The Zoológico do CIGS is run by the Brazilian army's Jungle Warfare Training Centre (Centro de Instrução de Guerra na Selva), which uses the surrounding forest as its training ground. Most of its 300-odd animals — jaguars, ocelots, harpy eagles, anacondas, capybaras, sloths — were rescued from soldiers' encounters during jungle operations or confiscated from traffickers.
The setting is leafy and shaded, the enclosures larger than at the older urban zoo, and the labelling explains the conservation context. It is a useful place to see Amazonian wildlife up close before going into the forest, where you may see far less. A taxi from the centre takes about 20 minutes.