Photo Andrzej Otrębski, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia CommonsGdańsk Zoological Garden. In the Turi app, the same map shows your position, guides you from point to point and lets you tick off the places you’ve visited.
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Gdańsk Zoo has been open since 1 May 1954 in the Forest Mill Valley (Dolina Leśnego Młyna) in Oliwa, by the Rymaszewski stream, and is one of the largest zoos in Poland: it covers about 125 ha, much of it wooded. Nearly 870 animals of more than 160 species live here, and the enclosures are set into a landscape of moraine hills, so you see the animals against a backdrop of forest and meadows. The biggest attractions are the Angolan lions, Ugandan giraffes, pygmy hippos, orangutans and chimpanzees, grey seals and African penguins, including Kokosanka, a white female penguin. For the youngest visitors there is the seasonal Little Zoo, where you can stroke goats and guinea pigs.
Photo MOs810, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons1A petting area where children can stroke goats, guinea pigs and even an alpaca, and feed them special food prepared by the keepers. All the animals have names: the friendliest ones walk among the visitors, while the bigger, heavier ones wait for treats in their pens. The Little Zoo is open seasonally, from April to October, and there is an extra charge for children, payable in cash only.
Photo Vsatinet, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons2The Bactrian camel comes from the steppes and deserts of Central Asia; wild Bactrian camels still live in the Gobi Desert. It can go for months without water, and when it does drink, it can take in as much as 120 litres at once. It stores fat in its humps, which its body uses for energy and water. The Gdańsk herd was founded in the 1990s in exchange for quarantining 50 camels from Kazakhstan, and a calf was born here in 2025.
Photo H. Zell, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons3The red panda comes from the cool bamboo forests at the foot of the Himalayas, from Nepal to Myanmar and western China. It spends most of its time in trees and is most active at dawn and at dusk. Bamboo makes up as much as 95% of its diet. Biologists described it in 1825, 50 years before the giant panda. In summer the keepers feed the red pandas in front of visitors.
Photo MOs810, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons4The alpaca exists only as a domestic animal, in the Andes of Peru, Bolivia and Chile, at altitudes of 3,500 to 5,000 m. It lives in family groups with one male, several females and their young. When an intruder approaches, it warns the herd with sharp, high-pitched calls, and to defend itself it can kick or spit. Alpacas came to Gdańsk in the 1990s together with the camels.
Photo This image was produced by me, David Castor (…, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons5The lynx lives in large forests in Europe and Asia and hunts by ambush, sometimes lying in wait on a thick branch. The tufts on its ears work like antennae: they gather sound, so the lynx has excellent hearing. An adult eats up to 2.5 kg of meat a day. In 2025 the Gdańsk lynxes moved into the rebuilt former tiger enclosure, and the zoo takes part in a programme to protect lynxes in the wild.
Photo Quartl, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons6The muskox lives in the Arctic tundra of North America, Greenland and Asia and feeds on grasses, Arctic willow, mosses and lichens. When threatened, the herd forms a tight circle or a line: the bulls stand at the front, and the females and calves hide behind them. Although they look slow, muskoxen are fast and agile, and in the rutting season the males crash heads at high speed.
Photo Crusier, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons7The European bison is the largest land mammal in Europe; in the wild it lives in places such as the Białowieża Forest, the Bieszczady mountains and Western Pomerania. Its three-layered coat protects it in winter. Cows and their calves form herds, and young bulls leave at about 3 years old to join groups of males. The rutting season starts in August, when the bulls make a distinctive grunting sound. There were already bison in the zoo's collection in 1957.
Photo GodeNehler, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons8The takin comes from the eastern Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau, where it lives on rocky slopes up to 5,000 m. It lives in small groups led by the strongest male, and in winter it moves lower down into thickets of rhododendron and bamboo. Its whole coat is covered with an oily, strong-smelling secretion that protects it from mist and rain. The takin's closest relative is the muskox.
Photo Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons9The eagle-owl is the largest owl in Europe, living in forests, mountains and even deserts across Europe and Asia. It hunts mainly for a few hours after sunset and before dawn, catching rodents, hares and even birds the size of a heron. Pairs stay faithful, and the female lays her eggs as early as late winter. Since 2015 the eagle-owls have had new, much larger aviaries at the zoo.
Photo Crusier, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons10The Andean condor lives in the Andes, from Venezuela to Tierra del Fuego, and spends most of the day soaring in search of carrion. Pairs stay together for life, and the female lays one egg every two years, straight onto a rock ledge. Gdańsk Zoo is famous for breeding condors: in 2009 a pair was given an exhibit with a waterfall and rock ledges, and in 2013 new, larger aviaries.
