Orientarium Zoo Łódź. Elephant bathing, the largest gavial crocodile in Europe and a shark tunnel!

In recent years, the Zoo in Łódź, i.e. the Municipal Zoological Garden, has attracted visitors mainly thanks to the wonderful and modern Orientarium. It is one of a dozen or so existing zoos in Poland. Although it is not one of the largest facilities of this type, it is definitely very interesting and worth visiting. 

The Łódź Zoo is located almost in the city center, a little to the west of Piotrkowska Street. You can drive up to the Zoo itself by car, because the paid parking lot is located at the very entrance. You will see many of the most interesting animal species from around the world: wild cats, elephants, giraffes, zebras, bears, small mammals, birds of prey, aquarium, butterfly house and other interesting fauna. 

The building has gained notoriety in recent years thanks to the Orientarium. This fantastic animal pavilion from Asia opened on April 29, 2022. Thanks to this, the Zoo in Łódź is the most modern breeding complex in Europe!

Orientarium in Łódź Zoo

Thanks to the Orientarium, the zoo in Łódź has reached the level of western facilities. It is an unusual, year-round pavilion, extremely impressive, two-level, with ingenious and comfortable runs for biodiversity. While the Wrocław Afrkarium brings together species from Africa, the Łódź Orientarium presents species from Southeast Asia. We have already visited this place 3 times. Even before the opening, on the first day of the opening and in the winter of 2024. I have to admit, it makes a colossal impression! Especially in winter, when it is cold, gray and sad outside, and here life is vibrant and hot.

Animals in Orientarium

The Orientarium is open to visitors all year round. It is warm and colorful, and in one part even tropical, with a lot of biodiversity. Thanks to this, new species such as Sumatran orangutans, Malay bears or langurs could be brought here. And the Kraken. It is the largest gavial crocodile in Europe. It is 5 meters long and still growing! He lives with his partner Penelope.

Underwater tunnel

An unusual curiosity is the huge tunnel with sharks, stingrays and many other fish. The first time we were here, the sharks were tiny. Now we admired larger specimens. Soon, the sight of them will freeze the blood in your veins! They float overhead, which is a big "wow."

Indian elephants - hit Zoo Łódź

Species previously inhabiting the Łódź zoo, i.e. Indian elephants, also found their place in the Orientarium. Now they have a much more beautiful and spectacular runway. Since the opening of the facility, the elephant house has been inhabited by over 40-year-old Aleksander (my year). It is easy to recognize, because it has only one punch, and in addition it is the largest. He raises elephant youths who have joined him over time. 

Elephants are the most famous inhabitants of the facility. They have their own private swimming pool, and their feeding combined with bathing is the biggest attraction of this place. It attracts eager viewers every day. Elephants can then be seen from different places, from below, from above, and from under the water through a large glass.

The Orientarium has been open to tourists since spring 2022. The building itself is delightful, inventive and modern, but only the residents breathed life into it and made it possible to truly admire this place!

Other animals in the Łódź Zoo

On the beautiful catwalks in the Łódź zoo, you can admire Amur tigers, an Asian lion unique in Polish zoos, a female dwarf hippopotamus, rare monkeys with black and white fur - Abyssinian geres or koenda. The latter is also a real unique in the whole country, because in Poland only in the Zoological Garden in Łódź you can see this animal. It is a small mammal originating from South America, which has a catchy tail and a body covered with numerous needles. There are also giraffes who have a new baby in January 2024!

A unique curiosity in the Łódź Zoo are the vultures, in which an aviary was created, a trapper's path, made available on weekends, but every day you can look these birds in the eye without any security, at a specially prepared lookout point. Chapman's exceptionally beautiful zebras live next to the vultures. 

The world of Australian fauna also has a well-prepared catwalk, you will see, among others, the red kangaroo. In this respect, the zoo in Łódź is very attractive, because tourists have many opportunities to observe and watch the animals living in the zoo. Pavilions with birds, aquariums or African animals were also prepared.

Experiences for children at the Łódź Zoo

In addition to numerous animals, the Zoo in Łódź has prepared other attractions for the youngest - a mini-zoo where you can directly interact with small animals - feed and pet them, a separately paid rope park, playgrounds, an ice cream parlor and souvenir shops. Demonstration feeding of animals at designated hours is also carried out.

Demonstration feeding of animals at the Łódź Zoo

As in many facilities of this type, show feeding of animals is organized at designated, fixed hours. This allows visitors to observe completely new animal behaviors that suddenly become very active, first they eagerly wait for their caregivers, as if they had a watch, and then they eagerly eat food. This is often accompanied by training and fun, animals follow the instructions of their caregivers in exchange for food. It is a great entertainment for visitors, and at the same time a good way to check the health of animals. At the Orientarium at 11.00, elephants are fed with a bath or at 13.00, orangutans are fed.

Permanent feeding hours for animals in the Łódź Zoo

Elephants at Orientarium - 11.00 (feeding combined with bathing)
Small pandas - 11.30
Katta lemurs - 12.30 (show feeding of lemurs suspended until further notice)
Orangutans at the Orientarium - 13.00
Binturongs - 13.30
Oriental buffaloes - 14.00
Claws - 14.30
Galidie - 15.30
Camels - 16.00
Kea - 17.00
hornbill - 17.30

Zoo - gastronomy

You will not go hungry from the Łódź Zoo, because you will find here several gastronomic points where you will quickly satisfy your hunger. We ate Polish home-made dishes at Dobre Smaki u Żyrafki, near the giraffe runway. At the zoo, you can also drink coffee or buy ice cream on warm days.

History of the Łódź Zoo

The zoo in Łódź was established in 1938, on the last section of the former Łódź Forest and borders the beautiful Park na Zdrowiu. The first inhabitant of the Zoo was the Boruta deer, the next inhabitants were roe deer and deer, brought from the Poniatowski Park. Already in 1944, there were over 500 animals of many species here, because animals from the burned Hergott's circus were purchased: camels, brown bears, wolves, lions, elephant, tiger, donkeys, hyena and owl. Later, there was a rapid development of the zoo. The catwalks are constantly modernized to this day.

Łódź Zoo has been a member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) since 1975, and since 1991 the Zoo has been participating in the International Species Registration System Species360. In 1993, the zoo became a member of the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA). One of the zoo's most important tasks is to save endangered and endangered animal species and protect the gene pool. It sometimes happens that individuals are released into the wild, but not immediately, from the zoo. First, the animals are moved to special reserves, where they mate and give offspring, which are then released into the wild.

Construction of the Orientarium

For several years, the Orientarium, the largest investment of the Garden in recent years, was built. Today, it amazes tourists. It is something wonderful. The project occupies half of the entire area of the Zoo in Łódź. It combines exhibitions, thanks to which extensive enclosures and aviaries were created, where animals live in large spaces. In combination with other species, in a varied environment. They can behave very freely, almost like in nature, and tourists can observe these natural behaviors.

Our Zoo Video

We were at the Orientarium on the opening day, so our impressions are fresh in the film.

The best zoo in Poland - see our ranking!

Our Facebook Post from the Orientarium Opening

Check out our Facebook account of the great opening of the Orientarium at the Łódź Zoo, which took place on April 29, 2022!

Practical information

Daily 9.00-18.00 (in winter until 17.00)
Elephant bathing: daily 11.00 and 15.30
Current visiting hours, ticket prices and other practical information:
www.zoo.lodz.pl Parking: PLN 20 paid
Zoo and Orientarium are available for prams (there are elevators in the Orientarium)
It is not possible to enter the Zoo with a dog

Orientarium Zoo Łódź
ul. Konstantynowska 8/10, Łódź