Hallo, und willkommen! Grab a Snack, a Wasserflasche and a Regenschirm. We are taking a little Ausflug to the virtual Zoo in Dresden. Before my trip to Germany, I had my students put together travel brochures of the things they thought I should visit while I was in Dresden and then I took a ton of Fotos of all the things I got to. The Zoo was top on their list, so I got out the 360° camera and put together a virtual exhibit so they could explore with me.
The Zoo in Dresden is a small to midsized zoo. (I live near the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, so it felt quite small), but has a nice selection of animals. They have about 1,030 animals in their collection, but that includes a number of species I have not seen in other zoos. I even got to see my first Vikuña and Schopfhirsch. My favorite, however, was the display on local Vögel. As a non-European, there are a number of common birds I don’t recognize. It was nice to finally attach a name to the birds I saw around me in parks and in yards.
It is also the fourth oldest Zoo in Germany. There is a lot of Geschichte here that they have incorporated very nicely into the exhibits. When you get to the Löwen, you can see the old lion cages. They are open and children are even invited to crawl through. There is also a nice display about changing values throughout the history of the zoo as evidenced by the gradual transformation from cages to exhibits to habitats.
The day I went to the Zoo was regnerisch. Not a lot of animals were out, but you can get a nice feel for the Zoo as you tour through. Print off my Schnitzeljagd to practice your German during your visit. This virtual zoo is also a work in progress. My students are working on descriptions for the exhibits which will be added as we edit them. The virtual zoo is below the email form!
What do you think of the zoo in Dresden? Would you like to visit in person? How does it compare to zoos in your area? Was ist dein Lieblingstier? Try to answer in German for a little practice and enjoy your trip to the Zoo!
Click on the image to load the zoo. It may take a moment 360° images have a bit of information. You can expand it to full screen by clicking the icon in the top right corner.