Tiergarten Schönbrunn Visit to Tiergarten Schønbrunn, questions

[Norwegian moose]

I am hopefully soon visiting Tiergarten Schønbrunn. This is a very good zoo, I have heard. It is the oldest in the world, and one of the best in Europe. I have a few questions about the zoo:

1. How long time would it take to see the zoo? I have heard it is pretty compact, but with many animal species. Is it possible to see the zoo and the rest of the Schønbrunn area in a day, even though the area is huge?

2. What rare and little known animal species among the general public, do the zoo have? Off course every one knows about the giant pandas and koalas. But they are not exactly little known. Are there any truely rare species there to look out for?

3. What are the biggest higlight areas in the zoo? Im interested in both older areas and newer ones.

 

[Wolverine]

Hi, I visited Schonbrunn in March this year, and was really impressed. The last time I went was 30 years ago on a student inter-rail trip, and it was very shabby then. The new version is definitely one of my top 5 zoos! The way they have preserved the historic buildings but adapted them for modern use is really good. I only had a long morning there but could have easily spent the whole day. Highlights for me were 5 or 6 giant anteaters which were very active, hippos in quite a small indoor pool, but very close to visitors; big colony of bee-eaters, tenatacled snakes, black beauty stick insects, and cloud rats! I loved the quite traditional aviaries, aquarium, monkey house etc which had all been upgraded and seemed to suit the animals well. And the pandas and koalas were pretty cool actually. The new polar bear exhibit was just being finished off when I was there. Hope you enjoy it too.

 

[Norwegian moose]

So nice you enjoyed the zoo, I am looking very much forward to it too! But how long time would it take to see the zoo? Would it be possible to see the zoo in half a day, and see the rest of the Scønbrunn area, in the oder part of the day?

 

[Jana]

This zoo is nice, among the best in Europe.

When I´ve visited it for the first time, I was blown away, it is way better then Prague. I entered at opening time and left with closing the gate. For subsequent visits, I used half-day and it was enough to see everything.

I don´t know what you consider little known species. But their walk-though bird house is packed with rare singing bird species. Also the terrarium has some rarely seen species. Among mammals, most species are mainstream, but kept in luxurious exhibits.