Beijing Zoo was built in 1906 and opened to the public in 1908 with an area of about 10 hectares and a few humble pavilions to house the animals.At that time only several dozens of species were shown, such as lions, tigers, leopards and monkeys. New Beijing Zoo covers an area of 90 hectares(222.4 acres). The animal houses and enclosures, with a total floor space of 40,000 square metres, include those for pandas, elephants, brown and polar bears, tigers, hippopotami, rhinoceros, antelopes, giraffes and reptiles. The zoo currently houses more than 5,500 animals from over 650 species. Among them are giant pandas, golden monkeys, addaxes, tigers from Northeast China, elks, yaks, precious birds and gold fish. Also on show are rare animals from various continents, such as hippopotami, zebras, giraffes, chimpanzees, lions and antelopes from Africa, parrots from South America, birds and kangaroos from Australia, polar bears from the Arctic, bisons from Europe and Asian apes.   Beijing Zoo is China's largest treasure house of animals and birds and has become one of the ten biggest zoos in the world.