ZOOLOGISCHER GARTEN
Berlin’s Zoological Garden in the Tiergarten district is the oldest zoo in Germany and, with nearly 1,500 different species, one of the best-stocked in the world. Animals have been kept and bred here since 1844. Today, the zoo hosts about 19,500 animals, ranging from jellyfish to Indian elephants. Many, such as the polar bears and baby gorillas, have become celebrities, and with numerous other fascinating enclosures to explore, a zoo trip is a favourite day out for Berliners and visitors alike.
NEED TO KNOW
Hardenbergplatz 8 and Budapester Str. 34 • (030) 25 40 10 • www.zoo-berlin.de • Open Mid-Mar–Sep: 9am–7pm daily (to 5pm daily in winter) • Adm €15.50; €21 combined entry for zoo and aquarium
- There is a café and self-service restaurant with a terrace inside the zoo, to the right of the Elephant Gate.
- A day at the zoo is not complete without a visit to the aquarium. The basins and terraria teem with life, as do the zoo enclosures.
1. Penguin House
Playful Antarctic king and rockhopper penguins inhabit this cool haven, complete with realistic cliffs, illuminated “heavens” and a giant skylight. Happier in warmer climes, Humboldt and African penguins swim and waddle outside.
A penguin in the Berlin zoo
2. Monkey House
Monkeys and apes are at home in this house, and here you can watch gorillas, orangutans and chimpanzees playing and swinging from tree to tree. The Eastern Lowland Gorillas are very popular.
3. Polar Bear Feeding
The 10:30am public feeding of the polar bears attracts big crowds. Check all the animal feeding times online or at the entrance on arrival.
4. Giraffe House
The 1872 North-African-style Giraffe House is the oldest enclosure. Visitors enjoy watching as the giraffes nibble the leaves of a tree or slowly bend down to drink.
The Giraffe House, the oldest enclosure in the Garten
5. Nocturnal Animal House
Located in the Predatory Animal House, this shelters the creatures of the night, including reptiles and birds. Here you can admire striped bandicoots, fruit bats and slender loris. Asleep during the day, they have superb hearing and eyes that light up eerily in the dark.
Slender loris in the animal house
6. Elephant House
These huge, good-natured pachyderms have a healthy appetite: Indian elephants devour up to 50 kg (110 lb) of hay a day. Since 1998, 16 elephants have been born here.
An Indian elephant in the Elephant House
7. Aviaries
Nowhere else in the city can you hear such singing, tweeting and whistling – cockatiels, parrots, hornbills and herons sound off in the Bird House.
Heron in an aviary in the Berlin zoo
8. Hippo House
Glass domes arch over an aquatic habitat at one of the world’s most remarkable modern zoo enclosures. An underwater viewing area lets you admire the hippos as they swim with seemingly weightless balletic grace. The animals also have access to an outdoor pool.
The glass-domed interior of the Hippo House
9. Aquarium
The greatest draw in the aquarium, where fantastic Caribbean and Amazonian habitats have been re-created, are the green morays and blacktip reef sharks, as well as a jellyfish cylinder allowing 360º views of the shimmering aquatic beauties.
10. Amphibians’ Section
Poisonous snakes, bird spiders and reptiles as well as other amphibians crawl and slither around behind glass on the second floor of the aquarium. A particularly spectacular event is the feeding of the spiders.
Red-tailed green ratsnake in the Amphibian’s Section
