Chelyabinsk Zoo

Chelyabinsk Zoo is a popular entertainment center located in the city center near the green Chelyabinsk boron. On the territory of the zoo like to visit not only Chelyabinsk residents, but also guests of the Ural city. They come here to observe the animals brought from different parts of the world, get riding lessons and ride a pony. In addition, visitors can attend interesting classes with professional biologists and hold a memorable birthday party for children.

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Highlights

Chelyabinsk Zoo was established in 1992. For a quarter of a century, it has turned into a large entertainment and educational center. Today, more than 440 individuals representing 133 species are kept here. Among the animals that rarely breed in captivity, the Chelyabinsk zoo is home to reindeer, tamarins, kinkajou and saimiri. Zoo specialists conduct overview and thematic tours that allow visitors to learn more about the biology of individual species and the protection of the natural environment, and entertaining quest games are very popular with teenagers.

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A contact zoo is open on the territory, where animals and birds can be stroked and fed. Communicating with animals leaves a lot of positive emotions, so many children from preschoolers, elementary school students and orphans are brought here.

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To the south of the main cages and pens, among evergreen firs and pines there is a Dinosaur Park “Lost World”. It contains life-size moving models of prehistoric lizards. The dinosaur park with predators, herbivores and flying dinosaurs is very popular with kids and adults. Visitors come to this part of the Chelyabinsk zoo to see what monsters inhabited the planet many millions of years ago and to take interesting photos.

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History of the Chelyabinsk Zoo

The collection of animals of the Chelyabinsk Zoo began to form in the winter of 1992, thanks to entrepreneurs M. A. Haevsky and V. I. Tkachev. A year later wolves, bison, bear, foxes, roe deer and lions lived in new cages and aviaries. At the beginning of its history, the private zoo faced big financial problems, so the animals were fed by residents of the surrounding houses.

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In 1997, an unusual peasant farmstead appeared in the Chelyabinsk zoo. The complex of wooden houses included a museum of folk life and a small contact zoo. Animal collections grew, and soon the zoo was accepted into the Eurasian Regional Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

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In the mid-2000s, the Chelyabinsk Zoo built a large complex for birds of prey and opened the Bagheera Club for young biologists. Gradually, it began to adhere to the European concept of an open zoo, when most animals are kept in open enclosures rather than in cages. The Chelyabinsk Zoo has landscaped and greened its territory, and today the area of its lawns and flower beds is 2.88 hectares.

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What animals can be seen in the zoo

Of the feline family, the Chelyabinsk Zoo houses the Amur tiger, ocelot, cheetah, leopard, puma, lynx, Far Eastern forest cat, lions and snow leopard. Brown, polar and Himalayan bears live here, as well as foxes, wolves, raccoon dogs and hedgehogs.

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A lot of visitors come to the cages with funny raccoons and their relatives – common nosuchas. No less popular are the always active representatives of the marten family – otters, columns, weasels, polecats, European minks and Ussurian harza. Children love to stop for long periods of time near meerkats, mongooses and the pen, where there is a brightly colored spotted genetta.

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The Chelyabinsk Zoo is home to 8 species of primates, Bennett’s kangaroo, sloths, armadillos and 7 species of rodents. In spacious enclosures leisurely stroll zebras, donkeys, ponies, dwarf and domestic horses, bison, two-humped camels, spotted deer, red deer, roe deer, yaks, domestic sheep and goats, as well as Vietnamese lop-bellied pigs.

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Employees of the Chelyabinsk zoo managed to gather a large collection of birds. On the territory you can see huge African ostriches, long-legged emus, smart crows, white-winged pelicans, nocturnal predators – owls, 12 species of representatives of the falconiformes, Daurian cranes, peacocks, swans, ducks and caesars. There are also exotic birds in the zoo – black-throated arazari, 6 species of tropical parrots, as well as golden and diamond pheasants.

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Reptile lovers come to the Chelyabinsk Zoo to look at geckos, skinks, water agama, green iguana, mangrove snake, pythons, and maize stripe. It is also home to turtles, a boa constrictor, crocodile caimans, an aga toad, and a toad-like quaker.

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Excursions

It is very interesting to visit one of the excursions of the Chelyabinsk Zoo. They are designed for visitors of different levels of training and age and last from 40 minutes to 1.5 hours. It is noteworthy that all excursions are conducted by professional biologists.

The topics of informative trips to the Chelyabinsk Zoo are extremely diverse. During them, experts tell about the animal world of Russia and the Red Book of the Chelyabinsk region. Visitors can learn about the influence of seasonal changes on the life of animals, how animals and birds adapt, and what relatives a pet dog has. Some tours are devoted to animal ecology, the history of the planet’s zoos and the work of conservation unions. For preschool children, there are excursions with stories about extinct dinosaurs, fairy tale animals and unusual birds and animals.

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Activities and games

In the cold season, when there are few animals in open enclosures, the conference hall of the Chelyabinsk Zoo organizes free practical classes for young children and teenagers. During them you can find out what a tamarin eats, what features vertebrates have, whether chimpanzees can draw and what toys animals play with. Hands-on activities involve contact animals.

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For children over 12 years old, the Chelyabinsk Zoo hosts quest games lasting from one hour. This event is designed for organized groups of schoolchildren or kids who came to the zoo with their parents. As in a traditional quest, game participants follow a route on a map, look for notes, take photos of found objects and earn extra points by answering quiz questions.

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Aquarium

Those who want to see the inhabitants of the underwater world can check out the aquarium. This part of the Chelyabinsk zoo has been receiving visitors for more than 10 years. The aquarium is open from 11.00 to 17.00 in winter and from 10.00 to 19.00 in summer. It welcomes guests on any day except Monday. There is an admission fee to enter the aquarium, as well as photography and videotaping in the aquarium.

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People come here to admire the colorful inhabitants of tropical reefs, as well as to see sharks, moray eels and piranhas. A small, intimate room displays freshwater fish, marine animals and a large collection of differently shaped and colored corals.

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Insectarium

In the exhibition space dedicated to exotic insects and invertebrates, there are many terrariums where the necessary level of light, temperature and humidity is maintained in specially created conditions. Here you can see brightly colored tropical beetles and colorful butterflies, banana cricket, mantis from Africa and large-sized tropical cockroaches. The terrariums are home to huge tarantulas, and scorpions, shrimp and crabs are kept nearby.

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Visiting the insectarium is charged separately. Photography and videotaping are only allowed in it without the use of flash.

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Information for visitors

Entrance to the territory of the Chelyabinsk Zoo is paid. Tickets do not need to buy tickets for children under 5 years old, orphans, disabled people of 1-2 groups, large families and enlisted servicemen. In summer the zoo is open from 10.00 to 20.00, and in winter – until 18.00. You should keep in mind that the ticket office closes half an hour earlier.

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The Contact Zoo welcomes guests: from May to September – Monday through Thursday from 11.00 to 18.00, Friday through Sunday from 11.00 to 19.00. From October to April – only from Friday to Sunday and on holidays from 11.00 to 16.00. If the temperature drops below -10 °C, the contact zoo is not open.

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The Lost World Dinosaur Park is open on weekdays from 10.00 to 20.00, and on weekends and holidays from 10.00 to 21.00. Like the rest of the Chelyabinsk zoo, children under 5 can get in for free.

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How to get there

Chelyabinsk Zoo is located north of the Central Park of Culture and Recreation, at 191 Truda Street. You can get here by buses #10, 14, 17, 26, 27, 64 and 80, as well as by shuttle buses #10, 22, 50, 58, 64, 75, 77, 78, 79 and 104.

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