Bioparque de Convivencia Pachuca

The Bioparque de Convivencia sits on Avenida Benito Juárez in the city of Pachuca de Soto, a little over a kilometre from the bus station. It began in 1978 as the Parque de Convivencia Infantil, little more than a children's playground opened under a scheme to reclaim public spaces. Over the years it turned into the city zoo, and in 1998 it was registered with the federal environment ministry as a wildlife management unit. In 2012 the city adopted an animal-welfare policy and rebuilt the grounds with a water play area, food court, open-air theatre and playground. In May 2013 it signed an agreement with The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado to act as a temporary shelter for confiscated animals, and on 29 April 2014 it opened Mexico's first rescue, relocation and rehabilitation unit for wild, exotic and endemic fauna. That meant giving up its status as a zoo: animals taken from circuses, poor zoos and private homes are treated here and then released into protected areas or sent on to the Colorado sanctuary. The first patient was Invictus, a black bear from a travelling show whose jaw had been removed; surgeons fitted him with two titanium bars in July 2014, but he died of a heart condition that October. A Museum of Animal Rescue and a primate house with its own operating room opened in 2016. Today the grounds hold an aviary, the primate area, enclosures for big cats, reptiles and other mammals, a playground and splash zone, a café and a cycle path, plus workshops and guided visits. The three mascots carry Otomí names: Mädi, Mbon'i and Tzónigo. Some visitors find it run-down, so keep expectations modest.