Tallinn Zoo — Attraction in Tallinn

I visit the zoo today, in september 2022 and the zoo has a lot of pros and cons. (list below)

First of all the entrance price was €8 for adults and €5 for students. It seemed very quiet when I visited, as if the touristic season had already ended (an impression I've been having a lot in the Baltics since september). As such there were close to no possibilities to get a coffee or sit down somewhere inside for a quick bite or lunch. The zoo has a lot of empty cages which do not give it a good impression. Occasionaly there's a sign signalling future renovations, though I couldn't help but get the feeling these plans have been existing for a long time without much execution... Some huge cages were just empty.

I really liked the fact that the zoo is mostly in an actual forest, which gives it a natural atmosphere at the sides. I even saw some wild squirrels enjoying their zoo time! The exception here are the milus deer next to a busy car road near the zoo's northern entrance. Another plus is the children's farm where you can caress goats and also stand next to ducks and chickens. The zoo also helps injured wild animals restore to full health, which was the case with the rooks we saw here. This is what a zoo should be all about: conservation! Some animals I had never seen before and were very cool like the many different species of pheasants, a leucistic crow, a beautiful chameleon, Indian porcupine, raccoon, muli deer, red wolf, huge grashoppers, corsac fox and a sloth. There were also many information signs, which were nice.

My biggest issue with the Tallinn Zoo is its extremely small and rudimentary cages for a lot of animals. The polar bear, the grey seal, the jaguars, the black rhinoceros , the pygmy hippopotamus and the chimpansees. Even the bull elephant seemed bored and unhappy. What's the point of having a four meter salt water crocodile in a five by five meter cage? If the zoo wants to exhibit an animal it should take its wellbeing and comfort seriously, or refuse to exhibit it all together. Seeing the miserable polar bear and jaguar in their tiny cage made me feel ashamed of being human. Four takins sitting on a concrete parking lot that is supposed to pass for a cage, what is that about?

I think the potential of the Tallinn Zoo is enormous. Just get rid of the some of the large animals you're incapable of holding and get more smaller, less demanding animals like birds, amfibians, reptiles, fish and rodents. Make conservation and education your priority, rather than profits and sensationalism. And the zoo is already quite green with a lot of parthenocissus plants; put more of these plants and plant even more trees.

I would recommend the zoo, once they do something about the small and...

Visited on 19th of November, -4 degrees Celsius... so it was not busy for sure 🤣

Easy to get to: we hopped on a bus from the train station and it took us straight to the zoo entrance.

Could conveniently pay by card at the machine that had English option, so there no queue and no communication drama. It was so fast and simple!

Even though there were some empty cages but we still saw a huge variety of animals! I'm 39 and have been places, but here I've seen animals I've never seen before in real life! No shops, so you save a fortune with kids! If you want a snack, you can always go to the opposite side of the road to the mall where there's a huge variety of options that a zoo would never be able to compete with anyway. This way, everyone can choose exactly what they fancy to eat at the mall, and the zoo can focus on what it's there for: the animals...

People were complaining about the walking : to us with a full of energy 7-year-old it was perfect! Kids don't sit down long to watch the camels or bisons... they want to walk and explore. My kid would have finished the zoo in 10 minutes if things were too near, but this way, we had to walk. The kid got worn out and entertained: it was perfect! She was ravenous after all the walking, which was great because she ate like a beast with no arguments or complications 🤣

The facility is getting lots of improvements-lots of construction going on. Can't wait to return to check back on what it looks like later 💖

The amount we paid is super reasonable. So many animals to shelter and feed... there's been numerous occasions when we felt ripped off and annoyed during this holiday in Estonia, but this was definitely not like that. It is absolutely worth what...

Was really looking forward to the visit as I've heard good things about the zoo. But at the end of the day we were disappointed and won't be going back.

The good: It's very pretty with nice woodland areas, fields and lush green everywhere. The elephants were out and walked right past us. The goats were friendly to scratch. The new tiger enclosure looked really nice although no tigers were in sight.

The bad: So many animals were out of sight. The polar bear, chimpanzees, tigers, rhinos etc were all hidden away or "not available". While I do understand that they're animals and can't be forced to sit Infront of their cages, some better design with the enclosures would go a long way. People come to zoo's to see the animals and that how zoo's get their funding. All the small animals in the petting zoo were inside and not available. HUGE disappointment for our kid who was hyped to see and pet them as promised on the web site and brochure. Like many other zoo's, the area needs better guidance and a path to follow.

How to improve: Clearly mark the enclosures and areas with nothing to see. The area is big so you don't want to waste time in empty areas. Update your maps and animal locations. Update the website with schedules and if certain animals are not available. Especially the petting zoo part.

I really hope the zoo gets their funding and improves the setting as there is so much potential. Sadly, this time was not good...