Is Basel Zoo Worth Visiting?

Yes — Zoo Basel is Switzerland's oldest zoo, founded in 1874, and by number of animals its largest too: 602 species across 13 hectares in the middle of Basel. It has just come through a rough patch with its elephants, with a new herd only settling in during 2026. And if admission price is what's holding you back, Tierpark Lange Erlen, the hub's other venue, is free every day of the year.

Which venue to choose

Basel's two venues sit at very different scales. Zoo Basel is Switzerland's oldest and, by number of animals, its largest: worth anywhere from a half day to a full one depending on how deep you go. Tierpark Lange Erlen, a much smaller free park on the Wiese river, works better as an add-on afterwards, or as the whole outing on a day when you'd rather not pay for admission at all.

Featured location Zoologischer Garten Basel AG Basel, Switzerland VDZWAZA The zoo lies in the Basel-Bachletten quarter on the river Birsig and covers around 11 hectares. In 2014 it held 7,017 animals in 628 species, among them 58 mammal, 88 bird, 41 reptile, 10 amphibian, 284 fish and 147 invertebrate species.

Founded in 1874, Zoo Basel — known locally as the "Zolli" — has grown into a member of EAZA, WAZA and zooschweiz among 20 organisational memberships, and it is partway through a long-range site plan called Zolli 2049, launched in late 2024.

What not to miss

Look for okapis in the antelope house, meerkats and the aquarium's Garibaldi fish, alongside the zoo's Africa, Australis, Etosha and Gamgoas exhibits, its Bird House, Monkey House and Sauter Garden.

The zoo's biggest recent story is its elephants. Bull elephant Tusker died of tuberculosis in 2023, and when lead cow Heri died in June 2025, the two remaining cows, Maya and Rosy — both wild-caught arrivals from 1999 — stopped getting along without her and were moved to separate French zoos, Amnéville and Peaugres. That left Zoo Basel with no elephants until a new herd, matriarch Tika (18) and her daughters Kimana (6) and Mali (3), arrived from the Grüner Zoo Wuppertal in Germany around the end of May 2026; the elephant house was still shut the following Sunday, with the zoo confirming the animals would be on view from the Monday.

If you head to Tierpark Lange Erlen instead, look for wisent, red deer, fallow deer and chamois on more open ground, native predators including Eurasian lynx, European wildcat and red fox, and a scattering of old Swiss farm breeds — among them the Appenzeller Spitzhauben chicken and the Wollschwein pig — kept alongside capuchin monkeys.

Tickets and saving money

Every Zoo Basel admission ticket includes a CHF 1 contribution that goes to the zoo's own conservation-project fund. The zoo's pricing pages weren't set up for a reliable online check at the time of writing, so confirm the current adult and child rates through the zoo's own ticket shop rather than an old figure before you go.

The Swiss Museum Pass site lists Basel's Kunstmuseum among its Basel entries, but not Zoo Basel. Tierpark Lange Erlen, on the other hand, costs nothing at any time of year, which makes it the one to build a tight budget around.

Basel Zoo – affectionately known as the 'Zolli' – is a green oasis in the centre of the city.

Best time to visit

Zoo Basel's hours stretch with the season: 8am to 5.30pm from November to February, 8am to 6pm in March, April, September and October, and 8am to 6.30pm from May to August, so a summer visit buys an extra hour of daylight to get around the exhibits. 2025 was quieter at the gate than usual — about 1.15 million visits, down 6.6% on 2024 — but the zoo puts that down to 2024 being an unusually busy 150th-anniversary year rather than any drop in what's on show; it also sold 600 more annual passes in 2025, which points to a loyal local crowd rather than genuinely fewer visitors.