Zoological sights in Vienna
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A
Tiergarten
Founded in 1752 as a menagerie by Franz Stephan, the Schönbrunn Tiergarten is the oldest zoo in the world. It houses some 750 animals of all shapes and sizes, including giant pandas that arrived in 2003. A batch of emus, armadillos and baby Siberian tigers joined them in 2006. Thankfully most of the original cramped cages have been updated and improved. The zoo’s layout is reminiscent of a bicycle wheel, with pathways as spokes and an octagonal pavilion at its centre. The pavilion dates from 1759 and was used as the imperial breakfast room. Feeding times are staggered throughout the day – maps on display tell you who’s dining when.
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B
Haus des Meeres
At the ‘House of the Sea’ you can get an interesting glimpse into the world of lizards, sharks, crocodiles and snakes, with a few fish and creepy-crawlies tossed in. The shark and piranha feeding sessions at 3pm Wednesday and Sunday are strong draws, and another is the reptile feeding at 10am Sunday and 7pm Thursday. There’s a glass tropical house filled with lithe monkeys and a small rainforest. It occupies the inside of a Flakturm, giving you a chance to see the interior of one of these monoliths.
reviewed
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C
Schmetterlinghaus
Sharing the Habsburg’s personal Jugendstil glasshouse (1901) with the Palmenhaus bar, the Schmetterlinghaus (Butterfly House) is for the butterfly-mad only. There are hundreds of butterflies and the shop stocks a great range of butterfly paraphernalia, but the air is hot and unbearably humid, the species range fairly limited and it’s quite a small display area. It’s located in the Burggarten, directly behind the Neue Burg.
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D
Lainzer Tiergarten
At 25 sq km, the Lainzer Zoo is the largest (and wildest) of Vienna’s city parks. The ‘zoo’ refers to the abundant wild boar, deer, woodpeckers and squirrels that freely inhabit the park, and the famous Lipizzaner horses that summer here. Apart from the extensive walking possibilities through lush woodland, attractions of the park include the Hubertus-Warte (508m), a viewing platform on top of Kaltbründlberg.
reviewed
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E
Wüstenhaus
The small Wüstenhaus (Desert House) makes good use of the once disused Sonnenuhrhaus (Sundial House) to re-create arid desert scenes. There are four sections – Northern Africa and the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and Madagascar – with rare cacti and live desert animals, such as the naked mole rat from East Africa.
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