History
Cologne zoo was designed in 1860 after the zoos in Antwerp and Amsterdam, at that time way outside the city walls. Already in the first years the zoo housed 455 different animal species. Gifts from German ambassadors and supporters from all over the world. There was for instance a bear pit (which housed polar bears, black bears and Kamschatka brown bears), a house for giraffes and antilope and a primate house, all built in stone already. The giraffe/antilope house still exists. In 1863 the arrival of the first orang utan created excitement, unfortunately the animal died 6 months later. Some years followed at which Zoo management was put to the test. In 1872 an infectious disease, glanders, was introduced, which is a serious zoonotic bacterial disease with a high case fatality rate (95%) that primarily affects horses, mules and donkeys. Unfortunately, glanders can occur in other mammalian species, particularly members of the cat family, but even in humans. Thus, the Zoo lost three lions, a tiger, the elephant and the pony, a public's favourite, to this disease. In 1876 and 1882 the zoo was flooded by the Rhine river, creating a lot of damage to buildings and animals.
Despite these setbacks the Zoo flourished, as documented by an increasing numbers of visitors and construction of many new enclosures. The two most famous and still existing (rebuilt after the wars!) enclosures are the sea lion basin (1887) and the new Bird House (1899) which was designed after a Russian cathedral.
During this period Cologne Zoo also introduced ethnographic exhibitions of different exotic tribal people. These kind of exhibitions were first introduced by Carl Hagenbeck, who travelled over Europe with such exhibitions. In Cologne seven of such events, with people from different tribes on display, were organised; the last one in 1932, and none of them very profitable.
After a steady growth until 1913 they just managed to finish and open the monkey island before WWI. During this war the City Council prevented the zoo from financial disaster. Unfortunately WWII made them close the zoo in 1944. And after the war the tally was: 22 animals but 133 bomb craters. The large predator enclosure, which housed lions, jaquars, pumas and a Java tiger (which was nursed by a dog), didn't survive the war. In fact, the elephant house was the only building that hadn't collapsed. But as Catherine de Courcy elegantly put it in her book The Zoo Story: “The destruction of the buildings in German zoos during the second world war was a mixed blessing: while some interesting buildings were lost, the way was cleared for enclosures which reflected a mid-20th century attitude towards animal's conditions in captivity.”
The zoo opened again in 1947, and even in their first year after the war broke a record as the visitors count read: 267.188. The City Council decided in 1954 to donate 8 ha of land (including the former velodrome) north of the Zoo, and a master plan for further development of the Zoo was written in 1957. This huge 8 ha expansion created the opportunity to build a lot of new enclosures, like the aquarium, the Africa savannah, and the big cats and deer enclosures. The aquarium (including a terrarium) was re-opened in 1971, fourteen years after the master plan was presented and three years of construction, although just about everything went wrong close to the deadline.
Already at the end of the 1970s improvement were necessary due to the ravages of time. Deterioration was noticeable at the elephant house, the rock face of the baboon enclosure, the fencing of the big cats enclosures, and the flooring of the hoofed animals quarters. Furthermore, the cages in which the apes were kept, had led to behaviour anomalies. And to increase the “suffering” of the Zoo, the City Council responded negatively to a request for additional funding to alleviate the bad conditions in the Zoo. Even closure of the Zoo was considered during this period. But things changed rapidly after appointment of Gunther Nogge as director. He took the lead in the establishment of a “Friends of the Zoo” society to generate essential funding. And under his supervision the Zoo was modernised according up-to-date standards with natural habitats for the different species. Nogge also played a relevant role in the development of the European Zoos' attitude and contribution to nature conservation, as in 1985 the first 19 EAZA Ex situ Programmes (EEP) were established at a meeting in Cologne zoo. Nowadays the Zoo is active in nature conservation programmes in nearly all continents.
The present zoo is situated in a historical park with large biotopes. In 1985 the primeval forest house for human-like primates was established, in 1994 the leopard biotope, in 2000 the rainforest house and in 2004 the elephant park, with its 2 ha about 10% of the Zoo's total surface. The final highlight was the opening of the Hippodome in 2010, their 150th anniversary. But more is to come? Landscape immersion is the new trend in zoo enclosure development, with animals having even more naturalistic habitat at their disposal and visitors having the opportunity to explore these habitats in search for the animals. A new challenge for Cologne Zoo.
