So I booked a £40 return flight to Leipzig, with the sole
intention of visiting the famous zoo. After seeing photos of friends from the
meeting of the International Congress of Zookeepers, I knew I just had to see
it for myself!
The zoo opened at 9am, and I was there as soon as the main
gates were opened, and was actually one of the first into the zoo (zoo geek
alert!) Upon entering the zoo, I ventured first to the penguins, howler monkeys
and golden lion tamarins. An island enclosure for these monkeys ensured the
space was excellently utilised, with ropes, logs, and even swinging baskets. I
then passed by the aquarium, ensuring I would go in later in the day (the
forecast was afternoon rain!), as I was eager to explore the rest of the zoo
before anyone else! Heading through the thick foliage, I was then amazed to see
sloth bears, up and about so early, sharing an enclosure with rhesus macaques.
The morning sun made the bears’ coats shine (I was half tempted to ask the
keeper what they used to keep the coats so shiny!) The enclosure was large,
with many logs and water features which extended to a second area with lots of
hiding places – perfect for these bears!
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| Sloth bear foraging for food |
I then ventured past some aviaries
holding hyacinth macaws, Mexican military macaws, crested cockatoos, lorikeets and bali
starlings to spot some fur seals swimming in bright blue water! I navigated my
way to the elephant temple, where I was able to spot 2 elephants inside. The
décor was amazing, it really felt like I was in an indian temple!
Native birds
seemed to have made their home here too! Sri Lankan giant squirrels were housed
here also, where I saw one having a snooze under the heat lamp! The elephants
swam twice a day, 10.15am and 3pm (times subject to change) and after exploring
some of the rest of the zoo, I popped back for this elephant swim at 10.15! I
headed downstairs to the underwater viewing area, to discover the pangolin was
in a nocturnal enclosure in the back! I had been wondering where abouts in the
zoo I would see this creature, and I was amazed to see it so active! Being the
most poached species on the planet really made me appreciate how lucky I was to
see this! I knew I wouldn’t be able to make the 12pm feed so I made the
most of this moment! As the elephants stepped into the pool for apples, I
headed upstairs as there was a lot of dust being kicked up, but I managed to
grab a couple of photos from the top of the water. It was truly amazing to see
the world’s largest land mammal fully submerged in water.
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| Asian elephant having a bath! |
I wandered past the pelicans, which were very active and it
was great to see such a large group of them!
Next on my journey through Asia, I found my way through the
foliage and into Tiger Taiga. I was completely taken aback by the theming.
Swinhoe’s striped squirrel inhabited the house, which was decorated with a Chinese medicine cabinet, skins and furs, whilst a video showed the breeding
success of the Amur tiger here at Leipzig Zoo. I could even go upstairs, where
the Eurasian harvest mice lived in a large exo-terra. Heading out onto the
boardwalk, I was presented with an Amur tiger posing perfectly for a photo. It
was so perfect being the only person around, being one on one with this tiger
made me again realise how important good zoos are for conservation.
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| Amur tiger posing perfectly |
The trail
then led me to the elusive Amur leopard. In amongst the natural rocky outcrops,
the thick vegetation and trickling streams, I was able to spot this critically
endangered individual, and made sure to return for a second look later in the
day.
I then headed into ‘Pongoland’ which I loosely translated to
‘Planet of the Apes’ (Pongo abelii is
the latin name for Sumatran orangutan). It begins with some viewing windows,
including raised platforms where you are able to view the animals from up high,
taking in all the scenery. I stepped onto a winding boardwalk, which had
varying height levels, allowing for everyone to see. To my left were a group of
western lowland gorillas – I was delighted to see a baby in the group!
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| Western lowland gorilla |
To my
right was the chimp enclosure, however, work was being done on it by the
keepers and so the chimps were inside. Just before entering the complex, I
noticed on the wall were paintings of various primates with information about
them underneath, a lovely, authentic touch. Upon entering the complex, I was
astonished at the attention to detail – hand and footprints on the floors and
walls! Bonobo’s were to the left and chimps to the right. It was charming to
see the bonobos, a rare site in zoos – Twycross zoo is the only zoo in the UK
to house bonobos, as well as the 4 great ape species. Passing through the
complex greeted me with a group of Sumatran orangutans, also with juvenile
members of the group! Conservation messages were visible throughout, with
information signs themed to the exhibit. The exit route to the complex had
paintings on the wall of the evolution of man, in the same authentic style as
those of the primates on the way in. Outside, I was able to catch a glimpse of
the orangutans playing.
