Looking through the photo gallery here at ZooChat I see that there are more than 40 German zoos represented, and I've heard rumours of there being anywhere from 200-300 total zoos and aquariums in Germany. Those are impressive numbers, and the Berlin Zoo alone is renowned for its staggeringly enormous collection. What would be the 5 best German zoos? Are there any zoos in that nation that are amongst the best in the world? I'm talking about the overall quality of exhibits, animal collection, conservation programs, etc.
My top-5 in zoos in Germany are: 1. Leipzig Zoo 2. Hannover Zoo 3. Cologne Zoo 4. Duisburg Zoo 5. Tierpark Hagenbeck Close to this list is also (in no particular order) Berlin Zoo, Berlin Tierpark, Frankfurt Zoo, Dortmund Zoo, Wuppertal Zoo, Halle Zoo and Birdpark Walsrode.
I would estimate that quite a few of them are among the best in the world, depending on how long the list of "best in world" would be. I've only been to Duisburg, Cologne, Wuppertal and Dortmund but i found all three places very fine indeed (allthough not topping Blijdorp/Rotterdam or Burgers/Arnhem or Prague). I've heared many stories about Leipzig, and they range from very good to extraordinary. When their GondwanaLand is finished, i bet it'll be amongst very many "top 5" shortlists of regular zoogoers. The rest is just very good, but rating them amongst "the best in the world" is a very subjective matter...
If you want to see really good german zoos, visit the smaller zoos, tehy are much betetr than the big ones ! The smaller zoos are building better exhibits with less money than the big zoos, and most of the small zoso have species in their collections, whcih can be seen very seldom in captivty. Forget Hannover, that's a Disney Zoo, the animals are not important in that zoos and the exhibits are mostly very bad, altough they are new. This zoo wants to make a lot of money and is not doing not very much in conservation. Leipzig is much betetr, they have a better information sytem for the visitor, the exhibits are much better, and of course, the collection is much better than Hannover. And the Zoo is involved in diffrent conservation prorgamms, especially in vietnam. Cologne was once a very good zoo, until they have build this horrible elephant house. Unfortunately, they have now a few just indoor exhibits for some monekeys(Gibbons ! )or tree kangaroos, very poor for a big german zoo. MOst german zoos are now only interested in breeding elephants, whats very important for the highly endangered african elephant ! The only reason why they are all now breeding elephants is to make money, and this no secret. Duisburg is indeed now a good zoo, especially they have gave up keeping beluga whales and commerson dolphins. Forget Hagenbeck ! A famous Name is the only thing this park can offer, but the exhibits behind this name are so poor. Its allowed to the visitors, to feed the animals. The elephants are standing the whole day at the exhibits edge to get food from the visitors, guarde by the keepers. If one elephant tries to leave his place, immediatly a keepers end him back, using the elephant hook...Oh yes, a very good elephant keeping is that... The lion exhibit is a dsaster, the lion inside cages are a desaster also, and the new Tropical Aquarium is poor and bad for the animals, so the inbddor exhibit for ringtailed lemurs. But its important, its good looking for the vistors.. Ring taile dlemurs loves the sunlight and sun bathes, but this is not possible for the Hagenbeck Lemurs, poor guys.... I don't like this zoo, its one of the worst zoos in germany. But let me tell you, there is no Best Zoo in germany. Every Zoo has his good and bad parts, but my own experience is, the smaller zoos asl ike as Nordhorn,Thüle or Rheine, are much better than the big zoos.
@Snowleopard. If you want see really good zoos in europe, visit the netherlands ! They have much better zoos than we are here in germany.
@Zebraduiker: that's funny that you mention that, as not too long ago a member of ZooChat privately messaged me with a list of potentially great zoos in the Netherlands. He spoke of that country as being one of the best nations on the planet for zoos, and I see that a number of those zoos regularly receive over 1 million visitors per year. That's extraordinary for such a tiny country...
