(; ), officially Rotterdam Zoo, is a

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...

located in the northwestern part of

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

. It is one of the oldest zoos in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, and has been operated by the ("Royal Rotterdam Zoo Foundation"). Divided into several zoogeographic regions, the Blijdorp Zoo boasts 562 species. It also has a shop, multiple cafes, and an information centre. The zoo is a member of the

Dutch Zoo Federation The Dutch Zoo Federation (''Nederlandse Vereniging van Dierentuinen'' - NVD) is an association of 12 large zoos in the Netherlands. NVD was founded in 1966. All of its member zoos are members of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA). ...

and the

European Association of Zoos and Aquaria The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) is an organisation for the European zoo and aquarium community that links over 340 member organisations in 41 countries. EAZA membership is open to all zoos and aquaria across Europe that compl ...

. In 2007, it celebrated its 150th anniversary.

History

In 1855, a garden was set up for pheasants and waterfowl in the center of Rotterdam, near the Kruiskade. It was a success and on May 18, 1857, the 'Rotterdamsche Diergaarde' was opened as a sequel. The first director was the animal trainer Henri Martin. The same year the 'Vereniging Rotterdamsche Diergaarde' was founded. In 1932 it was decided to reorganize the zoo. In 1937 it was decided to move the zoo to a new location. The zoo exchanged land with the municipality: the municipality received part of the old zoo for free, the rest they had to pay for. In exchange, the zoo became the owner of two-thirds of a new site in the

Blijdorp district Blijdorp () is a neighbourhood in northern Rotterdam and is part of the borough Noord, Rotterdam, Noord. The neighbourhood has around 9500 inhabitants. Construction of the district The construction of Blijdorp between 1931 and 1940 became poss ...

, while one-third of the new site had to be leased at one guilder. On October 26, 1938, the 'Vereniging' was dissolved, and the 'Rotterdamsche Diergaarde Foundation' was established. The Rotterdam Zoo moved to its new location prior to the bombing of Rotterdam in World War II, which destroyed most of the city centre. The original zoo had been heavily damaged in a bombing two days prior to the Blitz, but it had not been touched by the main bombardment on May 14, 1940. Some street names, such as (‘Zoo Lane’), still recall the old zoo. The new zoo at Blijdorp was rebuilt slightly to the north, where it opened to the public in its current location on December 7, 1940. The new zoo was designed by Dutch architect Sybold van Ravesteyn, who designed the central railway station of Rotterdam as well. In 2001, Blijdorp became almost twice as large when it opened a new western part, which includes the

Oceanium The Oceanium is a public aquarium that opened in 2001 in Diergaarde Blijdorp, a zoo in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The Oceanium lies in the expansion area of the zoo, which includes a new entrance and parking area, and was the biggest project to da ...

aquarium. In 2007, the zoo was declared a . In May 2007 the zoo appeared in the news when Bokito, Blijdorp's

silverback gorilla Gorillas are primarily herbivorous, terrestrial great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or five subspeci ...

, escaped from his enclosure and seriously injured a female visitor. Before the attack, the woman was a regular visitor of the zoo (on average 4 times per week) and claimed to have a special bond with Bokito, regularly touching the glass between her and the gorilla, making

eye contact Eye contact occurs when two people or non-human animals look at each other's eyes at the same time. In people, eye contact is a form of nonverbal communication and can have a large influence on social behavior. Coined in the early to mid-1960s, ...

with him and

smiling A smile is a facial expression formed primarily by flexing the muscles at the sides of the mouth. Some smiles include a contraction of the muscles at the corner of the eyes, an action known as a Duchenne smile. Among humans, a smile expresses d ...

at him. In October 2010, the city of Rotterdam decided to reduce its yearly funding of Blijdorp from nearly 4.5 to about 0.8 million euro until 2015. The zoo and its supporters protested the decision, claiming it is unclear if the zoo can continue to operate with the reduced budget. In March 2014, the zoo made headlines when a giraffe licked a former zoo cleaner whose last wish was to revisit the zoo, as he was dying of terminal brain cancer. The video went viral worldwide quickly. In 2019 a conservation centre (Dutch:''Natuurbehoudscentrum'') was opened with the first animals being

Lesser Antillean iguana The Lesser Antillean iguana (''Iguana delicatissima'') is a large arboreal lizard endemic to the Lesser Antilles. It is one of two species of lizard of the genus ''Iguana'' and is in severe decline due to habitat destruction, introduced feral pre ...

s brought over from a plane from

Sint Maarten Sint Maarten () is a Countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean region of North America. With a population of 58,477 as of June 2023 on an area of , it encompasses ...

with Dutch prime minister

Mark Rutte Mark Rutte (; born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician who has served as the 14th Secretary General of NATO, secretary general of NATO since October 2024. He previously served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, prime minister of the Neth ...

