European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 22, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A amps Gary Miller a Cougar gives another a playful nibble. A shooting partially submerged Hippopotamus uses its Friend s Back As a Pillow. A amps Gay Miller Al amp i f x vim. S i my i "�11aples soothe More you see the better it looks by j. King Cruger Mediterranean Bureau the first impressions of the zoo in Naples Italy Aren t the greatest. The zoo s first Cage displays a dog. Not any old dog mind you but a slumbering Pony sized neapolitan mastiff. The next Cage contains a cat not some ferocious fanged feline from the wilds of Sumatra but your Basic Alley cat. The cat in t on display. He s simply visiting a family of 200 Pound tortoises which is. In nearby cages Are More cats. They Are visiting some 5-foot-tall Birds. The Birds appear to be emus. Maybe not. Perhaps they Are Cassow Aries. The sign on the cages in t much help. Whatever was once printed on it has totally faded and a helpful visitor has scribbled animate incognito on the sign. A petting zoo is next. It s populated with ducks geese lamas Deer rabbits and goats but no children. The paddock is padlocked. A sign says the petting zoo is open Only on sundays and holidays and that it is forbidden to feed the pets Quot fish nuts potato puffs potato chips and  fish similar fortunately As the visitor presses on the zoo gets remarkably better. The Naples zoo houses a wonderful collection of big cats a leopards panthers pumas and tigers Bengal siberian and Sumatran. Although confined in relatively Small cages the cats Don t Manifest the kind of addled behaviour a Pace Pace Pace turn Pace Pace Pace a often exhibited by confined creatures. The cats a Glossy of coat and Bright of Eye a Are spellbinding by magnificent and justifiably occupy Pride of place in the zoo. The rest of the zoo apart from splendid collections of Birds deserves no accolades except that cages Are spotlessly clean and All animals appear to be in Fine fettle. The zoo is stocked like Noah s Ark a two elephants two rhinoceroses two Hippopotamus is two Polar bears two Brown bears Etc. A and has no glaring omissions in its collection. The zoo thickly wooded and delightfully shaded is a great place to Dodge the heat on a hot summer s Day. The 20-acre zoo or Giardino zoo Logico is located in the most a d Oltremare a sprawling Fairground established in 1939-40 in the Fuori Grotta Section of Naples. The Complex sustained heavy damage during world War ii and was restored in 1952. The zoo s Entrance is not easy to find and signs Are conspicuously absent. Coming from downtown Naples on Viale Kennedy take the right just before the Entrance to the Eden landia amusement Park. Entrance to the zoo is on the left just before the Street s end