Limburg Zoo (Zwartberg Zoo), located in Zwartberg, in Belgium, was founded in 1970, opened for public in 1970 and the first elephant arrived in 1972. The last elephant left in 1996. Limburg Zoo (Zwartberg Zoo) closed down in 1997.
Zwartberg is a parish, founded on 3 December 1926 in a district of Genk in the Belgian province Limburg. In the late 1960s Marcel Wouters, then a director of the "Leen- en Kredietkas" (a financial institution), bought 6 hectares (15 acres) of land that had formerly belonged to the Zwartberg coal mine. 1970: The zoo opened on Whit Monday 17 May 1970 with more than 200 animals. 1973: In 1973 there were already more than 1000 animals, so another 10 hectares (25 acres) of land were bought. Another 4 hectares (10 acres) were bought some years later.