Breeding programs

Diergaarde Blijdorp participates in about 70

breeding program A breeding program is the planned breeding of a group of animals or plants, usually involving at least several individuals and extending over several generations. There are a couple of breeding methods, such as artificial (which is man made) a ...

s and

studbook A breed registry, also known as a herdbook, studbook or register, in animal husbandry, the hobby of animal fancy, is an official list of animals within a specific breed whose parents are known. Animals are usually registered by their breeders w ...

s, and coordinates a number of these, including the international breeding program for

red panda The red panda (''Ailurus fulgens''), also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzz ...

s, EEPs for

Asian elephant The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living ''Elephas'' species. It is the largest living land animal in Asia and the second largest living Elephantidae, elephantid in the world. It is char ...

Komodo dragon The Komodo dragon (''Varanus komodoensis''), also known as the Komodo monitor, is a large reptile of the monitor lizard family Varanidae that is endemic to the Indonesian islands of Komodo (island), Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Dasami, and Gili ...

, red-crowned and

Siberian crane The Siberian crane (''Leucogeranus leucogeranus''), also known as the Siberian white crane or the snow crane, is a bird of the family Gruidae, the crane (bird), cranes. They are distinctive among the cranes: adults are nearly all White, snowy whi ...

, Visayan warty pig and

Egyptian tortoise Kleinmann's tortoise (''Testudo kleinmanni''), also called commonly the Egyptian tortoise, Leith's tortoise, and the Negev tortoise, is a critically endangered species of cryptodire turtle in the family Testudinidae. The species is native to L ...

, and the ESB (European Studbook) for the

crowned pigeons The crowned pigeons (''Goura'') are a genus of birds in the family Columbidae. It contains four large species of pigeon that are endemic to the island of New Guinea and a few surrounding islands. The species are extremely similar to each other in ...

Botanical garden

Blijdorp also houses a

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

and manages both the Dutch National

Bromelia ''Bromelia'' is a genus of about 70 plant species widespread across Latin America and the West Indies. It is the type genus of the family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Bromelioideae, and its type species is '' B. karatas''. ''Bromelia'' species are ch ...

Collection and the Dutch National ''

Primula ''Primula'' () is a genus of herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants in the family (biology), family Primulaceae. They include the primrose (''Primula vulgaris, P. vulgaris''), a familiar wildflower of banks and verges. Other common specie ...

'' Collection.

Oceanium

The Oceanium is an aquarium that opened in the zoo in 2001. The Oceanium lies in the expansion area of the zoo, which includes a new entrance and parking area, and was the biggest project to date for the zoo. The area around the Oceanium was home to projects depicting

the Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.'' Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sin ...

. However since 2020, Blijdorp wanted to designate this area to tropical Africa.

Animal list

Asia

; Chinese Garden: *

Tufted deer The tufted deer (''Elaphodus cephalophus'') is a small species of deer characterized by a prominent tuft of black hair on its forehead and fang-like canines for the males. It is a close relative of the muntjac, living somewhat further north over ...

(''Elaphodus cephalophus'') *

François' langur François' langur (''Trachypithecus francoisi''), also known as Francois' leaf monkey, the Tonkin leaf monkey, or the white side-burned black langur is a species of Old World monkey and the type species of its species group. It is one of the leas ...

(''Trachypithecus francoisi'') *

Eurasian otter The Eurasian otter (''Lutra lutra''), also known as the European otter, Eurasian river otter, European river otter, common otter, and Old World otter, is a semiaquatic mammal native to Eurasia and the Maghreb. The most widely distributed member o ...

(''Lutra lutra'') ; The

Amur The Amur River () or Heilong River ( zh, s=黑龙江) is a perennial river in Northeast Asia, forming the natural border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China (historically the Outer Manchuria, Outer and Inner Manchuria). The Amur ...

: *

Greater flamingo The greater flamingo (''Phoenicopterus roseus'') is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. Common in the Old World, they are found in Northern (coastal) and Sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian Subcontinent (south of the Him ...

(''Phoenicopterus roseus'') *

White stork The white stork (''Ciconia ciconia'') is a large bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. Its plumage is mainly white, with black on the bird's wings. Adults have long red legs and long pointed red beaks, and measure on average from beak tip to en ...

(''Ciconia ciconia'') *

Amur leopard The Amur leopard (''Panthera pardus orientalis'') is a leopard subspecies native to the Primorye region of southeastern Russia and northern China. It is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, as in 2007, only 19–26 wild leopar ...

(''Panthera pardus orientalis'') *

Northern hawk-owl The northern hawk-owl or northern hawk owl (''Surnia ulula'') is a medium-sized true owl of the northern latitudes. It is non-migratory and usually stays within its breeding range, though it sometimes irrupts southward. It is one of the few owl ...

(''Surnia ulula'') *

Dalmatian pelican The Dalmatian pelican (''Pelecanus crispus''), also known as the curly-headed pelican, is the largest member of the pelican family and among the heaviest flying birds in the world. With a wingspan typically ranging between 2.7 and 3.2 meters (8.9� ...

(''Pelecanus crispus'') *

Great cormorant The great cormorant (''Phalacrocorax carbo''), also known as just cormorant in Britain, as black shag or kawau in New Zealand, formerly also known as the great black cormorant across the Northern Hemisphere, the black cormorant in Australia, and ...

