Footage of some of the highlights since the opening of Basel Zoo.

Basel zoo opened its gates to the public, on 18 July 1874. At the time there were 94 mammals (of 35 species) and 416 birds (of 83 species) to be seen on a premises of 4.3 hectares.

Soon the Zoo management started to exhibit exotic people as well, an idea first introduced and made popular by Carl Hagenbeck, an animal trader who opened his own zoo in Hamburg in the beginning of the twentieth century. These ‘Völkerschau’ became successful in those days in Europe, when colonialism was still common practice. It increased the turnstile numbers significantly. From 1879 until 1935 exotic people were – voluntarily but against payment – exhibited in Basel Zoo.

In 1949 an aardvark was sourced from the wild in Tanganyika (now Tanzania), and transported to Basel by Dr. R. Geigy.

In 1952 a female Indian rhinoceros, called Joymothi, was caught in India and transported to the Zoo in Switzerland. When her first calf was born on 14 September 1956 she made the headlines, because Rudra was the first Indian rhinoceros born in captivity ever, globally. Since then Basel Zoo became very successful in breeding this rhino species, with over 30 Indian rhino births. And as of 1972 Basel Zoo has been coordinating the International Studbook (ISB) and the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP) for Indian rhinos.

Then Goma was born 23 September 1959 at Basel Zoo, the first gorilla born in an European zoo. She grew up during the first year of her life in the family of Basel Zoo director, veterinarian prof. dr. Ernst Michael Lang, because her mother Achilla didn’t know how to nurse her baby.

Heini Hediger must be mentioned as he introduced modern husbandry and science based zookeeping based on a biological way of thinking when he became Basel Zoo director in 1944. He also made the general public in Switzerland aware of typical traits of exotic animals with regular appearances in a television show around 1960.

Improving the life of animals living in captivity was ongoing business with the construction of the "new worlds of experience for great apes" as one of the examples. It was a thorough renovation and expansion of the 1960s monkey house opened in 2012 as the new great ape exhibit.

(Source: SRF DOK, Wir und der Zoo, 29.11.2012; rhino resource center website; Zoo Basel website; Zoo Basel YouTube channel)

More information on Basel Zoo: https://aboutzoos.info/zoos/zoo-database/europe-zoo-database/161-basel-zoo