(Sources: website Cologne Zoo; Der Kölner Zoo by Pagel-Reckewitz-Spiess-Schlosser, 2010)
Visit(s)
17.05.2014
On a nice and sunny day I visited Cologne Zoo for the second time. This time I really wanted to see the inside of the elephant building, and the South America House, both I had to skip in May 2011. The elephant building due to lack of time and bad prioritisation, while the South America House was closed for refurbishment. And at the end of the day it turned out I had some time left to visit the Aquarium building across from the entrance of the Zoo.
When you are a regular visitor to my site, and have been reading some visit reports, you may know that I am not a great enthusiast of aquariums in general. I do not see the value for conservation's sake in keeping non-endangered species in endless rows of (small) tanks, which is what you see most in aquariums, still. These exhibits with mostly brightly coloured odd-sized exotic fish attract and mesmerise lots of visitors and can support the message that zoos want to get across, absolutely. But fish do not appeal to me, at least not as much as mammals and birds. I do appreciate balanced collections, extraordinary enclosures or specific exhibitions to educate the people about the bad weather oceans are in. Nevertheless, the only time I really liked an aquarium was when there were sea otters on display.
For the Aquarium, Cologne Zoo only managed to have a good score for their balanced and large collection considering the above mentioned criteria , in my opinion. The building comprises a section with fish tanks and vivariums on the ground floor, and a section with insects on the second floor. Most of the reptile, amphibia and fish species are kept in endless rows of vivariums or water tanks in the old-fashioned way. Among the few exceptions I identified were, the pig-nosed turtle (Carettochelys insculpta) and the Philipines crocodile (Crocodylus mindorensis) - listed as Vulnerable and Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ respectively - the most eye-catching. According to the information panel at one of the several enclosures, the Philipines crocodile is the most endangered crocodile species in the world with only about 100 adult individuals left in the wild. Their endangered status requires that for their survival a captive population need to be created. Cologne Zoo is the only German zoo involved in this effort. Keeping this crocodile species in captivity isn't easy, because they are very aggressive and cannot be held together permanently. Therefore, at Cologne Zoo, the individuals are kept separated in different enclosures.
Being the main goal of my visit this time, I spent quite some time navigating the premises around the 2 hectares elephant park. The Asian elephants at Cologne Zoo live together as a herd day and night. The only time a single individual is separated from the herd, is when it is time for target training to get the animal used to the handling needed for medical treatment or a pedicure. Nevertheless it appears there's a group within the herd that spend more time together than with the other herd members. Or, perhaps, the others single themselves out. According the Zoo's website 15 elephants live in their park, but during my visit only 12 were on display. At least, I counted only twelve elephants, and an elephant cannot easily hide itself 
. One of the elderly females was quite skinny and looked a bit fragile, but she was treated with much respect by the others. The herd was very tranquil and not much happened while I was around. So, I went inside and saw a large exhibit with a hard surface. One part of the floor had a soil cover and sloped upwards to the indoor pool. The public has viewing access from a balcony close to this pool. Must be great fun to be there and watch the elephants take their bath. Another thing pleasing to the eye is the design of the roof. The wooden ceiling is supported by just a few massive metal pillars that at the top have beams that radiate outwards, creating a centre that allows natural light to enter the building.
The South America House, originally the Bird House designed after a Russian cathedral, now has on display an exhibition celebrating Cologne Zoo's 150 year history. Although I don't know in what condition the building was three years ago when renovation was ongoing, it still doesn't look very 'healthy' to me. Especially the rusty support beams for the roof could do with some additional maintenance. The place is stripped from all immovables except for the wire-mesh tunnels at ceiling height that connects different enclosures of the South-American monkey species. Several of them preferred to be inside in these tunnels instead of in their nice outdoor enclosures, which seemed strange to me since the weather was so good. All the red howler monkeys were hanging out inside, I saw a white-faced saki and a cotton-top tamarin was very curiously looking at the visitors beneath him. The only species I didn't see inside was the white-lipped tamarin. The exhibition on the Zoo's 150 year history looked interesting, but to be honest, I skipped it. Not only because I already bought and read the magnificent book 'Der Kölner Zoo - begeistert für Tiere' about the Zoo's history, the last time I was here, but also because I was running out of time again.