It is difficult to name less than 10, really. Berlin Zoo, Berlin Tierpark, Leipzig, Cologne, Wuppertal, Duisburg, Hamburg, Munster, Vogelpark Walsrode... -that ones are absolutely top. Not to say that Hannover, Gelsenkirchen, Dresden, Dortmund, Nurnberg, Frankfurt, Munich are not remarkable zoos, either. Each is different - some are remarkable by large animal houses, other by number of species, rare animals and breeding groups, others by design...
Looking through the photos for many German zoos in the gallery I have to say that places like Munich, Halle, Berlin, Berlin Tierpark and even Hannover have some scary looking enclosures. Lots of old, historic buildings that are simply relics from another era, tons of bear pits, big cat grottoes, penguin and seal pools with huge cement slabs hanging over the water...altogether some truly horrible exhibits. None of the new great ape exhibits at the Munich Zoo are successful, and so what else does the zoo have that can compete with the world's great zoo habitats? Duisberg and Cologne have some promising exhibits, and of course Leipzig Zoo's wonderful "Pongoland" is fantastic, but the bad outweighs the good. @Toddy: you and I have chatted a few times here at ZooChat, and I enjoy your photos and postings on threads. I see that you have Tierpark Hagenbeck and Hannover Zoo in your top 5 German zoos, but if those are top 5 zoos then I'm missing out on something because I just scrolled through all of the photos again for those zoos in the gallery and I see very few half-decent enclosures. Do you rank them highly for their collections? @Jurek7: you mention animal species, design, rare animals, etc, and if that is the case then there might be a few German zoos that are the best in the world in those categories. Based simply on exhibit quality is there a single German zoo that is truly world class? Maybe Leipzig? I know that I'm coming across a little harsh here, but I'd love to see more habitats that are outstanding in Germany.
@Snowleopard: Hagenbeck pretty much entered my list on a sort of "wildcard". I could have said Wuppertal, Dortmund or Frankfurt as well. I know that there are many old exhibits in Hagenbeck and some of them BADLY needs renovations. But there is also some very nice ones, such as the ones for orangutans, macaws, kamchatka bears, chinese leopards, coatis and many of the exhibits in the new Tropen Aquarium. Hannover has always been one of my favourites. I know that it is not all perfect, but I very much like the themes of the zoos, especially the Sambesi and Junglepalace themes. There is a very big contrast in Hannover between the new an old exhibits. They are currently bulding brand new exhibits for polar bears, caribous, wolves, sea lions and penguins in a brand new theme world. When that is finished, the great apes will have the onky truly horrible exhibits left in the zoo. So hopefully they are next. I will let you know when I post some photos of the exhibits there that I like Maybe it is just me, but I am not too quick to condemn zoos just because they have a few bad exhibits. Many of the zoos we have here in Europe are very old, but almost 100 % of them are trying very hard to improve. There simply isn't enough money to do it all right away. So I am being patient and if if they show good results with their new exhibits, I will support them hoping that the next exhibits will be just as good. The best zoos in Europe are (in my opinion) found in the Netherlands. Rotterdam Zoo and Burgers Zoo are my two favourite zoos so far, and Apenheul and Emmen are also great. There are also many more zoos there that I have not visited.
@Toddy. The great apes will not be the only animals left in bad exhibits, don't forget the elephants in their new enclosure. Do you the Mundenhof Freiburg ? TÍt is a phantastic little Animal Park with mostly domestic animals, but with some wild animals too. Strange, but all their cattle, bisnos,water buffalo,yaks,watussi and ostriches also have bigger enclosures than the biggest elephant exhibit in any german zoo ! How can that be ? Altough the Berlin Animal Park has 160 hectares ! I think, it is time to upload pictures from this very good zoo. A good zoo is this one with an excellent qualitity in keeping its animals, not the animal buildings or the collection it important to say is it a good or a bad zoo. And the Hagenebck orang Utan Exhibit isn't that good, what many people think, every ape exhibit with water moat is a bad exhibit, so a few month ago an orang drowned in it at Hagenbeck, and this happend in to many zoos. And they have no outdoor exhibit. Oh yes, I know,they can remove the roof in summer, but the exhibit is still the same.....
