1950 – 1980

The Zoo’s revival

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1956

The Zoo receives an important impetus for modernisation with the approval of the renovation and expansion project led by Antoni Jonch i Cuspinera: traditional cages are replaced with larger spaces that are better suited to the animals’ needs, thus aiming to reproduce their natural habitat and increasing the area of the site to gain space for the animals.

1959

The statutes of the Municipal Zoo Service are approved with the establishment of a Board of Directors and the creation of a scientific institution that oversees the exchange of animals between zoos, the educational and cultural offerings in the city and the specialisation of studies in the biology of primates.

1960

The Zoo is positioned as a state-of-the-art facility with the construction of the first dolphinarium in Europe and the first in situ experience of the Ikunde Animal Adaptation and Experimentation Centre in Equatorial Guinea.

1962

The heavy snowfall in Barcelona wreaks havoc at the Zoo. Many birds escape from their cages and some species are affected. Despite the effort put forth by workers at the Zoo, that day would be remembered as one of the worst in the history of the institution.

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