Right after the entrance the Zoo looked like a huge construction site where the 'Clemenshof' was being built, a classical German farm and a new Zoo school. The farm will have rare breeds of farm animals on display, and the school will be a big improvement compared to the old prefab building in the centre of the grounds. All to be opened in July this year, and part of the master plan 'Kölner Zoo 2020 - begeistert für Tiere' with its deadline at 2020. Furthermore two major renovations were nearly finished, and to be opened in May - the restaurant near the entrance and the side-entrance close to the elephant park.
In other words, although everything still looked as beautiful as during my 2011 visit, improvements were being implemented to make the Zoo ready for the next decade or so. Unfortunately, the Zoo also experienced a terrible accident in August 2012 when a tiger escaped its enclosure and got access to the storage room where it mauled a zookeeper, who died from her injuries. The tiger was shot dead through a skylight when it was still in the storage room, by the Zoo's director Theo Pagel, before it could get to public areas.
07.05.2011
Situated next to the botanical garden just outside the city centre of Cologne, the Zoo is a typical city zoo. Its accessibility profits from an excellent public transport system. As soon as you pass the entrance and start following the circular footpath there is no busy city anymore. Because of the circular footpath it is easy navigating in this more or less rectangular zoo, with several cross paths to get from one side to the other. The zoological park with its vegetation provides a tranquility which is typical for large botanical gardens in busy metropoles. Of course the Zoo is surrounded by large city office buildings and apartment complexes, but these do not distract you from what you actually came here for to see: animals in enclosures. Some of the people living in the apartments adjacent to the Zoo where the sea lion pool is situated have quite a good view on the Zoo inhabitants and enclosures. Although they might get fed up with the noise of the Zoo visitors applauding the performance of the sea lions during feeding. This sea lion pool with its artificial rock face of nine meters, opened in 1887, is one of the enclosures that was rebuilt after World War II, and can be considered a masterpiece of construction for that period. Though with a length of 27 meters and width of 15 meters it is small in size when for instance compared to the sea lion pool in Gelsenkrichen Zoo. Nevertheless it creates a naturalistic environment with animal shelters and feed storage hidden behind the artificial rocks. And above all, it is still impressive to watch the sea lions diving from the rock face.
Another old enclosure - or better: old building - that was rebuilt after the World War II destruction is the Bird House, opened in 1899 and designed after a Russian cathedral. A great attraction at the time with rare bird species on display, such as the greater bird of paradise, the great hornbill, the Guianan toucanet, toucans, cockatoos and drongos. In 1989 this milestone of zoo design was converted into the south-american House and during my visit it was closed for refurbishment.
With this lack of old buildings in the Zoo which opened its gates on 22 July 1860, it becomes clear how much suffering Cologne Zoo endured during wartime in Germany. Not only buildings did not survive these difficult times, animals as well, unfortunately. But the Zoo recovered from these hardships and now presents enclosures which are bar-less according the Hagenbeck principle. Furthermore, zoo management follow the modern practice of creating biotopes for the species they have on display with a habitat resembling the naturalistic environment. What they don't have is mixed species exhibits, which is being introduced in most modern zoos nowadays. Regarding the grouping of the animals, giving them the benefit of the doubt, the Zoo is in a transition phase. At the moment the way the animals are grouped and located is rather confusing. It is a mix of continental grouping, like most African animals are to be found close together, and taxonomic grouping, such as the primates, the felids and the birds. Sometimes the grouping is more habitat driven, as in the Madagascar house or near the main entrance with species that are to be found in desert-like environments (meerkat, onager, camel). The modern type of enclosure called 'landscape immersion' has not been introduced (yet), but the Tropical Rainforest house which opened in 2000 comes close to meet the requirements of such an enclosure where people can see animals exploring their naturalistic environment. The only thing is that the public is walking through the enclosure, which enables close encounters and possibly disturb natural behaviour, like in all walk-through enclosures of course. The Rainforest house inhabits species from south-east Asia, including Bali starling, red-tailed laughingthrush, several cockatoo species, white-handed gibbon, Asian small-clawed otter and the Matschie's tree kangaroo.
