Borås Djurpark

When Borås Djurpark opened its doors for the first time in 1962, its completely new concept of keeping different animal species together within large open enclosures caused a sensation. The model for this and still the heart of Borås Zoo is the large enclosure designed as an African savannah, where typical inhabitants of this semi-desert are housed together and can roam freely.

The savannah and animals in Borås Djurpark

The view of the visitors is not disturbed by any fence, because the area of the savannah, surrounded by high rock walls, is much lower than the surrounding circular path. The visitor gets the impression of looking into a valley with African elephants, the only ones in Sweden, giraffes, zebras, Cape buffaloes, antelopes and ostriches. In a separately divided area of the savannah, white rhinoceroses and cheetahs live side by side.

The concept of spacious enclosures runs through the entire Borås Djurpark, which now has a total area of 40 hectares and houses around 600 animals of 65 species, making it one of the largest zoos in Sweden. In addition to the already mentioned inhabitants of the savannah, these include lions, Siberian tigers, hyenas, red pandas and various African and Asian species of monkeys.

Besides the representatives of exotic animal breeds, Borås Djurpark is home to a number of Nordic wildlife species such as moose, bison, wolverine, lynx, wolves, brown bears and seals. The brown bears live in a 14,000 square metre enclosure with its own swimming pond, and the grey seals and seals have a whole lake to themselves.

Dinopark, play park and other attractions

Other attractions at the zoo include the 1,300 square metre dino park with life-size replicas of prehistoric dinosaurs that move and make sounds. On the other hand the Simbaland playground with a large adventure and water play area, barbecue hut with electric grill and a small stage.

The play park is named after the tame lion Simba, which the zoo founder Sigvard Berggren brought back from Africa as a puppy and who was the first animal of the zoo. Simba quickly became the darling of the Swedish public, not least through his participation in a feature film with comedian Nils Poppe. After his death, Simba was preserved and today he welcomes visitors in front of the large mammal hall at the natural history museum in Gothenburg.

Apart from the barbecue area at Simbaland, there are other barbecue huts for brought provisions at the predator house and bear enclosure. Furthermore, there are several restaurants and kiosks on the zoo grounds. Four of the restaurants have microwave ovens for warming up baby food. Barrier-free toilets and baby changing rooms are spread over six buildings on the Zoo grounds and, like all other facilities, are listed on the folding map available at the Zoo entrance.

Dogs and other pets are not allowed in Borås Djurpark and smoking within the zoo shall be restricted to the specially designated areas.