Zoos

Warsaw Zoo

More than 12,000 animals on 40 hectares by the Vistula — that is today's Warsaw Zoo on the Praga side, opened to the public on 11 March 1928. It bears the name of Antonina and Jan Żabiński: the director who hid Jews in the garden during the war. It is also the address of a pre-war record: in 1937 Tuzinka was born here, the twelfth elephant in the world born in a zoo.

A dramatic history

The garden was preceded by private menageries; the city council created the zoo on Praga by a resolution of 14 June 1927, and its first director was Wenanty Burdziński, founder of the Kiev zoo. The war ruined the garden: in 1939 the staff had to shoot the predators and the elephant Jaś, and Lutz Heck, director of the Berlin zoo, carried off the most valuable animals — Tuzinka to Königsberg, bison to Munich. The rebuilt zoo reopened in July 1948 with 150 animals.

The Żabińskis and "The Zookeeper's Wife"

On the zoo grounds Jan and Antonina Żabiński helped Jews in hiding; the sculptor Magdalena Gross was among the survivors. The story found its way into a book and the film "The Zookeeper's Wife". The preserved Villa under the Crazy Star, where the Żabińskis lived, hosts an exhibition about these events.

What you will see today

The ape pavilion of 2008 is home to gorillas Azizi and M'Tongé and to chimpanzees; the pavilion opened in 2010 houses hippos and sharks, and since 2014 polar bears Gregor and Aleut have lived here. There is also a reptile house and an aviary, and the elephant house dates from 2003. In 1990 the garden, together with Praga Park, was entered in the register of monuments. Plan 3-4 hours for a visit and check the feeding times on the zoo's website.