(''Phalacrocorax carbo'') ; Malaysian Forest Edge & Asia House: * Visayan warty pig (''Sus cebifrons'') * Visayan spotted deer (''Cervus alfredi'') *

Lion-tailed macaque The lion-tailed macaque (''Macaca silenus''), also known as the wanderoo, is an Old World monkey endemic to the Western Ghats of South India. Characteristics Lion-tailed macaques are covered in black fur, and have a striking gray or silver ...

(''Macaca silenus'') *

Fishing cat The fishing cat (''Prionailurus viverrinus'') is a medium-sized wild cat of South and Southeast Asia. It has a deep yellowish-grey fur with black lines and spots. Adults have a head-to-body length of , with a long tail. Males are larger than f ...

(''Prionailurus viverrinus'') *

Banteng The banteng (''Bos javanicus''; ), also known as tembadau, is a species of wild Bovinae, bovine found in Southeast Asia. The head-and-body length is between . Wild banteng are typically larger and heavier than their Bali cattle, domesticated ...

(''Bos javanicus'') *

Blackbuck The blackbuck (''Antilope cervicapra''), also known as the Indian antelope, is a medium-sized antelope native to India and Nepal. It inhabits grassy plains and lightly forested areas with perennial water sources. It stands up to high at the sh ...

(''Antilope cervicapra'') *

Wreathed hornbill The wreathed hornbill (''Rhyticeros undulatus'') is an Old World tropical bird of the hornbill family Bucerotidae, also called bar-pouched wreathed hornbill due to its distinctive blue-black band on its lower throat sac. It is named after its cha ...

(''Aceros undulatus'') *

Indian eagle-owl The Bengal eagle-owl (''Bubo bengalensis''), also widely known as the Indian eagle-owl or rock eagle-owl, is a large horned owl species native to hilly and rocky scrub forests in the Indian Subcontinent. It is splashed with brown and grey, and has ...

(''Bubo bengalensis'') *

Bali myna The Bali myna (''Leucopsar rothschildi''), also known as Rothschild's mynah, Bali starling, or Bali mynah, locally known as jalak Bali, is a medium-sized (up to long), stocky myna, almost wholly white with a long, drooping crest, and black tip ...

(''Leucopsar rothschildi'') * Crested partridge (''Rollulus rouloul'') *

Black-naped fruit dove The black-naped fruit dove (''Ptilinopus melanospilus''), also known as the black-headed fruit dove, is a medium-sized, up to long, green fruit dove with yellowish Beak, bill and Iris (anatomy), iris. The male has a pale grey head with a black ...

(''Ptilinopus melanospilus'') * Roti Island snake-necked turtle (''Chelodina mccordi'') *

Amboina box turtle The Amboina box turtle or Southeast Asian box turtle (''Cuora amboinensis'') is a species of Asian box turtle widely distributed across Southeast Asia. It is native to the Asian mainland from northeast India, through Bangladesh, Burma and Thail ...

(''Cuora amboinensis'') *

(''Varanus komodoensis'') *

Indian cobra The Indian cobra (''Naja naja /na''dʒa nadʒa/), also known Common name, commonly as the spectacled cobra, Asian cobra, or binocellate cobra, is a species of Naja, cobra, a venomous snake in the Family (biology), family Elapidae. The species is ...

(''Naja naja'') ; Asian Swamp: *

White-naped crane The white-naped crane (''Antigone vipio'', formerly ''Grus vipio'', also known as the ''Daurian crane'' in Russian sources) is a bird in the crane family, Gruidae. It is a large bird measuring 112–125 cm (44–49 in) long, about 130 ...

(''Grus vipio'') *

Demoiselle crane The demoiselle crane (''Grus virgo'') is a species of crane found in central Eurosiberia, ranging from the Black Sea to Mongolia and Northeast China. There is also a small breeding population in Turkey. These cranes are migratory birds. Birds f ...

(''Anthropoides virgo'') * Sulawesi crested macaque (''Macaca nigra'') *

Little egret The little egret (''Egretta garzetta'') is a species of small heron in the family Ardeidae. It is a white bird with a slender black beak, long black legs and, in the western race, yellow feet. As an aquatic bird, it feeds in shallow water and on ...

(''Egretta garzetta'') *

Black-headed ibis The black-headed ibis (''Threskiornis melanocephalus''), also known as the Oriental white ibis, Indian white ibis, and black-necked ibis, is a species of wading bird of the ibis family Threskiornithidae which breeds in the South and Southeast As ...

(''Threskiornis melanocephalus'') *

Painted stork The painted stork (''Mycteria leucocephala'') is a large wader in the stork family. It is found in the wetlands of the plains of tropical Asia south of the Himalayas in the Indian Subcontinent and extending into Southeast Asia. Their distinctive ...

(''Mycteria leucocephala'') *

Milky stork The milky stork (''Mycteria cinerea'') is a stork species inhabiting predominantly mangroves in Southeast Asia. It is native to Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. It is currently included in the genus ''Mycteria'', is around tall, with a ...

(''Mycteria cinerea'') *

Woolly-necked stork The woolly-necked stork has been split into two species: * Asian woolly-necked stork, ''Ciconia episcopus'' * African woolly-necked stork, ''Ciconia microscelis'' {{Short pages monitor