
Dresden Zoo, or Zoo Dresden, 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, ...
in the city of
Dresden
Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
. It was opened in 1861, making it Germany's fourth oldest zoo. It was originally designed by
Peter Joseph Lenné
Peter Joseph Lenné (the Younger) (29 September 1789 – 23 January 1866) was a Prussian gardener and landscape architect. As director general of the Royal Prussian palaces and parks in Potsdam and Berlin, his work shaped the development of 1 ...
.
The zoo is located on the southern edge of the
Großer Garten
The Großer Garten (English: Great Garden) is a Baroque style park in central Dresden. It is rectangular in shape and covers about 1.8 km2. Originally established in 1676 on the orders of John George III, Elector of Saxony, it has been a pu ...
(Great Garden), a large city centre park. The zoo houses about 3000 animals of almost 400 species, especially Asian animals.
[ It is a member of the ]World Association of Zoos and Aquariums
The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) is the "umbrella" organization for the world zoo and aquarium community. Its mission is to provide leadership and support for zoos, aquariums, and partner organizations of the world in animal ...
(WAZA) 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 ...
(EAZA).
The zoo is served on its southern side by tram
A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...
lines 9 and 13 of the Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe
Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe AG (DVB) is the municipal transport company of the city of Dresden in Germany. It is a member of the Verkehrsverbund Oberelbe transport association that manages a common public transport structure for Dresden and its su ...
, the local municipal transport company. On its northern side is the Zoo station of the Dresdner Parkeisenbahn
The Dresden park railway () is a minimum-gauge railway in Dresden, Germany. The line opened in 1950 and was previously known as the ''Kindereisenbahn'' and the ''Pioniereisenbahn''. As these names suggest, the line is largely operated by chi ...
, a minimum-gauge railway
Minimum-gauge railways are railways with track gauges smaller than those of narrow-gauge railways, primarily designed for light, industrial, or tourist transportation. The most common gauges for minimum-gauge railways include:
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through the Großer Garten
The Großer Garten (English: Great Garden) is a Baroque style park in central Dresden. It is rectangular in shape and covers about 1.8 km2. Originally established in 1676 on the orders of John George III, Elector of Saxony, it has been a pu ...
that is largely operated by children.
In literature
At the end of the short story ''Tobermory'' (1909) by Saki
Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), popularly known by his pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirise Edwardian society and ...
, the visiting Englishman Cornelius Appin is killed by an elephant at the Dresden Zoological Garden.
In the novel ''Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close'' (2005) by Jonathan Safran Foer, Thomas Schell is told to shoot all of the carnivores that had escaped from their cages during Dresden's bombing of World War II. He didn't know which were carnivorous and which weren't, so he was told to kill them all. The animals he killed included an elephant, an ape, two lions, a bear cub, a camel, a rhinoceros, a zebra, a giraffe, and a sea lion.
History
In 1859, at the suggestion of the Dresden "Association for Chicken Breeding", a committee was formed which, in collaboration with the city administration, initiated the establishment of a zoo. Peter Joseph Lenné acted as landscape architect and the architect Carl Adolph Canzler was responsible for all of the zoo's buildings. King Johann made part of the royal Great Garden available. After two years of construction, the zoo was opened on May 9, 1861. The zoo's first director was Albin Schoepf, who built the zoo with the help of his son and later director Adolph Schoepf. Since 1873, the Dresden Zoo has cared for great apes
The Hominidae (), whose members are known as the great apes or hominids (), are a taxonomic family of primates that includes eight extant species in four genera: '' Pongo'' (the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan); '' Gorilla'' (the ...
, especially orangutans
Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ' ...
, with which the zoo gained worldwide attention in 1927. For the first time, the growth of an orangutan and its natural rearing by its mother were observed and documented. From 1910 to 1934, Gustav Brandes was in charge of the zoo and laid the foundations for a modern zoo. He restructured the zoo from a pure animal show to a species-appropriate environment in which animals were kept in a natural environment.
See also
* List of zoos in Germany
This list of zoos, animal parks, wildlife parks, bird parks and other public zoological establishments in Germany is sorted by location.
{, class="wikitable sortable"
! City/town !! Name !! Year of opening !! Area (ha)!! No. of animals !! Speci ...
References
External links
Official web site of Dresden Zoo (in German)
Web site of the Friends of Dresden Zoo (in German)
Tourist attractions in Dresden
Zoos in Germany
Buildings and structures in Dresden
Educational organizations established in 1861
Zoos established in the 19th century
1861 establishments in the Kingdom of Saxony
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