Leipzig Zoological Garden, or Leipzig Zoo (german: link=no, Zoologischer Garten Leipzig) is a

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for Conservation biology, conservation purposes. The term ''zoological g ...

in Leipzig`s district

Mitte Mitte () is the first and most central borough of Berlin. The borough consists of six sub-entities: Mitte proper, Gesundbrunnen, Hansaviertel, Moabit, Tiergarten and Wedding. It is one of the two boroughs (the other being Friedrichshain-Kreuzb ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It was first opened on June 9, 1878. It was taken over by the city of Leipzig in 1920 after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and now covers about and contains approximately 850 species. By 2020 the zoo featured six different theme worlds, aiming at providing habitats appropriate for the species on display. Leipzig zoo is internationally noted for its large building projects such as Pongoland (housing

gorilla Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or fi ...

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...

bonobo The bonobo (; ''Pan paniscus''), also historically called the pygmy chimpanzee and less often the dwarf chimpanzee or gracile chimpanzee, is an endangered great ape and one of the two species making up the genus '' Pan,'' the other being the comm ...

s and

orangutan Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ...

s) and Gondwanaland (world's second largest indoor rainforest hall at ). It has bred more than 2,000

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

s, 250 rare

Siberian tiger The Siberian tiger or Amur tiger is a population of the tiger subspecies ''Panthera tigris tigris'' native to the Russian Far East, Northeast China and possibly North Korea. It once ranged throughout the Korean Peninsula, but currently inhabit ...

s, and other carnivores like

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...

s. Leipzig Zoological Garden has been called the "Zoo of the future". It is ranked as the best zoo in Germany and also the second-best in Europe (after

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Family visit

Family friendly extras include a large number of playgrounds, picnic areas, various gastronomic offers. Apart from Godwanaland every part of the zoo is accessible with strollers and carts. There are various possibilities to get close to animals such as goats and stroke them. Children under 6 pay no admission. If you want to make sure to be there at feeding time, there is the possibility to find out online at what time which aminals will be fed. Parking is across the street, which is convenient, but the rates per hour reflect the fact that the zoo is situated downtown. Dogs have no access to the zoo.

Theme worlds

The Zoo Leipzig hosts six different theme worlds; the Founder's Garden, Gondwanaland, Asia, Pongoland, Africa and South America. Zoo director Prof. Dr. Jörg Junhold wants to combine species conservation, with spacious compounds, which are as appropriate for the species kept within as possible. Additionally the zoo offers educational tours to visitor groups and various special events.

Founder's Garden

The Founder's Garden is located close to the entrance, partially in historical buildings. Besides the explorer's arch, which is also used for educational purposes this part of the zoo includes compounds displaying

koala The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the womb ...

golden lion tamarin The golden lion tamarin (''Leontopithecus rosalia'', pt, mico-leão-dourado , ), also known as the golden marmoset, is a small New World monkey of the family Callitrichidae. Native to the Atlantic coastal forests of Brazil, the golden lion tam ...

s, coppery titi monkeys and

bearded emperor tamarin The bearded emperor tamarin (''Saguinus imperator subgrisescens'') is one of the two subspecies of the emperor tamarin. It is mostly found in the tropical forests of southwestern Brazil and eastern Peru. This omnivorous member of the Callitrichid ...

, partially in the facilities of the former monkey house, which was replaced by Pogoland in 2001.

Gondwanaland

In 2010 the massive greenhouse Gondwanaland opened comprising area larger than two football pitches (16.500 m²). It has its own tropical climate and hosts almost 200 exotic animal species and around 500 different plant species. There is a treetop trail, with

squirrel monkey Squirrel monkeys are New World monkeys of the genus ''Saimiri''. ''Saimiri'' is the only genus in the subfamily Saimirinae. The name of the genus is of Tupi origin (''sai-mirím'' or ''çai-mbirín'', with ''sai'' meaning 'monkey' and ''mirím'' ...

s jumping around very closely. Visitors can also take a small open boat (for a small extra fee) to gain a different perspective. Another very rare animal, living in Gondwanaland is the eastern quoll, medium-sized carnivorous dasyurid marsupial native to Australia

Asia

One of the main attractions of this theme world are the

Indian elephant The Indian elephant (''Elephas maximus indicus'') is one of four extant recognised subspecies of the Asian elephant and native to mainland Asia. Since 1986, the Asian elephant has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List as the wild po ...

s. They have their own swimming pool, complete with a visitor gallery underneath, in case you make it there when the pool is opened to them, swimming elephants can be seen from below. The critically endangered

Chinese pangolin The Chinese pangolin (''Manis pentadactyla'') is a pangolin native to the northern Indian subcontinent, northern parts of Southeast Asia and southern China. It has been listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2014, as the w ...

– almost extinct in the wild – also inhabits this part of the zoo. Other species in this part of the zoo are:

sloth bear The sloth bear (''Melursus ursinus'') is a myrmecophagous bear species native to the Indian subcontinent. It feeds on fruits, ants and termites. It is listed as Vulnerable species, vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, mainly because of habitat loss ...

and

snow leopards The snow leopard (''Panthera uncia''), also known as the ounce, is a felid in the genus ''Panthera'' native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because the global population is esti ...

. Until they finally received an appropriate environment in 2017 the snow leopards lived in „traditional cages“ like the panther

Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), shortened to Rainer Maria Rilke (), was an Austrian poet and novelist. He has been acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, and is widely recogni ...

wrote about in 1902.

Pongoland

The modern

ape Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a clade of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and as well as Europe in prehistory), which together with its siste ...

