Tbilisi Zoo (Georgia) – Location, Geography, Facts

Tbilisi Zoo is the principal zoological garden of Georgia, located within the capital city of Tbilisi.

Tbilisi Zoo, Georgia.

Country: Georgia
Coordinates: 41.7130° N, 44.7770° E

Tbilisi Zoo overview

Tbilisi Zoo is the principal zoological garden of Georgia, located within the capital city of Tbilisi. It functions as the country’s main public zoological collection and occupies a developed urban parkland site adjacent to the National Botanical Garden. The institution holds a mixed collection of mammal, bird, and reptile taxa under an organized public-management framework, and it is formally recognized as a municipal zoological institution serving scientific and educational roles.

Tbilisi Zoo coordinates

Tbilisi Zoo is commonly mapped at approximately 41.7130° N, 44.7770° E, or 41.7130, 44.7770 in decimal degrees.

Degrees: 41.7130° N, 44.7770° E

Decimal: 41.7130, 44.7770

Where Tbilisi Zoo is located

It is situated in central Tbilisi on the steep valley that descends toward the city’s river corridor, immediately adjoining the terraced slopes of the National Botanical Garden. Administratively the zoo lies inside the municipal boundaries of the capital rather than a separate province. The site’s position within a ravine defines its topographic character and places built enclosures on successive terraces above the river corridor and urban fabric.

Why Tbilisi Zoo is important

The zoo’s significance stems from its role as Georgia’s primary public zoological collection and its juxtaposition with an important botanical landscape. Distinctive elements include a documented focus on regional Caucasian fauna alongside widely kept global species, and a collection profile managed for both display and breeding purposes. The combination of a steep ravine site, urban park adjacency, and institutional responsibility for national-level ex situ conservation distinguishes this zoological garden from other city zoos.

History of Tbilisi Zoo

The site developed as part of Tbilisi’s urban park and garden expansion and was established as a municipal zoological collection during a phase of city institutional growth. Over time the zoo expanded its enclosures into the ravine terraces and adapted older park structures into animal facilities. Episodes of structural damage associated with ravine flooding led to post-event reconstruction and modernization of several enclosures, prompting changes in layout and enclosure engineering rather than a wholesale relocation of the institution.

Natural features of Tbilisi Zoo

Built into a steep gorge, the zoo’s plan is organized as a series of terraces connected by retaining structures and pathways that follow the slope. Enclosure construction uses reinforced concrete terraces and stone retaining walls to create level display and service areas on the hillside. The site’s vertical arrangement produces distinct micro-topographies, with upper exhibits near botanical garden slopes and lower enclosures close to the river corridor, shaping both visitor circulation and husbandry logistics.

Environment, protection, and monitoring of Tbilisi Zoo

Governance is municipal and oriented toward maintaining a long-term zoological collection within an urban green-belt context adjoining the National Botanical Garden. Environmental considerations center on slope stability, flood mitigation in the ravine, and the integration of husbandry practices with adjacent protected plant landscapes. Institutional stewardship includes monitoring of enclosure integrity, participation in breeding and species-management programs, and coordinated maintenance to reduce landscape hazards inherent to the gorge setting.

Tbilisi Zoo facts

The zoo occupies a steep ravine site immediately adjacent to the National Botanical Garden of Tbilisi.
Its animal collection includes representatives of Caucasian native fauna alongside internationally sourced species.
Terraced concrete and stone retaining walls characterize the zoo’s enclosure architecture and circulation.
The institution operates under municipal management as the capital city’s principal public zoological collection.
The site underwent reconstruction of enclosures following episodes of structural damage linked to ravine flooding.

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