Located in a forest along the Spree river lies a medium-sized zoo which has gained quite a reputation when it comes to waterbirds and what Germans call birds-on-stilts. This zoo has a surprisingly large waterfowl collection and managed Europe’s first breeding of Lesser adjudants as well as the world’s first breeding of Saddle-billed stork a few years ago. Since then the Saddle-billed storks have bred yearly and also now there were five chicks visible on the nest in the spacious aviary. Storks are generally well represented with Oriental white stork, Woolly-necked stork and African marabou also present. Red-crowned & Sarus crane, Great white-, American and Australian pelican and a large group of American flamingo round of an excellent bird collection. The Flamingo have just moved into a very large aviary, which they share with Roseate spoonbill and a large variety, of mostly S-American, ducks. This new development allows Cottbus to comply more easily with new regulations on wing-clipping and the flamingos are left fully intact. Mammalwise there is less diversity, but with Javan banteng, Wisent, Yak, Ankole cattle as well as both European and Asian water buffalo there is a surprising diversity in cattle. Barriers for several enclosures are quite minimal, in a walk-through enclosure with Yellow-spotted bush hyrax, Cape ground squirrel and Spurred tortoise that is the whole idea. But having only a very low fence to keep Coati and Capuchin monkeys confined to their excellent enclosures seems a bit risky. Especially the Capuchin monkeys had a minimal barrier. The mammal collection might be small, but is full of nice species such as Black-rumped agouti, Silver marmoset, Lowland paca, Bobcat and as highlight a pair of Baird’s tapir. The tapir have a wooded paddock with a deep large pond and it was an amazing sight to see both Tapir swimming and diving in the water. It makes you wonder why not more zoos have such a feature in their enclosure. Enclosure-wise the zoo is mostly relatively simple, with wood and wire cages and sprawling paddocks with moats or the TP Berlin style green fence. For the most part this works and it is clear that this is a zoo that is not swimming in money. It is also very much a good-weather zoo with only a few houses that are accessible to the visitors. The main house is the carnivore house, which sports a factory-like tower. The Sumatran tiger have a relatively new spacious indoor + outdoor enclosure and the aforementioned Capuchin monkeys and Coati also have their enclosures here. A pair of North Chinese leopards, an Eastern German staple, has quite ok outdoor cages but very limited space indoors. Additionally there are Pere David rock squirrel, Lowland paca, Corn snake, Boa constrictor, Poison dart frog, Tarantula and some fish in the house. The house itself is a typical old school German carnivore house, but the Tiger extension is much newer and that shows. A large number of enclosures is somewhat older, but it is only the Elephant house that is really completely outdated. The zoo keeps two older cows, separated on my visit, which have access to a medium-sized well wooded and structured paddock, which is fine for them. But indoors is far too small, with just two small boxes available. It is a pity nothing will happen soon here due to a lack of funds, but it would be an equally big blow for this zoo to lose its most iconic species. With Berlin, Leipzig and Dresden all just 1.5 hours away it would be a challenge for most zoos to make a decent living and Cottbus excels for bird lovers, but for the general public there are only Meerkats, Ring-tailed lemurs, Zebra, Penguin, Gibbon, Tigers & Leopard and the Elephants as main ABC animals. The zoo seems loved by the locals though and even on a Monday morning there were some families and small groups visiting. And it is indeed a lovely zoo, most enclosures are pretty good, if not always pretty, and the setting in open woodland is very pleasant indeed. It does lack some star attraction for me that would make me come back, but the zoo certainly has my sympathy. Pictures of almost every single enclosure can now be found in the gallery: Tierpark Cottbus - ZooChat
I completely agree. The elephant house is really awful, reminds me of the one in Krakow. Unlike Krakow, however, cows in Cottbus have a very nice paddock.
I visited this zoo few years ago. My opinion was similar - nice zoo, but obviously running on low budget. Two interesting points: The two elephant females were once periodically taken for walks to the forested part of the zoo. They could also bathe in the shallow river running through the zoo. Zoos had photos showing it. Probably no other elephants in captivity could experience it. One example that properly done free contact gives elephants benefits which protected contact simply cannot. I saw two wild Roe Deer running in the forested part of the zoo.
That may be but these elderly females should best be left to live out their last few years here than having to relocate to unfamiliar quarters far or wide. BTW: This situation is not dissimilar to same scenario in Krefeld Zoo. When their 2 elderly remaining females have passed over their stables will be remodelled to enlarge the rhino indoors in the same building.
I am very grateful for this review, as I have been considering visiting this part of Germany along with Czech /Polish zoos and hadn't realised Baird's Tapir were present amongst others!
A very nice review of a really appealing zoo. That walk-through Hyrax enclosure is wonderful, and the zoo is full of attractive corners and quirky charms. Not in the premier league of German zoos, but a strong second division contender.
Really appealing is exactly how I would describe the zoo having visited for the first time today. They clearly don’t have huge financial resources and there are visible signs of the legacy of the past but a number of enclosures including, to name but a few, those for capuchin (although part of the barrier is indeed somewhat minimal), tapir, tiger, leopard and the flamingo aviary compare very well with major city zoos I have visited. The tapir enclosure was probably one of the best I have seen anywhere. Some of the smaller aviaries and monkey enclosures are beautifully planted and the wooden frames - or perhaps wood attached to the frames are very attractive. I was also impressed with the meerkat enclosure in the corner of the African paddock with views through to the eland, ostrich and zebra and pelicans in the moat it was a very nice zoo moment. By zoo moment I mean when views come nicely together and the overall package just works in a very zoo-ish way, if that makes sense... The wooded site is a huge asset and I loved the connected streams with carp that run through the zoo. The otter enclosure has a stream running through it with lots of fish. I don’t know if or how often they actually hunt but they were eating fish in the shallows and I stopped to watch them for quite some time. I saw a reindeer with possibly the biggest antlers I’ve ever seen, they really were enormous. It was a very humid day with storms early on so not especially busy but far from empty. Nonetheless at times I pretty much had the place to myself. It was great to spend a long time on a bench in the flamingo aviary observing all the different birds including nesting flamingos and by the elephants and take time seeing animals like the two porcupine species which were feeding close up, species I don’t normally linger over as they are often asleep. I very much recommend a visit to Cottbus and it can easily be combined with other zoos in the wider surrounding region which together can make a varied and interesting zoo itinerary.
Thank you @Shirokuma for your insightful review. To add to what you said, the latest edition of Zoo Grapevine & International Zoo News (Issue 55, Summer 2020) mentions that Cottbus Zoo will start building a new Elephant House this fall. It will replace the 1979 building currently in use by two elderly Asian Elephants, with the future structure having soft flooring and a swimming pool. There will be a capacity of 4 elephants and the cost will be 1.5 million Euros, funded entirely by the city.
