One of the attractions in Sofia is the Zoo. It is the oldest and largest Zoo on the Balkan Peninsula. It covers an area of more than 360 decares and was established in 1888 by Prince Ferdinand, and initially it was situated near the former royal palace. The first animal in the zoo was a Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus). In 1892 the first two lions were brought to the zoo.

Over the years the zoo quickly became popular and became a place for recreation, entertainment and education, with its worldwide renowned specialists and the breeding of valuable and rare animal species.

The zoo is one the 100 National Tourist Sites.

It is divided into several sections – herbivores, primates, carnivores, birds, aquarium and terrarium.

The herbivores section covers 20 animal species – the Rhino (Rhinocerotidae), 2 Hippopotamuses (Hippopotamus amphibius), the elephant (Elephantidae) Artayda – emblem of the zoo, zebra (Equus), red deer (Cervus elaphus), fallow deer (Dama dama), mouflon (Ovis orientalis ssp.), wild hog (Sus scrofa), peccaries (Tayassuidae), bison (Bison bison), cattle (Bos Taurus), screwhorn antelope (Addax nasomaculatus), a pair of Bactrian camels (Camelus bactrianus), Brown Lechwe (Kobus leche kafuensis) - a typical representative of the American fauna, and Barbary sheep (Ammotrhagus lervia).

The Primate sector is divided into two pavilions – one for the smaller and one for the larger species. Here visitors can see 12 monkey species - the largest one is the group of the Hamadryas baboon (Papio hamadryas). The Gray langurs (Semnopithecus entellus) are in the cage next to them. The group of the pigtail macaque (Macaca nemestrina) is the greatest attraction for the visitors of the zoo. Other valuable species are the Ring–tailed lemur (Lemur catta), the Yellow baboon (Papio cynocephalus), the Geoffroy marmoset (Gallitrix jacchus, G. Geoffroyi), Pigmy marmoset (Callithrix pygmaea), Macaque (Macaca) etc.

There are three sub sectors in the predator area – Big cats, Bears and Small predators. The brown bear (Ursus arctos), the lion (Panthera leo), and the tiger (Panthera tigris) are representatives of the sectors.