@Zebraduiker: I have not seen the indoor exhibits for elephants i Hannover, so I cannot say anything about those, but I wil certainly not call the elephants' outdoorn exhibit "horrible"! It is decent-sized and with a nice pol. They could use some soft sand a few more places in the exhibit, but that is all I can think of right now. I think that the orangutan exhibit in Hagenbeck is a fine exhibit for the orangutans. They have lots of climbing opportunities. It is not the best I have seen, but certainly not bad either! About the water moats, I belive that this can be done without the apes being harmed. Many zoos has had water moats for years withour accidents. I just think that many zoos needs to re-think how these moats are constructed, and perhaps put up a low electrical fence around the edges, to prevent the monkeys from going in. In Givskud Zoo in Denmark there is a strong net along the bottom and edge of the moat of the cimpanzee enclosure, so that if a chimp should fall in, it will be able to haul itself up. This has (thankfully) never been tested though, so I'm not sure if it works. You seem to be very critical of the zoos discussed here on ZooChat? Could you tell me what zoos and exhibits that you do like?
You're right, I'm a very critical zoogoer,because I've ssen so much zoos in my life and I know how much bad things happend in zoos... Its very easy to build an ape enclosure without any danger for them-no water moats ! The space for it could be used for the exhibt... The elephant enclosure at Hannover is notd ecent sized, it is small sizend, its seems to be bigger, but I know how large(or small)it is really. And don't forget this tiny bull exhibit. I know the elephant barn inside, i've seen it a few years ago, very small, the elpahnst have single stalls and are not together in the night. It is not allowed to them to give birth within the group. And the circus show with the elephants is disgusting... The pool might be nice, but it is useless, because the elephants can use it only if the keeper allow it to a special time, so the visitors can see them bathing.... Don't mussunderstand me, we have a few good zoos heer in germany, I like Nueremberg for example, not to much animals, much space and big ( and good )exhibits for most of the animals, a beautyful natural landscape and not such huge and ugly animal houses like in munich...
@Zebraduicker The last elephant birth in Hannover took place within the group.... Do you have some pics of the elephant indoorn enclosure??
No, that`s not correct - female Khaing Hnin Hnin was unchained, but alone in her stalls, the young females weren`t allowed to be with her. The keepers were concerned because they had "no experience". Just that they can`t get experience when they`re always seperated, ha ha. That`s logics in Hannover Zoo. It was a progress that the mother was left unchained and that the keepers weren`t interfering, though. But no group birth. In general, I agree with Zebraduiker that Hannover is not one of the best german zoos, if I`d come from another country to see the best european zoos I would definately not go to Hannover. I also agree that there is nothing like the "best" german zoos because all have their flares, especially those who are generally considered as among the top german zoos because of their big collection like the Berlin zoos and Wuppertal have big problems when it comes to animal welfare, in my opinion. Zoos I rate among the top german zoos are Munich, Nuremberg, Cologne, Leipzig, both Berlin parks, Hagenbeck, maybe Duisburg and Wuppertal too. None is perfect and there is a lot to criticize in each of these zoos. I do like the elephant park in Cologne (although I had done it different if I`d had a say..), and I do like Hagenbeck, too. It`s a really nice park and you can see a lot of interesting animals there, but yes, the new Troparium isn`t convincing... In generally, I`d rate the dutch and english zoos over german zoos. I would rank Chester, Howletts/P.L., Whipsnade, Blijdorp, Emmen, Beekse Bergen and Apenheul before each (big) german zoo!
@Zebraduiker: You know I agree with you on a lot of things regarding German zoos and zoos in general, but I think you're not doing German zoos a big favour by dissing them that harshly. It's kind of a funny irony that a Danish zoofan has to stand up for German zoos while a German is bashing them; nice sign of neighbourhood spirit, @Toddy snowleopard-no offence!- already seems to have quite a low opinion of European zoos; one shouldn't artificially aggravate that. There are good and bad exhibits in each European zoo as there are in the American counterparts (remember the living conditions of the last Hunter's Hartebeest you once described to me, @Zebraduiker?), but in many zoos on both sides of the Atlantic, the will to improve is apparent; it's usually the money (and red tape) aspect that limits any good intentions-and the knowledge, common sense and skill of the people in charge. There are good zoos in Germany, and indeed some of the smaller ones are particularily worth a visit.
