Welcome to the Berlin Zoological Gardens, or Zoologischer Garten Berlin in German. The Berlin zoo is the oldest zoo in Germany and one of the oldest in the world. Located in Berlin's Tiergarten, the zoo opened in 1844 as the first zoo in Germany. The original animals were donated to the zoo by Frederick William IV, King of Prussia.
During the Second World War, the zoo area was completely destroyed and only 91 of 3,715 animals survived, including two lions, two hyenas, an Asian bull elephant, a hippo bull, ten hamadryas baboons, a chimpanzee, and a black stork, among a few others. By the end of the war the zoo was fortified and a center of Nazi resistance against the Red Army and allied air forces with bunkers and anti-aircraft weapons. Following the zoo's destruction, it and the associated Aquarium have been reconstructed on the most modern principles so as to display the animals in their natural environment. The success achieved in breeding animals, including some rare species, demonstrates the efficiency of these new methods.
Today the zoo has almost 1,500 different species and around 16,000 animals; the largest collection of species in the world.