Photo Giles Laurent, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons11Greater flamingos live in Africa, Asia and southern Europe, in the shallows of lagoons and salt lakes, in flocks of up to thousands of birds. They eat algae, crustaceans and insect larvae from the mud, and build mound-shaped nests out of mud. In Gdańsk chicks hatch every year, and once they have grown a little, the young gather together in crèches. In summer you can watch the flamingo feeding demonstrations.
Photo Frank Vassen, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons12A lemur from the humid forests of eastern Madagascar, critically endangered: its wild population has fallen by more than 80% in recent decades. A female usually leads the group, and a loud roar warns of danger. Females build nests and carry their young in their mouths. The pair Tanjona and Sakina have lived here since 2024 in the pavilion with an island next to the restaurant, and they already have young from 2025 and 2026.
Photo Bilby, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons13A small, tailless ape from Laos, Vietnam and southern China, critically endangered. Males are black with white cheeks, while females are beige; the young are born pale and turn dark after two years. Gibbons swing from branch to branch on their long arms, and families communicate with loud songs. At Gdańsk Zoo they live on an island in the pond.
Photo User:Mas3cf, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons14The wolf lives in the forests and steppes of Europe and Asia in family packs of 5 to 9 animals, in which only the dominant pair has young. It hunts mainly large animals such as elk and deer. A pack can travel as far as 200 km in a day, usually at night. The pups are born blind and deaf and weigh about half a kilogram. The wolf enclosure lies in the woods at the edge of the zoo.
Photo Badzil, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons15The elk lives in the wet forests of northern Europe, Asia and North America. It weighs from 270 to 600 kg, and its wide-set, flat hooves let it walk over marshes and snow. It is an excellent swimmer, can even dive, and has superb hearing and sense of smell. It is most active at sunrise and sunset. There were already elk in Gdańsk Zoo's collection in 1957.
Photo Ridwan0810, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons16Bornean orangutans are the largest tree-dwelling mammals: an adult male can weigh as much as 100 kg, and females are half that size. A young orangutan depends completely on its mother until it is 5 years old. In the wild orangutans are threatened by forests being cleared for oil palm plantations, so the zoo runs a campaign called ‘Ocalmy orangutany’ (Let's save the orangutans) #olejolej and supports the protection of the species in the wild. They live in the year-round great ape house.
Photo Giles Laurent, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons17Chimpanzees live in the forests of central and eastern Africa, in groups where they communicate with sounds, gestures and facial expressions. They use sticks to fish out termites, and every night they build a new nest in a tree. The longest-standing member of the Gdańsk group is the female Lola, and the youngest is her son Sati. The chimpanzees live in the great ape house with a year-round exhibit, opened in autumn 2005.
Photo Sanjay Acharya, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons18Mandrills come from the rainforests of west-central Africa. They spend the day on the ground and climb trees for the night. The most colourful is the adult male with his red and blue face; when he threatens a rival, he opens his mouth wide and shows fangs 6.5 cm long. In winter you can watch the mandrills through the glass in the pavilion opened at the end of 2016.
Photo Albinfo, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons19A small, fluffy cat from the steppes and mountains of Asia, from Iran to Mongolia, which has the densest fur of all cats and round pupils like a human's. It is not fast, so it hunts rodents, pikas and birds from hiding. In 2025 the zoo converted the former puma enclosure for the Pallas's cats, and in the same year Pallas's cat kittens were born here for the first time in the zoo's history.
Photo H. Zell, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons20The red kangaroo is the largest kangaroo, living on the dry grasslands and semi-deserts of western and central Australia. It hops on its hind legs at up to 60 km/h, covers about 8 m in a single bound and jumps almost 2 m high. It is active mainly in the cool evenings and at night. A joey is born after only 33 days, blind, hairless and 2 cm long, and goes on growing in its mother's pouch.
Photo Sławek Zawadzki, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons21African penguins live only on the coasts of southern Africa and usually go no further than 40 km from the shore. Each one has a different pattern of spots on its belly and under its wings. Look out for the completely white Kokosanka in the colony: she hatched here on 12 December 2018 and, according to the zoo, she is the only albino penguin of this species in any zoo in the world. The penguins are fed in front of visitors almost every day.
Photo Mirek12, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons22Grey seals live in the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea, and in Poland they are most often seen in the Gulf of Gdańsk and Puck Bay. They dive to more than 200 m, can stay underwater for about 20 minutes and even sleep underwater. There is a feeding demonstration at the pool every day, during which the keepers also show the seals' medical training. The zoo takes part in a programme to protect grey seals in the wild.
