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Allwetterzoo Münster:
Experience Animals at First Hand
The Allwetterzoo is a young zoo with a long tradition. It was rebuild in 1947 as replacement for the first zoo, which was opened in 1875. Today, more than 3,300 animals from all over the world are living here in 12 animal houses and many roomy outdoor enclosures.
Especially worth seeing is the elephant house with its artificial rocks, tropical plants, and waterfall. It allows the herd of 7 Asian elephants, which also includes a bull, free movement. Another sight is the "ZoORANGerie," our jungle-like enclosure for orangutans.
Here, great apes live in a sheer natural environment and are seperated neither by glass nor by bars from the visitors. Numerous attractions such as the tropical house, the bamboo thicket surrounding the outdoor enclosure, a tree for climbing for the visitors, the plank bridge, adventure paths, and the "monkey-playground" for kids highlight the visit to this part of the zoo.In addition, the freely accessible dolphinarium presents educatively-directed performances several times during the day.
To create as much closeness as possible between visitors and animals is the zoo's major goal. With this end in mind, the zoo constructed several "walk-through" enclosures in which apes (ring-tailed lemurs and guerezas), parrots (aras and lories), flamingos, and storks can be experienced without any barriers.
Furthermore, visitors are invited to join the African penguins in their daily “fitness training” with their keeper, taking place outside their enclosure. Set feeding times give the opportunity to come in close contact with the elephants. Don't miss the chance to hand-feed one of these wonderful animals or to pet an elephant's trunk!
For the conevnience of the visitors, strollers are available free of charge at the entrance. Moreover, baby-changing stations and handicap-accessible restrooms are located throughout the zoo. For a lunch break, stop at the zoo restaurant or the kiosks or at one of the idyllic picnic areas that are in close distance to the enclosures. Five big playgrounds invite children to play and romp. In the case of rain, the visitors can use the roofed “all-weather paths,” which also offer some shade during hot summer days.
