Zürich Zoologischer Garten

The Zoo Zürich is a zoo located in Zürich, Switzerland. It is considered one of the best zoos in Europe. Opened in 1929, it is the third oldest zoo in Switzerland (after Basel and Arth-Goldau) and it accumulated a collection of 2,200 specimens of 300 species by its seventy-fifth year. It is located on Zürichbergstrasse, on the lower reaches of the Zürichberg in the Fluntern quarter.

One of its popular events is the penguin parade, which is performed daily after noon if the outside temperature is below ten degrees Celsius.

The zoologist Heini Hediger was director of the Zürich Zoo from 1954 to 1973. The current director is Severin Dressen. The zoo is member of WAZA and the EAZA.

The most famous attractions are the Asian elephant exhibit and Masoala Hall, which are inside of a large dome. Guests can even view elephants from underwater. They are also known as the only and first European institution to successfully breed Galápagos tortoises. Over the course of the years, the Zürich attraction has sent the baby tortoises to more than two dozen other zoos. In 2005 the zoo discovered that the seven lemurs caught in Andasibe thought to be mouse lemurs were actually a new species later named Goodman mouse lemur.

The zoo made international headlines in July 2020 when a Siberian tiger mauled a zookeeper to death in front of members of the public.

Masterplan
In 1992 a new plan for the development of the zoo was presented. The area of the zoo was to be doubled by 2020, while keeping the number of species the same and redoing most of the enclosures. The goal was to shift the focus away from displaying animals towards displaying ecosystems, allowing animals to retreat into spaces hidden from visitors. To house these ecosystems - Eurasia, South America and Africa/Madagascar - the zoo was geographically divided into distinct zones.

An updated master plan serves as guideline even recently:

Already implemented and preexisting enclosures



 * (renovated 1989 and 2016) Exotarium - sea and freshwater fishes, penguins, reptiles and South American birds, mammals and amphibians.
 * Evolution-themed house - Galápagos tortoises
 * Asian steppe and antelope house - zebras, Arabian oryx and gazelles
 * Great apes house - orangutans, siamangs, gibbons and gorillas
 * (1995) Sangay cloud forest - Spectacled Bears and Coati
 * (1998) Selenga Eurasian wetlands - waterfowl
 * (2003) Himalaya - Amur Tigers, Snow Leopards, Mongolian Wolves and Red Pandas
 * (2002) Zoolino and nature workshop - children's zoo with farm animals and Bat World
 * (2003) Masoala Rainforest (walkthrough) - Madagascian fauna and flora (Red ruffed lemurs, birds, geckos, chameleons, etc.)
 * (2006/2007) Gir Forest - Asiatic lions
 * (2008) Semien highlands - Gelada and Nubian ibexes
 * (2012) Pantanal wetlands - South American tapirs, giant anteaters, capybaras, squirrel monkeys and capuchin monkeys
 * (2014) Kaeng Krachan Elephant Park - Asian elephants
 * (2015) Mongolian Steppe - Bactrian camels, yaks and cashmere goats
 * (2018) Australia (previously Africa house) - koalas, wallabies, emus, kookaburras, and lorikeets
 * (2020) Lewa Savanna - giraffes, white rhinoceros, Grévy's zebras, antelope, ostriches, spotted hyenas and meerkats.

Animals
As of 2023:


 * Masaola Rainforest
 * African pygmy goose
 * Aldabra giant tortoise
 * Bell's hinge-back tortoise
 * Bernier's teal
 * Black lemur
 * Blue-billed teal
 * Cattle egret
 * Common flat-tail gecko
 * Crested coua
 * European bee-eater
 * Goodman's mouse lemur
 * Greater vasa parrot
 * Grey-headed lovebird
 * Hamerkop
 * Lesser vasa parrot
 * Little bittern
 * Madagascar crested ibis
 * Madagascar girdled lizard
 * Madagascar partridge
 * Meller's duck
 * Panther chameleon
 * Pitta-like ground roller
 * Red ruffed lemur
 * Red-billed teal
 * Rodrigues flying fox
 * Sambava tomato frog
 * Wattled jacana
 * White-faced whistling duck


 * Exotarium
 * Amazon milk frog
 * Australian walking stick
 * Azara's agouti
 * Baja blue rock lizard
 * Blue-headed quail-dove
 * Blue-spotted tree monitor
 * Boat-billed heron
 * Broad-snouted caiman
 * Burrowing owl
 * Burrowing parrot
 * Channel-billed toucan
 * Colorado River toad
 * Crested quail-dove
 * Dyeing poison dart frog
 * Egg-eating snake
 * Fiji banded iguana
 * Giant leaf-tail gecko
 * Goeldi's monkey
 * Golden lion tamarin
 * Golden poison frog
 * Green and black poison dart frog
 * Lesser Antillean iguana
 * Linnaeus's two-toed sloth
 * Malaysian stick insect
 * Marañón poison frog
 * Montserrat oriole
 * Mountain chicken
 * Plains viscacha
 * Red-backed poison frog
 * Red-legged honeycreeper
 * Red-tailed amazon
 * Red-tailed ratsnake
 * Rio Fuerte beaded lizard
 * Saint Vincent anole
 * Scarlet ibis
 * Sidewinder
 * Strawberry poison-dart frog
 * Tiger chameleon
 * Ultramarine grosbeak
 * Yellow anaconda
 * Yellow-headed day gecko


