ZOO in Zamość

There is a beautiful ZOO in Zamość. It is located a short distance from the city center.

In eastern Poland, zoos are not so common, so we were motivated to visit this place. This is the only zoo in the Lublin province.

Fun fact: the Zamość zoo is more than 100 years old. It was founded in 1918 by biology teacher Stefan Miler as a small school zoo at the boys' secondary school in Zamość. It was the first school zoo of this kind in Poland.

This ZOO is relatively small, but extremely interesting. Compared to the Zoo in Poznan, it is about 10 times smaller, and compared to Wroclaw Zoo, it's about three times smaller. More than 250 species of animals live here. The small zoo area relative to the large number of animals makes the tour very interesting. The distances between the paddocks are very short. This is very important, especially when exploring the zoo with the kids. We were able to get around the whole zoo without anyone saying 'my legs hurt'.

While we were still outside at the parking lot, before going in, we were greeted by brown bears, whose enclosure is positioned so that you can see them both from inside the zoo and from behind the fence. Great stuff.

At the ticket office we could get a discount for Large Family Card holders. Admission for children up to 3 years old is free. Along with the zoo ticket, we got a map, which helped us plan our route.

The walk started from the monkey area. We went further along the path to see the antelopes. The next point on the route was the meerkat enclosure. We stayed here quite a bit longer, because meerkats are great. These tiny animals had a well-prepared enclosure, which is very similar to their natural environment. The most curious sight was a baby meerkat, which was still blind and was carried by its mother in her mouth.

Next was a building with giraffes. We went in through curtains that protected the corridor from sunlight. We arrived at the giraffes' mealtime. They ate from trays that were placed at the height of their heads, so they wouldn't have to bend down.

In the middle of the garden there was a rest area. There were eateries and a playground for children. It was a great opportunity to take a break from walking. After a while we moved on, passed the camels and reached the lions and tigers. The tigers had a very small cage and looked angry.

Another highlight was the pavilion where we had the opportunity to watch reptiles, amphibians and fish. The most interesting inhabitants of the building were undoubtedly the chameleon and the crocodile. The building was very nice inside, finished to a high standard. Around the glass windows through which we could watch the animals, the decoration gave the impression that we were in the woods or in the mountains (there are imitation branches and stones). On the ceiling there was a camouflage net to enhance the impression for visitors.

Then we passed the wolves, kangaroos and birds of prey. Another interesting place was the lemurs' area. In front of them, there were images of lemurs and we had the opportunity to take a photo like this:

To sum up - we really liked the zoo and recommend it.