Parts of Beijing Zoo may relocate from city centre to improve animals’ living conditions and ease traffic jams

Parts of the 110-year-old Beijing Zoo may be relocated away from the city centre to improve living conditions for the animals and help ease traffic jams for visitors, mainland media reports.

“We are indeed working on the possibility of the partial relocation of the Beijing Zoo,” said Huang Yan, director of Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning and a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China Daily reported.

Its location in the city centre meant some animals had suffered from the noise caused by heavy traffic, despite facilities being soundproofed, Huang said on Monday on the sidelines of the annual “two sessions” or lianghui – plenary meetings of the nation’s top legislative and consultative bodies, the National People’s Congress and the CPPCC.

China’s first public zoo was built in 1906 and receives five million visitors each year.

The zoo also becomes very crowded with tourists during weekends and holidays, resulting in heavy traffic jams and restricted passenger access at the nearby subway station, the report said.

In 2004 a proposal to relocate the whole zoo was considered by a small group of experts, but it was rejected following objections.

Lian Yuming, dean of the International Institute for Urban Development in Beijing reintroduced the idea in January, but the latest proposal suggested that those animals that were fit to continue living under the current conditions should remain, Huang said.