Lycksele Zoo is my local zoo. In the Norrland part of Sweden, an area the size of the UK with a population about the same as - to continue the British comparison - Hertfordshire’s, local is a very relative term and I had a journey of over two hours to get here. Lycksele is a small town in the Swedish province of Lappland (provinces are historical, cultural and dialect areas rather than modern administrative units) and it is the oldest lasting Sámi settlement in the Swedish part of Sápmi, the territory traditionally inhabited by the Sámi people. The zoo has restricted general opening times limited to most but not all school holidays, but you can contact them to book a visit outside these times and that’s what I did. The zoo was founded in 1959 and has been at its current location since 1966. It is run by the municipality and has around 25 species on 10 hectares so isn’t huge. As Sweden’s most northerly zoo, it is no surprise that they specialise in Nordic species. They only have European animals. So no ‘exotic’ cold weather species like red panda or snow leopards for example. And apart from a freshwater aquarium (which was closed) there are only mammals. My day started with the dreaded words ‘rail replacement bus’. I like travelling by train and in general try to avoid travelling by long distance bus wherever possible and find sudden changes stressful. Unfortunately, the bus was slower than the train, so I was a bit late for my booked arrival time. I have added some photos to the gallery The zoo is about 20 minutes’ walk from the station but with lots of ice and slush it took a bit longer. For most of the day it was around 5° and cloudy with mist, occasional drizzle and moments of weak sunshine. I saw two groups of people whilst I was there but mostly it was like I had the place to myself. My first impression was that winter is not the best time to visit. I like to visit a snowy zoo but there are some very steep slopes which were not always easy to negotiate. Path between sheep and goats by Shirokuma posted 28 Oct 2020 at 6:33 PM It should be noted though that most of the wide paths were clear of snow and ice. I won’t describe every enclosure in detail as they don’t vary a great deal. The carnivore enclosures are open topped mesh and wood enclosed areas of rocky woodland. These include Eurasian lynx, red fox, arctic fox and grey wolf. Often there are multiple connected areas. The mesh does make it difficult to take pictures. Eurasian lynx by Shirokuma posted 28 Oct 2020 at 6:36 PM The wolverines are viewed from a wooden walkway along a rocky ridge with lots of opportunities for activity. They are hard to spot but it’s exciting once you catch sight of one. Wolverine by Shirokuma posted 28 Oct 2020 at 6:44 PM Being practically the only person there it was exciting to see that the animals immediately notice your presence even from far away. Lynx and deer freeze and become alert and a musk ox actually charged the fence, so I backed away to avoid causing any stress. The ungulates: wisent, musk ox, elk, red deer, roe deer, fallow deer, wild boar, reindeer and Finnish forest reindeer have large rocky paddocks with wood and wire fences. Many of them are very large, in particular the wisent paddock. Wisent by Shirokuma posted 28 Oct 2020 at 7:02 PM The elk were quite active, I saw one running through the trees before I realised what was in the enclosure and almost thought it was a wild animal (I did see wild elk and roe deer on my way home). It was also interesting to hear the elk vocalising. There were six animals in two enclosures with at least two more paddocks under renovation. Elk by Shirokuma posted 28 Oct 2020 at 6:58 PM There were three musk ox paddocks. The zoo has taken part in animal swaps with the wild herd in Härjedalen (which crossed into Sweden from Norway) in order to maintain the genetic diversity of both wild and captive populations. I am always surprised by how small musk oxen are when I see them and especially when close up, by just how odd they really are, like something from Star Wars. Both the musk oxen and wisent had enormous tires hanging from sturdy wooden frames as enrichment. Musk ox by Shirokuma posted 28 Oct 2020 at 7:00 PM There are two large enclosures for brown bear which are a cross between a traditional pit and a more open enclosure. They looked to be quite richly furnished but as of course the bears are not out at this time of year I didn’t spend long there. Brown bear by Shirokuma posted 28 Oct 2020 at 6:40 PM The other area of enclosures consists of similar high wire fenced pens for beaver and otter with indoor viewing of their dens and a straightforward (mostly frozen) pond for grey seals. The otters had just been fed so I had a great view of what appeared to be a family group but perhaps unsurprisingly the beavers were a no show. Beaver by Shirokuma posted 28 Oct 2020 at 7:09 PM There are rocky pens for gute sheep from Gotland and Jämtland goats and a seasonal children’s zoo with domestics that was closed at this time of year. There is also a small amusement park area also closed now which is sufficiently separate that it doesn’t impact negatively on the rest of the park. In total I was at the zoo for about two and half hours but in better weather (be that warm and sunny or actually colder and brighter) you could easily spend longer there. I liked the zoo very much. It did strike me that maybe some birds like owls, wildfowl and cranes might enhance the collection but for a small zoo in a fairly remote area there is a lot to see. It’s not easy to combine a visit to Lycksele with anywhere else and I can’t imagine many people making a trip all this way just to see the zoo but if anyone does find themselves in this part of northern Sweden it is definitely worth a visit.
