As lions, tigers and bears roam lazily about Peru's largest zoo, archeologists are busy digging up stranger animals from the ground beneath them.

The zoo, called the Park of Legends, in the capital, Lima, is also the burial site of scores of ancient dogs apparently sacrificed 1,000 years ago at the funerals of fallen warriors, whose remains lie beside them.

Before it became a zoo and botanical garden in 1964, the park was a sacred site for at least three ancient civilizations: the Lima culture (AD 100-650), the Ichma culture (900-1470) and the Incas (1200-1500).