What Zoo Has the Most Species?

Most zoo have a wide abundance of species, but one of them really surpasses the rest.

The San Diego Zoo has the most species in the United States. Although they have over 800 species, they do not have the most in the world.

The zoo that has the most species in the world is the Berlin Zoological Garden. There are 1,468 species of animals as follows:

• Mammals: 177
• Birds: 354
• Reptiles: 77
• Amphibians: 46
• Fish: 511
• Invertebrates: 303

This is a very large zoo with quite a lot to see.

Berlin Zoological Garden

Now that we have told you which zoo has the most species of animals in the world, let us learn a little bit about it.

History

In German, the name of this establishment is the Zoologischer Garten Berlin. It was opened in 1844 on August 1st, and was the very first zoo in Germany. The King of Prussia, Frederick William IV, was the one who donated many of the original animals that were brought to the zoo.

However, tragedy struck this area during the Second World War. The zoo was at the center of the war and became a place of Nazi resistance. The Zoologischer Garten Berlin was absolutely destroyed. There had been 3,715 animals living there prior to the world, and only 91 of them managed to survive.

The zoo was reconstructed after the war. The aquarium, which appeared in 1913, was also destroyed during this terrible time, but that too, has been rebuilt.

Animals

The Berlin Zoological Garden is home to some famous animals with which some people from around the world are familiar:

• Bao Bao is a Giant Panda who was born in 1978. He is the only Giant Panda in any German zoo. Furthermore, he is the oldest known Giant Panda at any zoo in the world. He is on loan from China for the purpose of breeding more Giant Pandas. You may, indeed, find that to be a rather controversial issue.
• Knut, the polar bear, raised a great deal of publicity in recent years. He was born on December 5, 2006, at the zoo, but his mother rejected him. Therefore, the zookeepers raised him. A media circus soon became over this event, and the effects were seen as the zoo had its most profitable year ever in its entire history. Unfortunately Knut died at the age of four on March 19, 2011 after a seemingly uncontrollable shaking of his leg followed by turning in circles before falling into a pool of water in his enclosure.

Other animals that you can find at the Berlin Zoo include:

• Inca tern
• Bactrian camel
• Brown fur seal
• King vulture
• Burrowing owl
• Red kangaroo
• African penguin
• Springbok
• Black-winged red bishop
• South American coati

As you can see, there are not only a lot of different species at this zoo, but there is a great variety in the types of species present. You may very well see animals here that you would not find elsewhere in the world. Being the largest zoo in Germany, you certainly would not find all of these species at the other zoos in the country. All of these factors contribute to it being the most visited zoo in all of Germany.