The Kaliningrad Zoo was founded in 1896 as the Königsberger Tiergarten in the German town of

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

, which in 1945 became part of Russia and was renamed

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

. Thus, the zoo is one of the oldest

zoological gardens 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 Russia, and one of the largest. Its collection, which extends over 16.5 ha, comprises 286 species with a total of 2130 individual animals (as of 31 December 2020).

History

German period

The site of the modern zoo was home in 1895 to the Northeast German industrial and craft exhibition. Its supervisor Hermann Claaß proposed keeping the wooden pavilions to make a zoological garden. On 22 August 1895 the "Tiergarten Society" was created to realize the plan. The zoo's opening took place on 21 May 1896. At that time, the collection had 893 specimens representing 262 species. In 1912 an ethnographic museum was established in the grounds of the zoo. In the 1930s this was moved to Mt. Hexenberg north of Hohenstein (now

Olsztynek Olsztynek (Masurian dialects, Masurian: Ôlstÿnek; ) is today a town in northern Poland, in Olsztyn County, in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. It is the administrative seat of Gmina Olsztynek. It is part of the historic region of Masuria. Geog ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

). The zoo lost its prosperity when the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

began and was closed on 17 August 1914. All available buildings were used by the military as warehouses for uniforms. The zoo opened again in 1918, but was unable, in the post-war decline, to regain its former glory. The collection diminished severely and consisted in 1921 only of 565 animals. In 1938 the zoo became the property of the city of Königsberg, and the Tiergarten society was dissolved.

After the Second World War

Only four of the zoo's animals survived the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

: a deer, a donkey, a badger and a hippopotamus. The hippopotamus was injured in the fighting, but recovered later. In 1973 a patronage program was started in which Kaliningrad businesses would sponsor installations or animals in the zoo.

Statue

The first zoo director, Hermann Claaß, retired on 31 May 1913. Walter Rosenberg built a statue in his honor, which was erected on the main avenue of the park on 13 June. After the war the sculpture disappeared and was rediscovered only much later, in a private residence on Vatunin street occupied by the Gosstrakh. The pedestal of the statue was discovered in a playground on the intersection of Ogaryov and Kutuzov streets. In 1990 the monument was reassembled and re-erected in the zoo on its former spot.

Talking raven

A "talking raven" lived in the zoo.

Financial difficulties

In 2003, the zoo suffered from a lack of funding, sometimes even to the extent there is not enough food for the animals. Many of the animals survived by scrounging food from visitors."Russian zoo fights for survival"
BBC News Online, 9 November 2003.

Collection

At the present, the Kaliningrad Zoo contains 2264 animals representing 315 different species. *

Mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

s: 59 species, 292 specimens. *

Bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s: 84 species, 572 specimens. *

Reptile Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...

s: 42 species, 97 specimens. *

Amphibian Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

s: 17 species, 59 specimens. *

Fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

: 105 species, 1195 specimens. *

Invertebrate Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...

s: 8 species, 49 specimens.

Photographs

Image:Skazochny gorodok.jpg, The remains of the "Fairy-Tale Town" Image:Kaliningrad Slonovnik.jpg, This building in the zoo was built as a restaurant in 1911. After the war, it was rebuilt as the elephant house. It was recently restored and now houses the zoo's administration. The building is protected as a historical monument.

References

External links

* {{authority control Zoos in Russia Buildings and structures in Kaliningrad Tourist attractions in Kaliningrad Oblast Educational organizations established in 1896 Zoos established in the 19th century 1896 establishments in Germany Cultural heritage monuments of regional significance in Kaliningrad Oblast