Leipzig Zoological Garden

The Founder's Garden is located close to the entrance, partially in historical buildings. Besides the explorer's arch, which is also used for educational purposes this part of the zoo includes compounds displaying koalas since 2016 in the former ape house as well as a budgerigar aviary and primate islands.[10]

Inside Gondwanaland

In 2010 the massive greenhouse Gondwanaland opened comprising area larger than two football pitches (16.500 m²). It has its own tropical climate and hosts 170 exotic animal species and around 500 different plant species from Africa, Asia and South America. There is a treetop trail, with squirrel monkeys jumping around very closely. Visitors can also take a small open boat (for a small extra fee) to gain a different perspective.[11]

Another rare animal, living in Gondwanaland is the eastern quoll, medium-sized carnivorous dasyurid marsupial native to Australia [12]

One of the main attractions of this theme world are the Indian elephants. They have their own swimming pool, complete with a visitor gallery underneath, in case you make it there when the pool is opened to them, swimming elephants can be seen from below. The critically endangered Chinese pangolin – almost extinct in the wild – also inhabits this part of the zoo.[13]

Until they finally received an appropriate environment in 2017 the snow leopards lived in „traditional cages“ like the panther Rainer Maria Rilke wrote about in 1902.[14]

Orangutans at Pongoland

The modern ape-world with spacious outdoor facilities was opened in 2001 and allows four species of primates to live in family groups. Besides that it hosts a research centre in cooperation with the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology the Wolfgang Köhler Primate Research Center is situated in Pogoland, operating in collaboration with the Leipzig Zoo. The research focuses on both behavior and cognition of the four species of great apes: chimpanzees, gorillas (in this case western lowland gorillas), orangutans, and bonobos. There is a special focus on the ontogeny of chimpanzee cognition. When it was planned and constructed the Yerkes National Primate Research Center functioned as role facility for its creation.[15]

All of the primate species participate in the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria which is part of the EAZA Ex-situ Programme. Numerous young monkeys were born in Leipzig since Pogoland opened.[16]

Black rhino in Kiwara Savannah

One of the main attractions of the African area is the 25,000 m² Kiwara Savannah, a shared habitat occupied by Grévy's zebras, Rothschild's giraffes, Thomson's gazelles, Nile lechwes and ostriches. Amongst the other animals are lions, hyena and the very popular meerkats.[17]

This area is scheduled to be redesigned to host a South American landscape with a large aquatic habitat will be opened for seals and penguins. Guanacos, flamingos and Chacoan peccaries are amongst the inhabitants (before reconstruction).[16]