Leipzig Zoo

Founded in 1878, Leipzig Zoo has been rebuilt since 2000 on a plan dividing it into six themed worlds. Gondwanaland, opened in 2011, is a tropical hall of about sixteen and a half thousand square metres under a translucent membrane roof, holding some seventeen thousand plants of five hundred species with free-flying birds and animals in mixed enclosures; visitors cross it on a canopy walkway at up to sixteen metres and by boat on an artificial underground river. Pongoland, developed with the Max Planck Institute, houses all four great ape genera and functions as a research facility with observation for visitors.

Background

The zoo first opened on June 9, 1878 and passed to the city of Leipzig in 1920. It covers about 27 hectares and keeps some 850 species, with 8077 animals counted in 2019. Gondwanaland is the second largest indoor rainforest hall anywhere, and Pongoland houses gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans. Over the years the zoo has bred more than 2,000 lions and 250 rare Siberian tigers, and it has been called the Zoo of the future.

Source: Wikipedia, "Leipzig Zoological Garden"

What's there

• Gondwanaland - a tropical hall crossed by boat and canopy walkway.
• Pongoland - all four great ape genera in a research facility.
• The themed worlds - six areas replacing the old cage layout.
• The historic entrance - the 1878 zoo's original gate buildings.

When to go

Year-round; Gondwanaland is warm and humid whatever the season, which makes winter visits worthwhile. Weekends and holidays are busy.

Before you go

Gondwanaland is hot and humid, uncomfortable for some. The boat ride queues. The zoo is large and needs most of a day.

Nearby

Central Leipzig lies south; the Auwald forest is west.

Key facts