Most of the enclosures with carnivores are designed with large moats that have a steep decline towards a concrete wall on the visitor's side, to separate the animals from the public. The bar-less principle has been adopted long ago, and now they are expanding the enclosures to provide the animals more space and ample opportunity to express natural behaviour using numerous enrichment methods.
So 
me of the enclosures really stand out, like the already mentioned Rainforest house. Another interesting exhibit is the brand new Hippodome, which opened in 2010, Cologne Zoo's 150th anniversary. The public follows a footpath between two large water reservoirs, containing on one side crocodiles and on the other side hippopotamuses. The hippopotamuses share the basin with nile tilapia and can be spotted when submerged if they swim close to the enormous glass viewing window. The Hippodome is a mixed species exhibit as there are also cattle egrets and hammerkops (Scopus umbretta), which can fly freely around and join the hippos as well as the crocs in their environment. The hippos have an outside enclosure as an alternative for the magnificent Hippodome, but surprisingly this does not contain a pool.
The meerkat enclosure has got a striking, but not a naturalistic, design with its large funnel-shaped or flower-like features. As in most of the enclosures there is lots of enrichment and the animals can dig and build tunnels to their hearts content. The bear enclosures (Malayan sun bears and grizzly bears) have a typical rockface on the city side and a moat on the zoo side, with the grizzlies provided with water in their moat. The vegetation in these enclosures does give some possibility to hide from the public or lie in the shade, but whenever they really want to get away from it all they need to go into their night shelters.
The red panda exhibit is worth mentioning because I never seen such a large tree in a zoological setting as they have at their disposal.
All of the 
big cats have enclosures with lots of natural vegetation, except for the snow leopard. This felid, with its natural habitat on higher altitudes in the Himalayas is provided with artificial rocks and observation posts at different levels along the rockface, together with a small waterfall. Although the Persian leopard enclosure has a similar construction the inside of this enclosure is remarkably different with its jungle-like appearance. Both these enclosures have an interesting construction of the roof (see picture). The Amur tiger has nice hiding places with straw bottom, but a real good high level observation post is missing.
The way the primates are grouped is a bit messy from educational point of view. It needs some time before you have figured out that they grouped together apes with old world monkeys, except the baboons, and that the new world monkeys, white-faced saki, red howler monkey and yellow-breasted capuchin, and the lemurs are to be found in a different part of the zoo. So, the Zoo's apes (Hominidae), gorilla, orang-utan and bonobo, can be found in one corner of the premises together with colobus monkey, red-shanked douc langur and lion-tailed macaque, which are not apes. While the ape-related white-handed gibbon is housed in the Rainforest house. This rather challenging way of displaying the primates is outweighed by the way these animals are housed. All of them have access to a superb outdoors enclosure with the lion-tailed macaques taking turns with the Bornean orang-utans in the same outdoors exhibit. And the gorillas sharing their outdoors with the colobus monkeys. All have access to their outdoors via a walkway crossing the visitors footpath. The indoors primate enclosures contain lots of artificial enrichment, while the large outdoors provide natural vegetation. As the outdoors enclosures are fenced off using different materials like glass windows, wire mesh and wooden pallisades, they provide secluded areas for the animals. Especially the gorilla/colobus exhibit looks great. It just makes it a little bit harder for the public to spot the animals, but on the other hand the animals will probably express more natural behaviour than in very exposed circumstances like in the old days.
In the Madagascar house lemurs can be found, obviously, with every species housed in a separate enclosure. This is nothing special, but the once revolutionary outdoor cages on poles are still of interesting design and are accessible for the animals via specific walkways.
The absolute highlight of Cologne Zoo is the Asian elephant enclosure, which is the largest elephant enclosure north of the European Alps. Its large grounds provide the 14 elephants with lots of enrichment. Especially when the animals use the pools close to the cafe this is great entertainment for the people on the terrace. And not only the outdoors enclosure is large, the indoors is as well.
Gallery
2014
Shona art 2014
Shona-Art at Cologne Zoo
On Sunday, 27 April 2014, Cologne Zoo and SHONA-Art opened an exhibition of impressive stone sculptures from Zimbabwe. Sculptures that belong to the highlights of the international stone sculpture scene. The exhibition of more than 30 large sculptures will be on view from May 2014 to March 2016, spread across the Zoo's grounds.