@Sun Wukong. I never said, that all zoos in germany are bad, God beware ! We have good zoos here, but my opinion is, much of the smaller zoos are better then the big ones. So don't miss the pictures of Mundenhof Freiburg I've uploaded in the gallery, one of the best zoos I know in germany. But I bet, most german zoofriends don't like it, because they don't have elephants, rare antelopes, okapis of course, or rare primates,they mostly have domestic animals, but in wonderful good exhibits. The problem with the most german zoofans is, they are only interested in zoos with impressive collections with so much rare species as possible..So I prefer good animal exhibits than zoo Hagenbeck or Hannover for expample, its more fun to watch the animals at Mundenhof than the elephants in Hannover or Hagenbeck. At my last visit at Hannover a few weeks ago, I've heared the training of an elephant calf, I think, the screams of the calf, which was seperated of his mother, could be heared in the whole zoo...I hope, it had fun during its"Training". Everybody has other opinions, but as you know, I have another view of zoos...( from the Dark Side of the Force, from the point of view of our beloved Mr.Animal Rightener Nr.1 in germany, you know who I mean ,Ha,Ha )And yes, of course I remember the living conditions of the last Hirola...But as you know, i critise american zoos also... Maybe I would prefer the danish zoos, if I would know any of them...
@Zebraduiker: Yeah, I know whom you mean... Did you get his last statement regarding the juvenile Basel Hippo? That guy must have lost his marbles a long time ago...Or he does have a split personality. I do agree with you on behalf of the good small zoos; yet, juding from what I experienced and read here so far, international zoofriends don't appear to be that different in comparison to their German soulmates... BTW, "Dark Zoo Sith Lord"-did you get your LA package? Sacha has already received his.
@Sun Wukong. Of course I've got the package, I would thank you by a letter, but I spend to much time here or to play with my new digital camera, which I've bought for my next trip to the states next year, so I take the chance now and say"Thanks a lot" I guess, some people in a very big web-kindergarten in germany, you know which I mean, thinking, I'm really an evil lord of sith. (Unfortunately,I'm not)But this is another point of view, from my sight, I'm not an evil man, but I would love it to be a Sith-Lord,Ha,Ha. Hey Darth Vader is pretty cool and he looks much better than his son,Ha,Ha. And what said Jessica Rabbit":I'm not evil,I'm just drawn that way" I've not read this statement to the juvenile hippo at basel yet,I have to look for it.
I haven't visited a lot of zoo's in germany, but the zoo's i did visit there were quite good. My list would be: 1. Zoo Berlin 2. Zoo Duisburg 3. Zoo osnabruck 4. Tierpark Berlin 5. Zoom Gelsenkirchen 6. Tierpark Nordhorn Berlin has a lot of history to offer, and an enormous collection of animals. There are a few exhibits which are bad ( no wonder in such an old zoo), and some are very good. The overall picture is that of a good zoo ( I'm spoiled by the emmen zoo, so I always see points of improvement). Tierpark berlin is a lot more spacious, to spacious actually, and also houses an interesting collection. However this zoo offers its inhabitants a lot of space, the enclosures are mostly not interesting for visitors. And the sad thing is, that this zoo with its spacious enclosures, houses its big cats in a horror house. Rows and rows of small cages, its makes you want to cry. Zoom gelsenkirchen is a very modern zoo, only it claims to offer a very real nature experience, which it simply doesn't. Immediately a visitor will see how fake this zoo is. Nonetheless, it is a good zoo. Duisburg has some very rare species, like the boto dolphin in a beautiful exhibit. Osnabruck is also a good zoo, a little bit old, but closing the gap rapidly, with some interesting exhibits. Tierpark Nordhorn is more a petting zoo with some exotic animals. You would never expect to find leopards, vultures an chimpansees here. Only the leopards and chimpansees are kept in too small exhibits, but the vulture-mountaingoat aviary is a very unique and interesting one.
