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Animals roam free: Denmark zoo has unique setup

The Givskud Zoo, or Zootopia, and was first opened in 1969 as a lion-only park a A year later, elephants were brought in and today “the park has more than 700 animals representing more than 70 species.”

Today it’s evolving into something incredible. Though, it is still technically a zoo, you can drive your own car through, much like a safari.

Engineer, Bjarke Ingels has conceptualized the mega-transformation that will turn this park into the safari park of the future where the “humans are confined and the animals run free.” It emphasizes a giant “crater,” where the journey begins; you can walk around and look out into the different continents.

To make it even more interesting, you can also ride your bike around it (at least in certain parts).

Just as we are bringing nature back to our cities with vertical gardens, the goal here is to “make it even better for the animals,” according to Ingels, “I think, in a way, we owe our humanity to the fact that we started investigating science and animals … It’s not even a choice to leave nature alone – in a way we do need to take responsibility for it, so we also have to make sure we understand it.”