www.tierpark-bochum.de
City: Bochum
Country: Germany
State: North Rhine-Westphalia
Opend 1933
Species 300
This is rather a mix of aquarium and natural history museum, than a zoo which the name indicates. Still it has a good collection of birds and reptiles, as well as a few mammals
Tierpark und Fossilium
Klinikstraße 49
44791 Bochum
Germany
Open minimum 9am-4.30pm
Entrance fee
Annual Card
There are several daily feeding shows, for the time please ask at the till station. Kids will love the petting zoo.
History:
The Bochum Tierpark - Small but mighty! Located in the city park in the center of Bochum, allows the zoo with about 350 species of animals an overview not only of the European fauna. The aquarium and terrarium house is next to rare lizards, turtles, alligators and snakes coral reef aquariums with various forms of life in tropical reefs. Opened in 1996 the Fossilium provides an insight into the animal and plant life 150 million years ago. The zoo Bochum was founded in 1933 by the Association of Friends of the zoo Bochum. The site of the former municipal nursery between the Milchhäuschen (zoo restaurant) and Bismarck tower was then provided by the city of Bochum free of charge. A lot has happened since at the Bochum zoo! From the first animal enclosures in the city park of Bochum, which were not fenced and could be visited free of charge until 1937. Four years later the founding of massive buildings for monkeys, birds and exotics were built. Back in 1939, the first aquarium was built. At this time, the zoo did accommodate about 300 species. 1943, the zoo was totally destroyed by bombs, the surviving animals other zoos got, eg Wuppertal. By rebuilding and a terrain expansion after 1949 the zoo received its present size of about two acres. In the following decades to the present day the zoo was known for its breeding successes. These include, inter alia, the sandpipers, Haflinger horses, brown bears, Sumatran Tiger, Indochinese leopard, Timber Wolf and black vulture. The numerous's subsequent hand-rearing (tigers, leopards, bears) contributed to a further knowledge about the Bochum animal park. As a result, more and more companies agreed to support the further development of the Animal Park financially. The highlight of this sponsorship was a donation of Sparkasse Bochum, a brand new house could be built with aquariums by 1988. In 1996, the aquarium was expanded with the Fossilium, in which 150 million year old fossils animals come alive today, some may can directly and immediately be faced. The known fossil collection Leichhardt is a whole range of extinct animals. The Visitors will find fossilized ammonite the related recent nautilus or nautilids and a variety of fish, which can be seen both as fossils and alive at the Bochum aquarium and terrarium house. The highlight of the house was the 170,000 liter coral reef tank. Numerous species of tropical fish in dazzling colors and two black-tip reef sharks can be observed. In addition to the pre-regulator shark live in the coral reef habitat many coral fish, starfish, sea cucumbers, snails, sponges and corals, are living there of course, in a unique socialization. In the same year (1996) the former bear enclosure also was renovated and considerably enlarged. In March 1997, the central South American rain forest landscape was inaugurated with a total water volume of 80,000 liters. In addition to the South American arowana and Potamotrygonidae a number of smaller South American fish in pool side are observed. In the canopy above the simulated Amazon landscape tamarins romp around in the branches. But even for the youngest the Animal Park has something to offer; next to the petting zoo, which opened in November 1984 the zoo school provides a varied program, such as guides or biology classes on site. Remembering Else Baltz, a generous donor for the expansion of the zoo, the zoo school got her name. For the youngest visitors especially the close contact with sheep and goats in the petting zoo is important. The fairly new highlight opened as the "North Sea Worlds" in June 2006. In 2012, the zoo received a new face, as it got a new entrance and about a third of its enclosures has been completely redesigned. Both construction projects were made possible by generous donations from the Sparkasse Bochum. 2018 the zoo farm gets a facelift, in 2019 some aviaries for Australian birds opened. In 2020 the Asian world opened, showing the fauna of South East Asia
