The Arq. Manuel Valverde Podestá National Zoological Park is a zoological park in the Dominican Republic and one of the largest in Latin America. The National Zoological Park of the Dominican Republic (ZOODOM) arises as an educational necessity for the Dominican Republic.

In 1972, efforts began to be made to create a zoo that would meet the high standards of modernity that the moment required, since by then there was only an old zoo that did not meet the needs of the moment. In September of that same year, the architects Manuel Valverde Podestá and Eugenio Pérez Montás started the work. By November 26, 1974, animals brought from the old zoo such as rhesus monkeys and spiders, vultures, pumas, crocodiles, parrots, macaws, cockatoos, turtles, among others, arrived from the African continent and from the United States.

After this process, on January 3, 1975, Law 114 was promulgated, creating the Dominican National Zoological Park, as a center for the promotion of education, research, and culture, with regard to biological sciences in general, as well as the preservation of the national fauna and on July 5 of the same year it was inaugurated. It was inaugurated on July 5, 1975. Now with the reality, be aware of your surroundings since the zoo was built long ago before the city of Santo Domingo grew that fast and that much it is surrounded by very populous neighborhoods and some times it isn't that pretty.