The title says it all. It appears that there is no clear answer, but I'm hoping that someone can shed light on the situation and give me a reasonably accurate number.
The website Zoo-Infos.de lists an incredible total of 919 zoos in the nation of Germany. That's one zoo for every 90,000 German citizens!
Here's the link:
► Zoo-Infos.de ◄ - die Zoo-Datenbank
There is a fantastic book and its title is Abenteuer Zoo (Petzold & Sorge, 2012). I've used it extensively to plan past and future zoo trips and the maps at the front and back of the book are incredibly detailed. There are 61 Austrian zoos, 48 Swiss zoos and 478 German zoos inside the book, all with a bounty of information about each one. It's also entirely in German, which I do not understand, and yet the book is a must-own resource for zoo nerds. It's a paperback publication of almost 450 pages and well worth owning. (Google Translator is an okay app, but it's a tedious process to read a book that way)
Here's the Amazon link:
https://www.amazon.com/Abenteuer-Zoo/dp/3702013148/ref=sr_1_1?crid=26KBEOHDHXZR5&keywords=zoo+abenteuer&qid=1663623612&s=books&sprefix=zoo+abenteuer,stripbooks-intl-ship,119&sr=1-1
Now...what would be the most accurate number if someone wanted to know approximately how many zoos there are in Germany? I'd like to include major zoos, minor zoos and the plethora of wildparks scattered across the country as those are zoos containing only indigenous species. I would also count aquariums, insect zoos, reptile/amphibian zoos, plus the many 'vogelparks' (bird parks) found in Germany. For example, just south of Frankfurt there are around 40 vogelparks that are often small (circa 50 species) but still clearly zoos with birds. Even some natural history museums with entire galleries devoted to insects or fish would be deemed a "zoo" in my mind.
I would NOT include petting farm type attractions with all domestic animals, or barnyard-type zoos with a few goats, a couple of emus and maybe some alpacas and llamas. Those establishments seem to stretch the definition of a zoo too far and I don't personally include them in any lists.
Does anyone have a total that would include everything in Germany with captive, exotic animals?
The website Zoo-Infos.de lists an incredible total of 919 zoos in the nation of Germany. That's one zoo for every 90,000 German citizens!
Here's the link:
► Zoo-Infos.de ◄ - die Zoo-Datenbank
There is a fantastic book and its title is Abenteuer Zoo (Petzold & Sorge, 2012). I've used it extensively to plan past and future zoo trips and the maps at the front and back of the book are incredibly detailed. There are 61 Austrian zoos, 48 Swiss zoos and 478 German zoos inside the book, all with a bounty of information about each one. It's also entirely in German, which I do not understand, and yet the book is a must-own resource for zoo nerds. It's a paperback publication of almost 450 pages and well worth owning. (Google Translator is an okay app, but it's a tedious process to read a book that way)
Here's the Amazon link:
https://www.amazon.com/Abenteuer-Zoo/dp/3702013148/ref=sr_1_1?crid=26KBEOHDHXZR5&keywords=zoo+abenteuer&qid=1663623612&s=books&sprefix=zoo+abenteuer,stripbooks-intl-ship,119&sr=1-1
Now...what would be the most accurate number if someone wanted to know approximately how many zoos there are in Germany? I'd like to include major zoos, minor zoos and the plethora of wildparks scattered across the country as those are zoos containing only indigenous species. I would also count aquariums, insect zoos, reptile/amphibian zoos, plus the many 'vogelparks' (bird parks) found in Germany. For example, just south of Frankfurt there are around 40 vogelparks that are often small (circa 50 species) but still clearly zoos with birds. Even some natural history museums with entire galleries devoted to insects or fish would be deemed a "zoo" in my mind.
I would NOT include petting farm type attractions with all domestic animals, or barnyard-type zoos with a few goats, a couple of emus and maybe some alpacas and llamas. Those establishments seem to stretch the definition of a zoo too far and I don't personally include them in any lists.
Does anyone have a total that would include everything in Germany with captive, exotic animals?
Last edited:
Its list might be slightly more expansive than the definition that you are after, but you can exclude the Wildgehegen and some of the special zoos, as well as the closed zoos. It is best to use the German version with google translate, as the English version lacks detailed information about most collections.. The book you link to is actually be the same people as zoo-infos.de and includes the 450 "highlights".