houston, Atlanta, and Chicago - among others. You can also explore the Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico, and the Toronto Zoo and Jungle Cat World Wildlife Park in Ontario, Canada.
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Virtually explore the animal exhibits at the Houston Zoo
In South America, we welcome Buin Zoo in Chile and Zoologico de Bauru in Brazil to our existing collection of global zoos and animal parks. And still more exotic animals await your virtual discovery on the other side of the globe. Check out tigers and kangaroos at the Shou Shan Zoo in Taiwan, polar bears and penguins at the Asahiyama Zoo in Japan, the world’s largest captive colony of orangutans at the Singapore Zoo, and giraffes, chimpanzees and even Asian elephants at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia.
And in Germany, you can marvel at the white lions and tigers bred at the Zoo Safari Park Stukenbrock, and visit Tierpark Hagenbeck, known as the first zoo to simulate natural habitats by using open enclosures surrounded by moats instead of cages. These animal parks join others already available on Google Maps, such as the Zoo Aquarium de Madrid and Parc Zoologic de Barcelona in Spain, La Ferme aux Crocodiles in France, Olmense Zoo in Belgium and Whipsnade Zoo in the UK.
So get out there and take in the wildlife, or visit our latest gallery of zoo and animal park imagery on our new Views site. Just remember, please don’t feed the animals!
Posted by Deanna Yick, Street View Program Manager