-world with spacious outdoor facilities was opened in 2001 and allows four species of

primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians (monkeys and apes, the latter including huma ...

s to live in family groups. Besides that it hosts a research centre in cooperation with the

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (german: Max-Planck-Institut für evolutionäre Anthropologie, shortened to MPI EVA) is a research institute based in Leipzig, Germany, that was founded in 1997. It is part of the Max Plan ...

the Wolfgang Köhler Primate Research Center is situated in Pogoland, operating in collaboration with the Leipzig Zoo. The research focuses on both behavior and cognition of the four species of great apes:

s (in this case

western lowland gorilla The western lowland gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla gorilla'') is one of two Critically Endangered subspecies of the western gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla'') that lives in Montane ecosystems#Montane forests, montane, Old-growth forest, primary and sec ...

s),

s, and

s. There is a special focus on the ontogeny of chimpanzee cognition. When it was planned and constructed the

Yerkes National Primate Research Center The Emory National Primate Research Center (formerly known as Yerkes National Primate Research Center) located in Atlanta, Georgia, owned by Emory University, is a center of biomedical and behavioral research, is dedicated to improving human and a ...

functioned as role facility for its creation. All monkeys, except the orangutans, participate in the

European Association of Zoos and Aquaria The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA), is an organisation for the European zoo and aquarium community that links over 340 member organisations in 41 countries. EAZA membership is open to all zoos and aquaria across Europe that compl ...

which is part of the

EAZA Ex-situ Programme The EAZA Ex-situ Programme (EEP) is a population management and Ex situ conservation, conservation programme by European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) for wild animals living in European zoos. The p ...

. Numerous young monkeys were born in Leipzig since Pogoland opened.

Africa

Leipzig - Zoo - Afrika + Diceros bicornis 03 ies

One of the main attractions of the African area is the 25,000 m² Kiwara Savannah, a shared habitat occupied by

Grévy's zebra Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), also known as the imperial zebra, is the largest living wild equid and the most threatened of the three species of zebra, the other two being the plains zebra and the mountain zebra. Named after Jules Grévy, i ...

Rothschild's giraffe Rothschild's giraffe (''Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi'') is a subspecies of the Northern giraffe. It is one of the most endangered distinct populations of giraffe, with 1,399 mature individuals estimated in the wild in 2018. Taxonomy and ...

Thomson's gazelle Thomson's gazelle (''Eudorcas thomsonii'') is one of the best known species of gazelles. It is named after explorer Joseph Thomson and is sometimes referred to as a "tommie". It is considered by some to be a subspecies of the red-fronted gazelle a ...

Scimitar oryx The scimitar oryx (''Oryx dammah''), also known as the scimitar-horned oryx and the Sahara oryx, is a ''Oryx'' species that was once widespread across North Africa. In 2000, it was declared extinct in the wild on the IUCN Red List. A captive bre ...

Nile lechwe The Nile lechwe or Mrs Gray's lechwe (''Kobus megaceros'') is an endangered species of antelope found in swamps and grasslands in Sudan and Ethiopia. Description Males are an average of long and tall at the shoulders, and weigh between , whil ...

s and

ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds of the genus ''Struthio'' in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There are ...

es. Amongst the other animals are

hyena Hyenas, or hyaenas (from Ancient Greek , ), are feliform carnivoran mammals of the family Hyaenidae . With only four extant species (each in its own genus), it is the fifth-smallest family in the Carnivora and one of the smallest in the clas ...

and the very popular

meerkat MeerKAT, originally the Karoo Array Telescope, is a radio telescope consisting of 64 antennas in the Meerkat National Park, in the Northern Cape of South Africa. In 2003, South Africa submitted an expression of interest to host the Square Kilom ...

South America

This area is scheduled to be redesigned to host a South American landscape with a large aquatic habitat will be opened for seals and penguins.

Guanaco The guanaco (; ''Lama guanicoe'') is a camelid native to South America, closely related to the llama. Guanacos are one of two wild South American camelids, the other being the vicuña, which lives at higher elevations. Etymology The guanaco g ...

flamingo Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of Wader, wading bird in the Family (biology), family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas ...

s and Chacoan peccaries are amongst the inhabitants (before reconstruction). File:ZooLeipzigAquariumEingang.png, Entrance to the aquarium File:Petrosaurus thalassinus b.jpg, Baja blue rock lizard File:Family (23885479).jpeg, Tiger family File:Leipzig - Zoo - Afrika 06 ies.jpg, Kiwara Savanne with

giraffe The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa''. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, ''Giraffa camelopardalis ...

zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zeb ...

oryx ''Oryx'' is a genus consisting of four large antelope species called oryxes. Their pelage is pale with contrasting dark markings in the face and on the legs, and their long horns are almost straight. The exception is the scimitar oryx, which l ...

and

crowned crane A crowned crane is a bird of the genus ''Balearica'': * Black crowned crane (''Balearica pavonina'') * Grey crowned crane (''Balearica regulorum'') Some authorities use the term "crowned crane" to refer generally to the genus ''Balearica''. Like ...

File:Lunch time (31573691267).jpg, Young gorilla having lunch File:Leipzig - Zoo - Afrika - Suricata suricatta 11 ies.jpg, Meerkats File:Gondwanaland Leipzig, Vogelperspektive.jpg, Gondwanaland from above (white hall) File:Zoogeschichten - panoramio (3).jpg, Giraffes File:Tiliqua scincoides (White, 1790).jpg,

Eastern blue-tongued lizard The ''Tiliqua scincoides scincoides,'' or eastern blue-tongued lizard, is native to Australia. It is unique due to its blue tongue, which can be used to warn off predators. In addition to flashing its blue tongue, the skink hisses and puffs up its ...

in the terrarium

Notes

External links

* * {{Authority control Zoos in Germany Buildings and structures in Leipzig Tourist attractions in Leipzig