Hellabrunn Zoo (German: Tierpark Hellabrunn) is a 40 hectare (99 acre) zoological garden in the Bavarian capital of Munich. The zoo is situated on the right bank of the river Isar, in the southern part of Munich near the quarter of Thalkirchen.
A high ratio of enclosures are cageless, relying upon moat features to keep the animals in place.
The zoo was the first zoo in the world not organized by species, but also by geographical aspects. For example, the wood bison share their enclosure with prairie dogs.
In 2013, the zoo was ranked the fourth best zoo in Europe (up from 12th).[6][7] It focuses on conservation and captive breeding rare species such as the rare drill and silvery gibbons. Also gorillas, giraffes, elephants, wood bisons, elk and Arctic foxes were successfully bred in the zoo, which houses many species. It is one of the very few zoos that allows visitors to bring dogs.
On 25 February 1905 the Verein Zoologischer Garten München e.V. (transl. Society of the Zoological Garden of Munich) was founded and the Hellabrunn area was chosen as the location for the zoo. The zoo was designed by architectEmanuel von Seidl, and opened to the public on 1 August 1911.[1]
In 1922, the zoo was closed due to the inflation in Germany. It was re-opened on 23 May 1928. It became the first Geo-Zoo in the world (animals were shown and kept with other animals of the same geographic region). It also engaged in controversial back-breeding to "recreate" extinct animals like Heck cattle (to mimic the Aurochs) and the Tarpan.[1]