LocationOfficial Address: Binningerstrasse 40, 4054 Basel, Switzerland
The main entrance is in front of the downtown strip of Steinen in Basel. The Zoo is spread over a land of thirty-two acres.
Timing
The Zoo is open on all days from Monday to Sunday. It opens at 8 AM and closes by 5.30 PM.
Price (Include all the variants)
Admission fees for single tickets are listed below.
- Adults, aged 25-61: CHF 21.-*
- Young people, aged 16-24: CHF 15.-*
- Children, aged 6-15: CHF 10.-*
- Senior citizens (aged 62 and over) / Disabled persons: CHF 19.-*
- Families (parents/partners with their children aged up to 20 and living at the same address): CHF 43.-*
If you are a wildlife or animal enthusiast who loves visiting the Zoo often, season tickets are the best choice for you.
- Single season ticket for an adult from 25 years: CHF 90.-*
- Family season ticket: CHF 160.-*
- One parent season ticket: CHF 110.-*
- Grandparent season ticket: CHF 160.-*
- Senior tickets for women from 64 years/men from 65 years/disability insurance holders: CHF 70.-*
- School pupils, apprentices and students (up to their 25th birthday): CHF 50.-*
- *CHF 1.50 from every season ticket goes to a special fund for conservation projects.
- The family season ticket is valid for all the children belonging to the family who hasn’t yet reached the age of majority. Season tickets, vouchers and tickets can only be bought at the ticket counters up to half an hour before the Zoo closes.
History of Basel Zoo
The Zoo was first opened on 3rd July 1874 and had a footfall of sixty-two thousand visitors in the first year. The visitors demanded exotic species, which prompted the zoo expansion. In 1884, they introduced The Festmatte, which meant the festival meadow and encouraged native shows along with the animals. In 1937, the Zoo faced its worst crisis when foot and mouth disease broke out. It led to the death of many valuable animals.
In 1954, when the effect of the disease faded, a landscape architect named Kurt Brägge started working on redesigning the Zoo. He converted it into a landscaped park within thirty-five years. Currently, the lush greenery provides the charm to the Zoo and helps it stay different from the typical zoos.
This Zoo has a variety of records to its credit by having the first captive birth of Rhinoceros, flamingo, Gorilla and Cheetah. These births were sensational across the world, as it was the first time humans succeeded in breeding these species inside a zoo.
A major expansion was done in 1961 after the Zoo received Nightingale Woods. This helped the Zoo get its own children’s Zoo, a vivarium, main entrance gate construction, a larger administrative building, among many other significant changes. With the changing times, they invested in new enclosures during 1979-1989.
About the Tembea Elephant Enclosure
With the increased number of elephants, Basel Zoo opened a new elephant enclosure named ‘Tembea’ in March 2017. This vast land covers around five thousand square meters and houses the animals comfortably. The public can observe the elephants through the open enclosure and enjoy the recreated savannah landscape.
In addition to African elephants, the elephant enclosure provides home to brown rats harvester ants and some fish species. The enclosure outdoors has guinea fowl along with nesting facilities for the white storks.
The Restaurant at Basel Zoo
A spacious restaurant with its menu changing on a daily basis, the restaurant at Basel Zoo is a classic indoor setting. You have to help yourself at the restaurant as it is a self-service restaurant. You can enjoy a variety of fresh, seasonal and regional cuisines in the proximity of wildlife. The restaurant is located centrally in the zoo so it could be accessible from each and every part of the zoo.
Please note that the restaurant opens at 09:00 AM and closes by 05:30 PM in the months of March, April, September and October whereas it closes by 06:00 PM in the months from March to August and at 05:00 PM in the months from November to February.
Traveller’s Tips for Basel Zoo
- Carry a bottle of water to keep you hydrated.
- Wear comfortable shoes as you will have to walk a lot.
- Prepare yourself for a long day here, because it is an extensive collection of animals.
- Do not skim by the enclosures, and get a notepad if you want to collect facts about the animals.
