Korkeasaari Zoo

Helsinki’s Korkeasaari Zoo is one of the city’s chief attractions and it’s not just the opportunity of seeing a range of animals that makes it such an interesting place to visit. The Zoo is situated on the island of Korkeasaari, in fact the whole island IS the zoo. It’s an attractive environment and the planting of trees and shrubs from all over the world has been given as much consideration as the presentation of the animals. The fact that this ...
...In that respect, I suppose, Korkeasaari lacks the wow factor some zoos have with exotic beasts from tropical climes. On the other hand, as someone who enjoys visiting zoos, I found that there were plenty of animals I knew much less about so this was a good opportunity to learn about something new.

Take the wolverines; I’d heard of them before but I’d never seen one, not even in a photograph. From the name I’d expected them to be a ... more

Helsinki’s Korkeasaari Zoo is one of the city’s chief attractions and it’s not just the opportunity of seeing a range of animals that makes it such an interesting place to visit. The Zoo is situated on the island of Korkeasaari, in fact the whole island IS the zoo. It’s an attractive environment and the planting of trees and shrubs from all over the world has been given as much consideration as the presentation of the animals. The fact that this zoo is so much a part of its natural environment, rather than merely being a big animal park built in the city, is very important. What’s more, although it’s possible to access the island by means of a bridge and come by bus or car, you can also get there by boat from the mainland which really enhances the whole experience. So you see, a visit to Helsinki Zoo is a way of seeing not just the animals there, but of appreciating and experiencing a very distinct natural environment.

Getting to Korkeasaari

There are two boat services to the island but only one operates all year round; this is the one from Mustikkamaa. The other service, from Kauppatori operates only in summer; this is the one we used. It’s a fairly small boat and you can sit on deck or in the cabin. Even in September it was quite cool and very windy so we arrived at our destination feeling very weather-beaten. It’s a ten minute ride out to the island, weaving around a number of the city’s outlying islands. When using the Kauppatori ferry you get a combined ferry fare and zoo admission ticket.

The Zoo Bus (service number 11), operates from the main train station to the zoo all year round every day, except on Christmas Eve and the journey takes about twenty minutes. If you travel by car you have to park up at Mustikkamaa and there are limited parking spaces.

Helsinki regional and city travelcards are accepted on the Zoo bus. When using the zoo bus or arriving on foot, you pay the admission fee at the entrance when you arrive.

What to see in the zoo

The various paths and enclosures are well-signposted and you can pick up a plan of the zoo to make the most of your day. The thing I like about this zoo is that it doesn’t try to cram in every animal possible; the animals here are, almost without exception, ones that can happily live outdoors for the whole of the year and this means that there are a great many from northern Europe and North America. In that respect, I suppose, Korkeasaari lacks the wow factor some zoos have with exotic beasts from tropical climes. On the other hand, as someone who enjoys visiting zoos, I found that there were plenty of animals I knew much less about so this was a good opportunity to learn about something new.

Take the wolverines; I’d heard of them before but I’d never seen one, not even in a photograph. From the name I’d expected them to be a miniature wolf but the truth is very different. They are almost ursine and resemble a man wearing a shaggy costume. They weren’t especially sociable creatures and I got only a fleeting glimpse of them but I was quite delighted to learn finally exactly what they are.

The zoo is home to several species that are native to Scandinavia, in particular several that are endangered. Wild mink have virtually disappeared in Europe but Korkeasaari does have some. There are also northern foxes, European otters, grey seals and ermine. Of the great predators that can still be found in parts of Finland, there are bears, lynx and those wolverines. The bears were the most obliging and a sunny spell brought them out for a spot of lounging. We could view them through a vast one way window which meant that we got see them (two adults and a cub) behaving quite naturally. The cub was feeding from the mother and she waited patiently as the cub climbed all over her until finally he had had enough and lay down next to her for a snooze.

There are lots of creatures like Arctic reindeer, mountain ibex, Rocky Mountain goats and musk ox that could look quite similar to children. Some ibex put on a display of fighting, locking horns and behaving quite menacingly towards each other but otherwise these animals were quite laid back and didn’t feel obliged to be in the least bit entertaining. This seemed to be the general way of things at Korkeasaari. There were no lists of events such as feeding time or parades of certain species. Admittedly September is classed as the off peak season in Finland so it may be that there is more going on in summer to highlight certain species and to entertain children. While one can’t predict what animals will do, I have to admit to being a little disappointed myself to either get fleeting glimpses of some creatures or none at all of others. While it is nicer to be able to watch animals behaving naturally, planned events such as feeding times do create an opportunity to get some of the animals where visitors can be sure of seeing them.

Of course, not all the animals are from Europe. From Australia there are wallabies and emu, from Africa elephant shrews and Egyptian tortoises. From South America there were most notably tiny tamarins including the most wonderfully coloured golden ones, while those from Asia included red panda and Asian lions. I was most looking forward to seeing the Amur tiger from Siberia but I could only get fleeting glimpses as he padded around his enclosure.

The island is home to over one thousand species of trees and plants from all over the world although, as with the animals, a special effort has been made to highlight planting of local species so there are lots of noble conifers and other northern European trees. When we visited in mid September we found a riot of colour which made a striking backdrop. There was plenty of information about the various plants if you wanted it but it’s enough just to see the overall effect which makes even the sections where there are no enclosures worth exploring.

Korkeasaari has existed as a pleasure ground for over one hundred years, gradually evolving into the zoo it is today. As Russian sailors returned to port with animals from their travels, so a more formal zoo was established, one of the oldest in the world. As a result there are lots of nice traditional features like cute refreshments kiosks housed in quaint wooden villas and chalets and even the ruins of an old castle. The buildings are sympathetic to the landscape and there are no extras such as fairground rides and the like. All exploring is done on foot, there are no land trains or boat rides; the footpaths are in good repair but there is a little uphill walking. Fortunately there are plenty of places for refreshments ranging from informal restaurants to ice cream kiosks.

There are lots of picnic tables dotted around the island and in two locations there are barbecues that can be used by visitors (charcoal is sold in the shops on the island). There are a couple of small childrens’ play areas and even a crèche in summer months – though I would have thought you’d want to go round the zoo with your children to enjoy their reactions. For younger children you can hire pushchairs and push-along carts. Although the island is wheelchair accessible, on Thursday mornings only you can drive around the island.

We really enjoyed our visit to Korkeasaari even if we felt we hadn’t really managed to see a great deal of the animals kept by the zoo. We seemed to do a lot of peering through fences wondering if there really was anything in there. However, we were pleased with those we did see – especially the sea lions and the bears – and enjoyed walking generally in the peaceful paths off the beaten track. It’s worth a visit even for the boat ride out to the island which allows you to see Helsinki from a different perspective and allows you a better look at some of the gorgeous houses on the tiny outlying islands.

We paid €12 each as adults for admission and this included the fare for the boat ride; admission without the boat trip is just €7 which I think is pretty good value. This is a very traditional zoo without al the hoopla that often goes with animal parks these days so chances are you needn’t spend too much extra and you could even take a picnic lunch to save money. I’d say Korkeasaari is suitable for a half day visit.

For opening times and full admission costs see the zoo’s website

http://www.korkeasaari.fi/services/visitorinformation
 

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