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| Sumatran orangutans enjoying the sun |
Leaving pongoland, I passed through a wooded area and
was lucky enough to catch a keeper letting the mysterious okapi out into the
enclosure and enjoying some browse. The okapi shared it’s exhibit with the
small red forest duiker – I found that Leipzig Zoo were very fond of mixed
species exhibits, and I’m not complaining, it means more animals and great use
of the space available! Passing the okapi meant only one thing – heading into
Africa! Going through the archway, I was presented with the huge Kiwara
savannah exhibit! Giraffes, scimitar horned oryx, grevy’s zebra, guinea fowl
and Thompson’s gazelle. The giraffe house was home to short eared sengi,
ansell’s mole rat and the fat sand rat – very cute small mammals! A restaurant
overlooked the savannah, which was where I enjoyed lunch later on in the day.
The giraffe were enjoying a spot of lunch when I arrived, whilst the oryx and
zebra were relaxing in the shade.
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| Rothschild's giraffe having some lunch |
As I continued to move through Africa, I
found meerkats, spotted hyena, patas monkeys, rock hyrax, cheetahs and black
rhinos! The innovative design of the whole exhibit meant that there were mud
pools for the rhino, a large netted enclosure for the monkeys, as well as
vegetation and rocks for all species to enjoy. I witnessed the cheetah taking a
drink from the moat – something I’d never seen before!
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| Cheetah taking a drink |
The lion tailed macaques were next to see, in the ‘ruins’ of
a temple – again, the attention to theming at Leipzig Zoo is absolutely
impeccable! I walked past some more aviaries; von der decken’s hornbill, and
kea, coming out at the ‘kleiner panda’ exhibit – known to you and I as the red
panda! The enclosure was large, with trees, ropes, ladders and beams – perfect
for snoozing during the day! Past the red pandas is what I’m lead to believe is
the older part of the zoo. I spotted a beautiful snow leopard having a nap (it
was a very hot day!), the Dall sheep on a rock and the awesome Przewalski’s
horses having a bit of a tussle! I was excited to head towards the flamingo
lagoon, a huge free flight aviary, sporting many brightly coloured birds! Chilean
flamingos lived with Caribbean flamingos, along with black faced ibis, scarlet
ibis (and chicks!), white faced whistling ducks, and roseate spoonbills. The
aviary allowed all birds to fly freely, which was breath-taking to see.
Gondwanaland was next on my list of things to see, but that
will be a whole new blog post on its own!
I headed out for my second walk around the zoo, it was a tad
cooler and the animals were a lot more active! I caught the bear talk and feed,
it was so good to see the sloth bears sniffing out the food like they would in
the wild! On this second walk round, I was able to see both of the Amur
leopards, one being a lot more active than the other! I went to see the Amur
tiger and caught him having a swim to cool down! I’ve never seen a tiger swim
before so this was magnificent! I went round to the viewing window on the side
where he came and rubbed his face against it, then went for a sit down. It wasn’t
long before he looked and walked over to the window again where he pawed at me,
rubbed his face and chuffed – it was incredible, really cementing my passion
for these incredible species!
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| Amur tiger taking a dip! |
On this second walk around, I discovered a small building
next to the fur seals and went through the door to be greeted with various
vivariums, amphibians and fish. Walking round, I found another door and went through
to a free flight aviary sporting the red crested turaco, maroon-breasted
crowned pigeons and small flying foxes to name but a few species! I was unable
to spot these bats in Gondwanaland so I was excited to see them here! As much
as I wanted to stay in there admiring bats forever, it was so humid that I had
to leave eventually!
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| Small flying fox |
I visited the Australia exhibit towards the end of the day,
before the aquarium and actually found a red kangaroo snoozing directly on the public
path, completely unfazed by my presence. As mentioned earlier, I left the
aquarium until the later part of the day, a great relief from the hot sun! One
half of the building exhibited many different exciting reptiles, including the
frilled lizard, yellow anaconda, gila monster and much more. The enclosures
were simple, yet effective, with many mixed species exhibits. The other half of
the building was a large aquarium, with many hundreds of different marine
animals, very eye catching. Upstairs, a large tank circled the room with a
constant flow of water, allowing the animals to exchange oxygen and constantly
swim as they would in the wild.
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| Chameleon in the Aquarium building |
Overall, I think I would give Leipzig Zoo a solid 9.5/10
(the 0.5 loss was due to the dry food and some dated enclosures!) The
naturalistic feel as I walked around the zoo was consistent throughout and
really added to the experience. I would love to visit again in the future with
friends, so we could share the experience together. Gondwanaland took my breath
away – you’ll have to come back for a blog post about that very soon! I could
have happily spent another day at the zoo, but I wanted to explore the city for
a bit first, before my flight back in the evening.
If you ever get the chance
to visit Leipzig Zoo, do it!
(Stay tuned for my post about Gondwanaland!)
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