 * Aquarium
 * Andaman damsel
 * Atlantic mudskipper
 * Banana fusilier
 * Blackstripe angelfish
 * Bluespotted fantail ray
 * Bluestripe pipefish
 * Blue-eyed pleco
 * Blue-green chromis
 * Bristle-tail filefish
 * Chocolate surgeonfish
 * Convict surgeonfish
 * Copperband butterflyfish
 * Coral catshark
 * Crescent-tail hogfish
 * Dark-banded fusilier
 * Dragon moray
 * Dwarf loach
 * Electric eel
 * Elegant unicornfish
 * Epaulette shark
 * False percula clownfish
 * Flame angelfish
 * Foxface rabbitfish
 * Golden damselfish
 * Goldtail demoiselle
 * Harlequin rasbora
 * Humboldt penguin
 * Humpback grouper
 * Indian yellowtail angelfish
 * King penguin
 * Lookdown
 * Longhorn cowfish
 * Longnose hawkfish
 * Long-spine porcupinefish
 * Moonlight gourami
 * Ornate angelfish
 * Pajama cardinalfish
 * Palette surgeonfish
 * Pennant coralfish
 * Pinkbar goby
 * Powder blue surgeonfish
 * Powder-blue panchax
 * Razorfish
 * Red lionfish
 * Red-bellied piranha
 * Seven-spot archerfish
 * Siamese algae-eater
 * Silver flying fox
 * Six-line wrasse
 * Snowflake moray
 * Spotted garden eel
 * Staghorn damselfish
 * Twotone tang
 * Yellow tang
 * Zebra archerfish


 * Pantanal
 * American comb duck
 * Black-necked swan
 * Bolivian squirrel monkey
 * Capybara
 * Chilean flamingo
 * Chiloé wigeon
 * Cinnamon teal
 * Giant anteater
 * Golden-bellied capuchin
 * Rosy-billed pochard
 * South American tapir
 * Southern screamer


 * Sangay Cloud Forest
 * Spectacled bear
 * South American coati


 * Australia
 * Bennett's wallaby
 * Emu
 * European rabbit
 * Exuma Island iguana
 * Koala
 * Rainbow lorikeet
 * Savu python


 * Great Ape House
 * Pileated gibbon
 * Sumatran orangutan
 * Western lowland gorilla


 * Mongolian Steppe
 * Bactrian camel
 * Burmese brow-antlered deer
 * Cashmere goat
 * Goitered gazelle
 * Yak


 * Selenga Wetland
 * Bar-headed goose
 * Black stork
 * Common goldeneye
 * European pond turtle
 * Red-breasted goose
 * White stork


 * Semien Mountains
 * Gelada
 * Nubian ibex
 * Rock hyrax


 * Kaeng Krachan Elephant Park
 * Asian elephant
 * Bali myna
 * Blackbuck
 * Black-breasted leaf turtle
 * Crested wood partridge
 * Indian giant forest scorpion
 * Java mouse-deer


 * Zoolino
 * African pygmy goat
 * Brahma chicken
 * Guinea pig
 * Shetland pony
 * Turopolje pig


 * Lewa Savanna
 * African grey parrot
 * Crested porcupine
 * Dahomey dwarf cattle
 * Giant plated lizard
 * Grévy's zebra
 * Helmeted guineafowl
 * Impala
 * Llama
 * Meerkat
 * Naked mole-rat
 * Pancake tortoise
 * Reticulated giraffe
 * Scimitar-horned oryx
 * South African ostrich
 * Southern white rhinoceros
 * Spotted hyena


 * Other animals
 * Alpaca
 * Amur tiger
 * Arabian oryx
 * Asiatic lion
 * Egyptian vulture
 * Eurasian harvest mouse
 * Eurasian otter
 * Eurasian spoonbill
 * European eel
 * European perch
 * Galápagos giant tortoise
 * Guanaco
 * Harbour seal
 * Mata mata
 * Northern bald ibis
 * Red panda
 * Snow leopard
 * Ural owl
 * Vicuña

Further developments

 * Zoo aerial cableway
 * New building for great apes
 * New coastal ecosystem for seals, otters and sea birds
 * Event location
 * Asian steppe ecosystem for banteng and Arabian oryx