Cologne, Wuppertal and Duisburg Zoo trip...

[oflory]

Hi all,

I'm going on my first ever specific zoo trip early next month to Cologne, Wuppertal and Duisburg.

Are there any other important zoos in the area that I should be seeing? And if anyone has a list of the rarities that I should be looking out for (other than the obvious river dolphin, Baird's tapir, musk ox...), I'd really appreciate it!

Thanks!

 

[MikeG]

Worth noting that Krefeld Zoo is only about 50 km. from Cologne. It has quite a broad collection, with one of the last specimens of Mountain Anoa in Europe.

 

[oflory]

Exactly the sort of thing I wanted to know, thank you!

 

[Maguari]

Dortmund and Gelsenkirchen are also not far away and well worth a look. It's one of the most zoo-rich areas going - and the big zoos are a very high standard overall.

How are you travelling? If you are going via ferry there are some very good 'on the way' options as well.

 

[lintworm]

For all your rarities, use www.Zootierliste.de

As mentioned Krefeld is worth a detour and it is normally easily done in one day compared with Duisburg, which lies just next door.

Dortmund is also nice, especially for zoo nerds, though the generic public prefers ZOOM (a lot of mock rock and not always very convincing theming).

And only 1,5 hours away by train is the Dutch Burgers Zoo, which is arguably one of the best zoos in Europe...

 

[Tim May]

Cologne, Duisburg and Wuppertal are three fascinating zoos (although the collections are not as exciting as they used to be); I’m sure that you’ll have a great trip.

As others have already mentioned the zoos in Dortmund, Krefeld and Gelsenkirchen are also within easy travelling distance.

Munster Zoo is another possibility; the zoology museum in Bonn is also well worth a visit when you’re in that part of Germany.

 

[oflory]

Chaps, this is all super! Thanks so much, I think I'll probably be able to manage one out of Dortmund, Krefeld and Gelsenkirchen.

 

[Bib Fortuna]

If you like elphants, now you will have the rare oppurtunity to see two elephant calfs, born in the same nigt, of both species-an asian at Cologne Zoo, an african at Wuppertal...

By the Way-don't waste your time with a Visit to Gelsenkirchen-you will denitely see more"rarities"at Krefeld and Dortmund, and both Zoos are of a much higher and better standard in animal welfare and presentation than "Zoom".

 

[ANyhuis]

By the Way-don't waste your time with a Visit to Gelsenkirchen-you will denitely see more"rarities"at Krefeld and Dortmund, and both Zoos are of a much higher and better standard in animal welfare and presentation than "Zoom".

Wow! I couldn't disagree more! Zoom is definitely one of my favorites in all of the world. I'm very big into "theming", that is making the zoo visitor feel like he/she has entered the world of the zoo animals, and Zoom does this better than almost all zoos.