[4] However, as of 2001[update], the zoo kept a variety of non-indigenous species of animals, including 400 given as gifts by heads of state and other foreign citizens.

[4] A significant number of those were the gift of a single Swedish citizen, Jonas Wahlström, director of the Skansen Aquarium; they are housed in the Animal Museum, which opened as a new exhibit in 1985.

[5] According to a report by The Daily Telegraph, the zoo also has a parrot that can squawk "Long live the Great Leader, Comrade Kim Il Sung" in English.

[9] The zoo also stars a cigarette-smoking chimpanzee called Azalea, basketball-playing monkeys, doves that are part of a figure skating routine, and a dog who is trained to manipulate an abacus.

Conservationists in the country condemned the deal, fearing the animals would not survive the long trip or the conditions in North Korea's zoos.