Zoo Dortmund

From the main entrance, choose Rumah hutan and the Tamanduahaus as your two main stops, allowing a playground break if wanted. Use the map to choose the connecting paths and nearby animals that interest you. This is a suggested visit plan, separate from the zoo’s signed Rundweg.

Ask staff to help adapt the circuit around works and your mobility needs.

Follow the signed Rundweg, shortening it for your chosen stops. Include the South America area, penguins and a giraffe-house visit if everyone still has energy. Let the entrance noticeboard decide which keeper talk fits; there is no need to attend them all.

Ask staff to help adapt the circuit around works and your mobility needs.

Compare a giant anteater with a southern tamandua. Which tail looks more useful for climbing, and which could cover a resting animal? Let children draw the difference, then check the information panels together.

At one enclosure, spend a quiet minute noticing details before anyone takes a photograph. Each person chooses one thing to share: a grip, a foot, a coat pattern or a resting position. Try it again with a very different animal.

Give the Tamanduahaus and Rumah hutan longer stops, then decide whether to continue outdoors. Look at animals at their own pace and leave room for other visitors. This remains a partly outdoor outing, even when the houses are open.

Look for the long muzzle and large, shaggy tail. If an anteater walks past, watch how it places its front feet while protecting those long claws. A still photograph can be more revealing than waiting for a dramatic moment.

Look along the climbing branches as well as at ground level. The tamandua’s grasping tail is very different from a giant anteater’s bushy one. Try to include the tail in your picture if the animal’s position allows it.

Check overhead before deciding the sloth is out of view. It can use branches above the visitor area. Keep your distance, leave its route clear and never reach up to touch it; moving freely inside the house does not make it wild.

The orangutans here are Sumatran orangutans. Watch how hands and feet hold the climbing structures, or choose a quiet portrait when an animal is resting. The keeper talk can help children understand what they have been watching.

Use the current signs to reach the viewing area around construction. Look across the whole enclosure before choosing your angle, and compare the rounded ears and blunt muzzle of any visible animals. Leave resting animals to settle.

Take a slow look across both open and sheltered parts of the enclosure. If a jaguar is visible, concentrate on its coat pattern or face rather than trying to make it move. Return later if it is hidden.

Check the branches as well as the ground and be prepared for a resting animal. The regular 13:30 feeding is a useful point around which to plan, but confirm it at the entrance rather than expecting guaranteed activity.

Look for a perched bird and notice the head and pale neck ruff before waiting for an open-wing view. The species’ wild relatives use rising air to search for carrion; a quiet zoo bird still gives you plenty to examine.

The zoo’s work with giant anteaters links the animals you see here to coordinated breeding between zoos and conservation in South America. Captive breeding and protecting wild habitat are different parts of that work.

Dortmund keeps both lowland tapirs and Malayan tapirs. The adult Malayan tapir’s black-and-white coat makes a useful starting point for comparing them, while their short, flexible snouts help them find and take food.