Tallinn's 2020 budget bill has earmarked €2.6 million for the Pilvemets ("cloud forest") project and €1.5 million for the Tiigriorg ("Tiger valley") development.

Tallinn Deputy Mayor Kalle Klandorf (Centre) said that the new complexes will increase the zoo's attractiveness and encourage returning visitors.

"The new exhibition areas to be established will definitely also increase the number of visits, and bring in more foreign tourists as well, among other things," Klandorf said.

"Estonia's only zoo, which celebrated its 80th birthday in August this year, has been consistently contributing to development in recent years by opening new exhibitions and making efforts to increase the welfare of its animals, and this will continue in 2020, too," he added.

The Pilvemets development is a planned modern and comprehensive exhibition area simulating Southeast Asian tropical areas, according to BNS, and featuring caves, tunnels, forests, greenhouses and more.

Tiigriorg is still at drawing board stage, with U.S. Zoo landscapers working on the project, BNS reports.

The Botanical Gardens, in the Pirita area of the capital, will get a reconstructed Palm House and a new management building, as well as a new water system, composting field, and more.

Tallinn Zoo was located in Lasnamäe during the Soviet era, before moving to its current location in the Õismäe/Haabersti district of western Tallinn.

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