This House remains unchanged both inside and AFAIK the outside enclosures too, since I visited here in the late 1960's. However, I don't think you can label the whole Zoo as outdated on the strength of one old house, as Frankfurt have built other recent expensive exhibits. Its just that this house hasn't been on the list...
This house seems outdated, but only the hippo exhibit is really bad (too small), the rhino indoor enclosure is larger than the exhibits in Berlin (Zoo+TP), Leipzig, Krefeld, Cologne, Stuttgart or Munich....
The former director, Dr. Christian Schmidt wanted to phase out the keeping of hippos and switch to pygmy hippos but city and the visitors protested the plans.
The keeping of hippos at Frankfurt Zoo is absolutely outdated. Unfortunately the alternatives for the zoo are small, the hippo population in europe is ill-fated.
Leipzig had to invest thousands of Euros to ship their last two hippos to South Afrika five years ago to accomplish an elephant house, that is appropriate to the species.
Not only the rhino"hippo prison is outdated , a more other things at Frankfurt Zoo also, so the bears grotto, the monkey house, the birdhouse, the giraffe house, the antelope house, the Grizmek house and the aquarium section in the Exotarium. The reptile section isn't that bad, but most of the terrariums are defenitely too small.
Unfortuntaley, the planned new zoo will never come, it would be better, to close the City-Zoo , rebuild it into a public park and build a modern, new zoo far out of the city.
There are still about 10 rusty spotted cates behind the scenes. The fennec foxes will move to giraffe house next month, the last female malayan sun bear to the lion house, if not happened already...
As I wrote, the sunbear and the fenenc foxes are still in the bear grottos. I've been to the zoo several days ago.
To move the fenenc foxes into a daylight enclosure, at last, with outdoor exibit, the zoo has made a good step. I think, nocturnal houses should not have a future in zoos. They are nice for the visitors, but not for the animals, especially in Frankfurt in these tiny glas cages.
