Visitors to Dortmund are often surprised to find zoological gardens of such format in a Westphalian city generously endowed with park and green spaces anyway. "Animal Park" is what the locals call the Zoo, a name which expresses well the side-by-side harmony of the fauna and flora across this beautiful parkland. Opened in 1953, the Zoo draws its history from the traditional love of animals that the people in the Ruhr industrial conurbation have always shown. The Zoo was the logical outcome of what they perceived to be their "rightful" slice of nature.
Ecological issues are on the agenda everywhere. As environmental awareness steadily grows, then, so too does the demand for biological knowledge and insights into the balance of nature. Our Zoo therefore does not content itself with putting the animals on display but - as befits a scientifically run zoo with important educational responsibilities - it likes to convey important zoological information as well. Survival under the guardianship of a zoo is all too frequently the only option that remains for some animals. Which is why the practical protection of the species, a task taken very seriously at Dortmund Zoo, has already led to some remarkable successes in the keeping and breeding of threatened wildlife - with benefits too for the world of research and science.
Visitors to Dortmund are often surprised to find zoological gardens of such format in a Westphalian city generously endowed with park and green spaces anyway. "Animal Park" is what the locals call the Zoo, a name which expresses well the side-by-side harmony of the fauna and flora across this beautiful parkland. Opened in 1953, the Zoo draws its history from the traditional love of animals that the people in the Ruhr industrial conurbation have always shown. The Zoo was the logical outcome of what they perceived to be their "rightful" slice of nature.