The Bremerhaven Zoo (officially Zoo am Meer , which is German for ''Zoo next to the Sea'') is located next to the river

Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...

and exhibits mainly species which live in the water or in northern environments; exceptions are, for instance,

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (; ''Pan troglodytes''), also simply known as the chimp, is a species of Hominidae, great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. When its close rel ...

s and white-headed marmosets.

Animals

Mammals

The main attraction are the

polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a large bear native to the Arctic and nearby areas. It is closely related to the brown bear, and the two species can Hybrid (biology), interbreed. The polar bear is the largest extant species of bear ...

s, the South American sea-lions, the harbour seals and the South African fur seals.

Birds

The

northern gannet The northern gannet (''Morus bassanus'') is a seabird, the largest species of the gannet family, Sulidae. It is native to the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean, breeding in Western Europe and Northeastern North America. It is the largest seabird in t ...

is naturally abundant in Germany only since 1991 on the high-sea island

Helgoland Heligoland (; , ; Heligolandic Frisian: , , Mooring Frisian: , ) is a small archipelago in the North Sea. The islands were historically possessions of Denmark, then became possessions of the United Kingdom from 1807 to 1890. Since 1890, the ...

. These birds share their area with

cormorant Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) ado ...

s and different ducks. The

Humboldt penguin The Humboldt penguin (''Spheniscus humboldti'') is a medium-sized penguin. It resides in South America, along the Pacific coast of Peru and Chile. Its nearest relatives are the African penguin, the Magellanic penguin and the Galápagos penguin. ...

s of the zoo became famous because there was a homosexual penguin couple among them.

Other animals

The Fischer’s chameleon was found in the woods near

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (; ) is a city on the east bank of the Weser estuary in northern Germany. It forms an exclave of the Bremen (state), city-state of Bremen. The Geeste (river), River Geeste flows through the city before emptying into the Weser. Brem ...

, it is suspected that it was kept illegally by somebody and had been set free when it became too big.

History

In 1912, the ''North Sea Aquarium'' started in the cellar so-called '' Strandhalle''. On June 24, 1928 the ''Tiergrotten'' (literally ''Animal

Grotto A grotto or grot is a natural or artificial cave or covered recess. Naturally occurring grottoes are often small caves near water that are usually flooded or often flooded at high tide. Sometimes, artificial grottoes are used as garden fea ...

'') was opened outside the

embankment. The

North Sea flood of 1962 The North Sea flood of 1962 was a natural disaster affecting mainly the coastal regions of West Germany and in particular the city of Hamburg in the night from 16 February to 17 February 1962. In total, the homes of about 60,000 people were ...

killed a lot of animals in the zoo. Major renovations took place in 1976 and from 2000 to 2004. The ''Zoo am Meer'' was opened on March 27, 2004.

Polar bears

The

''Victoria'' was transported from Tierpark Hagenbeck on January 10, 2008:
video
to Zoo am Meer with the hope that she and ''Lloyd'' might breed. She stayed in Bremerhaven until October 24, 2011. The polar bear ''Irka'' came from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

to Bremerhaven in 1979 when she was probably a year old and she spent her whole life in the zoo. She was suffering from

arthritis Arthritis is a general medical term used to describe a disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, Joint effusion, swelling, and decreased range of motion of ...

when she got old, but she was otherwise fit for a long time. She was euthanized on June 4, 2012 after she became disoriented, lost coordination and a blood test suggested changes in her liver. After her death a tumor was found in her liver. The eight-year-old polar bear ''Valeska'' came to Bremerhaven in September 2012 from the Ranua Wildlife Park in Finland as new partner for ''Llyod'' who has been in Bremerhaven since 2002.

Other animals

The two baby seals called ''Luna'' and ''Paula'' were born on 21 and 22 July 2012 by different mothers.

Future plans

The Zoo am Meer will build a new

aquarium An aquarium (: aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...

in the cellar rooms underneath the compound of the

s. The exhibit will have an area of 325 m² and will cost around 1.5 million

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

which will be paid by the

European Regional Development Fund The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is one of the European Structural and Investment Funds allocated by the European Union. Its purpose is to transfer money from richer regions (not countries), and invest it in the infrastructure and se ...

. The operational costs is estimated to be around 70 thousand

Euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

per year.

References

Valuable information was also taken from the charts in the zoo, se
Official English Website Zoo am Meer
{{authority control Zoos in Germany Bremerhaven Articles containing video clips