The Shona are the largest ethnic group of people in Zimbabwe. Nevertheless Shona stone sculptures are not traditional. It's modern art for which the African nation of Zimbabwe is well known around the world. Shona sculptures are an individual form of expression that combines traditional African myths and legends with modern worldviews. Leading representatives of this art form belong to the world's best sculptors. Their works can be found in museums and collections of many countries, from New York "Museum of Modern Art" and the "Musée Rodin" in Paris to the "London Museum of Contemporary Art".
The majority of the sculptures in the exhibition come from the artists' colony "Tengenenge", which is still regarded as the center of stone carving in Zimbabwe. A few examples of the statues at the park you find below.
2011
Video
2014
Red howler monkeys during a lazy afternoon at Cologne Zoo
The adult red howler monkeys have just called it a day, but the youngest of the group has too much energy still to retire. So, solo gymnastics is the game to play.
Hippos at Cologne Zoo Hippodome
These two hippos decided that doing things together is more fun, but one should be in the lead that's for sure. Or is it about a role model and a follower?
Red Sea species aquarium at Cologne Zoo
In this video of one of Cologne Zoo's tanks in the Aquarium building, the Red Sea species (sea goldie, red-footed trigger fish, yellowtail fang blenny and marginated damselfish) make their appearance one after another, and some more prominent than the other.
2011
More info
Some additional information, such as contact details and involvement in breeding programmes.
Location
Directions
Directions to Cologne Zoo, Kölner Zoo
Address:
Riehler Straße 173
50735
Cologne (Köln)
Germany
public transport
by train
Information about trains, routes, timetables and tickets, to get to Cologne Central Railway station can be found here.
by U-bahn or Bus
From the Central Railway station (Hauptbahnhof) you can take either the underground line #18 (U-bahn) or from Eberplatz take bus #140 to the Zoo, get off at stop Zoo/Flora.
by ZOO-Express and Kölner Seilbahn (Cable car)
If you want a tourist ride to the Zoo the ZOO-Express or the Rheinseilbahn is your best option.
The ZOO-Express runs daily every 30 minutes (from March until mid-November, weather permitted) and it will bring you from the Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) along the river Rhine to the main entrance of the Zoo. You will find the ZOO-Express stop at the Dom at the Kreuzblume (in front of the main entrance of the Cathedral), diagonally opposite of the Tourist Information. First trip starts at 9.30AM from the Cathedral stop. More info here.
The cable car (Seilbahn) of Cologne offers an attractive bird's eye view of the city, while crossing the river Rhine. Take off with the cable car and then wander around the Zoo. It runs from April until October daily (from 10.00 - 18.00hrs) and it takes 6 minutes to cross the river. Start your cable car experience at the stop at Sachsenbergstraße/Ecke Auenweg in the Rheinpark. More info here.
by bicycle
Like in most German cities cycling is one of the easiest way of moving around in the centre of town. It is a very bicycle-friendly town with an official Bike Station near the Central Railway station, a public service where, besides repair and maintenance, you can rent a bicycle. There are many cycle paths and car drivers are used to cyclists. By far the nicest route is the cycle path along the Rhine embankment, which you can follow until close to the Zoo entrance. Personally, I had a half hour leisurely ride along the river from the camping near the river east of the city.
by car
Please note: The Cologne Zoo is located in the green zone or 'low emission' zone. This means that you need a green sticker for your car, and therefore your car should meet the emission requirements that have been set for this lowest emission level. More information here (in German).
From motorway (Autobahn) 3 at the intersection follow Köln-Ost (Cologne East) in the direction Köln-Zentrum (Cologne centre), take exit to the river Rhine crossing in the direction Zoo or Zoo-Parkhaus (parking).
From end of motorway (Autobahn) 57 go in the direction Köln-Ost/Zoobrücke (Innere Kanalstraße), before the Zoobrücke (Zoo bridge) take exit Riehl, from there follow directions Zoo (at first junction left).
Parking
Several options are available in the Zoo neighbourhood: the Zoo-Parkhaus (Zoo parking garage); underneath the Zoobrücke (Zoo bridge); close to the side entrance near Riehler Gürtel; and along Riehler Straße.
Zoo map
Download the zoo map here.