Photo Chuckupd at English Wikipedia, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons23A rare antelope from the mountain rainforests of Kenya, with pale stripes on its reddish back that camouflage it in thick undergrowth. It has big ears, and when it flees through the bushes it runs with its head raised, so that its horns lie flat against its neck and do not catch on branches. It licks salt from natural salt licks. Only about 70 to 80 adult bongos are left in the wild.
Photo Andrei Guliaikin (Ан…, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons24This year-round bird and reptile house, opened in two parts in 2001 and 2003, is a good place for a cold or rainy day. According to the zoo map, its residents include macaws, yellow-crested cockatoos, Bali mynas, Nicobar pigeons, emperor tamarins, a Burmese python, a Gila monster and a Cuban crocodile. In 2026 critically endangered Bali mynas hatched at the zoo.
Photo Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons25The cheetah lives on the savannahs and open plains of Africa, and a few also in Iran. Over a short distance it can exceed 100 km/h, helped by its long legs, flexible spine and large nostrils. Breeding cheetahs is difficult, because the species has very little genetic diversity; in 2026 the male Yobo came here from Opole for breeding attempts. The zoo also supports the protection of cheetahs in the wild.
Photo Crusier, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons26Meerkats come from the dry lands of southern Africa and live in colonies of up to 30 animals, in which sentries look out for enemies while others look after the young. They are resistant to the venom of some snakes and scorpions. In spring 2026 young meerkats named Skipper and Kowalski moved into the giraffe house, while the older group moved to the area near the monkey house.
Photo Andrzej Otrębski, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons27Rothschild's giraffes live on the savannahs in protected areas of Kenya and Uganda, and they walk with a pacing gait, lifting both legs on one side of the body at the same time. An adult giraffe weighs from 830 to 1,200 kg and eats more than 50 kg of leaves a day. In December 2025 the first giraffe in the history of Gdańsk Zoo was born here: Cardi, the daughter of Alia and Aki. The herd also includes the senior giraffe Wiechu and young Ivie.
Photo Giles Laurent, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons28The tapir is a loner from the wet lowland forests of South America. It sleeps through the day in the undergrowth, and after dark it walks along riverbeds looking for water plants. It is a good swimmer, and bathing helps it get rid of parasites and hide from jaguars and pumas. The young become independent at 7 months, and tapirs live to 30.
Photo Chuckupd, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons29The pygmy hippo lives in waterside forests in West Africa and was only discovered at the end of the 19th century. It often spends the day in wet mud, because its skin dries out easily, and it feeds at night. Since 2021 it has lived in the former Butterfly House pavilion and in the paddock where Nile hippos used to live. In March 2026 the female Malela and the male Sapo had a baby daughter here.
Photo Giles Laurent, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons30The largest rodent in the world, weighing up to 66 kg, lives by the waters of South America in groups of 10 to 30 animals. It is an excellent swimmer and can stay underwater for 5 minutes. A litter has 2 to 8 young, which get up and walk soon after birth. In summer the keepers feed the capybaras in front of visitors.
Photo Crusier, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons31Chapman's zebra is a subspecies of the plains zebra from the savannahs of eastern and southern Africa. It lives in families with one stallion, several mares and their foals, and in the dry season it can dig a hole in the ground up to 50 cm deep to reach water. In spring 2026 two foals were born in Gdańsk, and after just two weeks they were nibbling grass. The zebras share their paddock with the giraffes.
Photo Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons32The great white pelican is one of the heaviest flying birds, weighing up to 11 kg. Under its bill it has a pouch that holds up to 13 litres and works like a fishing net, and pelicans fish as a team. It lives in colonies by large lakes and in river deltas in Africa, Europe and Asia. Pelicans came to Gdańsk in the 1990s together with the camels and flamingos, and they live on an island in the pond.
Photo Namibia11, CC BY-SA 2.0 de, Wikimedia Commons33Angolan lions come from south-western Africa and, unlike other cats, live in prides in which the females do most of the hunting. They came to Gdańsk in October 2014: the male Arco from Lisbon and the lionesses from France, and the family has had many cubs. The enclosure covers about 2 ha and has several viewpoints, so it is worth walking all the way round; lions rest for up to 20 hours a day.
Photo Ramsch, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons34A small cat from the deserts of North Africa and Asia, with large ears that help it lose heat and thick hair between its toes that protects its paws from the hot sand. Gdańsk Zoo is the only zoo in Poland with sand cats: they have lived in the lion house since 2015. In summer 2026 two females, Maolie and Sahira, gave birth to kittens; the father is a male the keepers call Darek.
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