www.zoo-hannover.de
City: Hanover
Country: Germany
State: Lower Saxony
Opend 1865
Species 185
The zoo is one of Germanys oldest zoos and the last 50 years it has been known for its antelopes and since the world expo 2000 that it was a part of, has been showing animals in theatrical scenes. So walk from the Morrocan dessert to the Indian temples or just explore Arctica on an ice breaker
Open minimum 10am-4pm
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:
Hanover Zoo is the fifth oldest German zoo. It was established in 1865 with private money. The leading man was Hermann Schläger, who also founded thecities Museum of Natural History. To cover expenses, a stock company was founded. The first area was an artificial mountain with a vulture aviary, an aquarium as well as an cave for carnivores. Without any experience in the keeping of wild animals, the company faced huge difficulties and, thus, losses. Nonetheless, it was well visited by local residents. Due to the consequences of World War I, ever increasing subsidies by the government were needed to keep the zoo open. In 1920, the city took over. But in 1922, when the zoo was no longer financially viable, it was closed. Two years later, in 1924, due to public pressure and private commitment by the animal trading company Ruhe, it was reopened with a lions' canyon, a carnivore house and a monkey rock. In 1932 Ruhe completely took over the zoo and used it as a showcase for their animal shop. Often, the animals could only be seen for a few weeks before they were sold. During World War II the zoo was badly damaged. 1946 Ruhe restored parts of the zoo provisionally and only a few animals could be seen until the reopening in 1950. Over the years to come, and with funds from the municipal budget, new enclosures were built for rhinos, elephants, giraffes, antelopes, seals and penguins. At this time, Hanover Zoo was renowned for its elephant breeding program: 10 Asian and 3 African elephants were born.It also was well known to be one of the best Zoos breeding antelops and the modern enclosure for antelopes with out fence In 1972, the zoo once again was taken over by Hanover city. Since 1978 the zoo breeds the Drill, for many years as the only zoo world wide. In the early 1990s, the zoo was in a deep crisis, facing ever falling visitor numbers. In 1994, it was converted into a limited company and sold to Hanover Region and work on a completely new concept started the next year. In just 15 years, Zoo Hannover GmbH’s ‘Zoo of the Future’ World Exposition Project has revolutionized the European zoo world. 111.9 million € has since been invested to transform a decaying municipal zoological garden into today’s Adventure Zoo. Since the year 2000, more than a million people visit the zoo annually. In 2005, the Winter-Zoo was introduced, in 2007 the children's paradise Mollywoop was opened, in spring 2010 the Australian Outback and in May 2010 the seventh theme world followed. With the opening of the Canadian theme world “Yukon Bay".
