Stockholm Skansen Zoo

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History

Founding and Vision

Skansen, situated on Djurgården in Stockholm, Sweden, opened on 11 October 1891, was founded that same year by Artur Hazelius (1833-1901, buried at Skansen), a linguist, teacher, and advocate of cultural education. His motto, ‘känn dig själv’ (know yourself), guided his vision of creating a living museum that showcased Sweden’s natural and cultural heritage. Hazelius aimed to depict life across Sweden through a collection of historical buildings, flora, fauna, and human traditions. By preserving these elements, Skansen provided visitors with a unique window into Sweden’s past to help them understand their cultural identity. Skansen is the world’s oldest open-air museum.

A Living Museum

Hazelius started by acquiring land on Skansenberget and populating it with structures from across Sweden. Initially, these houses contained mannequins dressed in traditional costumes, but they were soon replaced with live actors demonstrating traditional crafts, spinning, and weaving. This concept of a “living museum” continues today, with Skansen showcasing everything from traditional music and dance to historic craftsmanship.

The Addition of Animals

Hazelius incorporated animals into Skansen from the outset, recognizing their central role in rural Swedish life. Domesticated animals such as cows and sheep complemented the historical farmstead exhibits. Soon, Nordic wildlife like wolves and bears joined the collection. Although Hazelius initially resisted including exotic species, he eventually allowed them as crowd attractions. This blend of native and exotic species set the stage for the modern zoo that Skansen became.

Skansen evolved to showcase Nordic wildlife, Swedish heritage breeds, and exotic species as well, while focusing on biodiversity education, highlighting the connection between animals, nature, and human history. Besides the already mentioned wolves and brown bears it acquired iconic Nordic species such as lynxes and moose. Together with smaller animals, including otters, great grey owls, and the critically endangered wolverine. Exotic species are mainly to be found in the Aquarium.

Skansen-Akvariet (Aquarium)

The Skansen Aquarium, opened in 1978, offers an exotic extension to the Nordic wildlife exhibits. It features species from monkeys and crocodiles to tropical fish and spiders. So, the word aquarium does not reflect what is on display here. One of its highlights is the Cuban crocodile breeding program, a testament to Skansen’s international conservation efforts. The Akvariet also includes immersive exhibits like rainforest walkthroughs and interactive educational displays, further expanding Skansen’s educational mission.

Lill-Skansen

In addition to wildlife, Skansen is home to Lill-Skansen (Little Zoo), a children’s zoo where young visitors can engage with smaller animals such as guinea pigs, rabbits, and snakes.

Baltic Sea Science Centre

The Baltic Sea Science Centre opened on 12 April 2019 and is also located on the Skansen grounds, close to the Akvariet. The site used for the Centre is where in former days the sea lion and flamingo pool was situated. The 2,000 square meter building has five floors, one underground. The ground floor is cast-in-place concrete and houses the aquariums, the floor above is glazed, and the top two floors are two wooden structures. The Centre is a marine education facility of which the exhibits and content were developed in collaboration with Stockholm University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala.

In 2020 Skansen closed, for the first time in 129 year, due to the COVID19 pandemic, and reopened on 1 April 2021. The loss of visitor revenues was unexpected, but was overcome rather easily when turnstiles numbers increased rapidly after reopening. Perhaps it also helped that Skansen was certified in 2022 by Svensk Insamlingskontroll, ensuring that its fundraising activities complied with ethical fundraising practices.

Conservation and Education

Today, Skansen operates year-round, blending Hazelius’s original vision with contemporary attractions. Visitors can explore Nordic wildlife, traditional Swedish breeds, historic buildings, and seasonal events such as Christmas markets.

Skansen emphasizes conservation and sustainability, engaging visitors with information about animal welfare and how individual actions can support biodiversity. By integrating educational programmes and well-designed habitats, Skansen offers a comprehensive experience connecting people to nature and encouraging stewardship of wildlife and ecosystems.

As a member of major international organizations like the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), Skansen actively participates in global conservation efforts, for instance by taking part in breeding programmes for species like the European bison and the Cuban crocodiles.

As part of its mission Skansen focuses on animal welfare as well, it is a top priority. All animals at Skansen live in an environment that is adapted to meet their needs and resemble their real living environment. Enrichment is an integral part of daily care and provides outlets for the animals’ natural behaviours.

By integrating nature, history, and culture, Skansen continues to inspire and educate, remaining a vital symbol of Sweden’s heritage and a leading attraction in Stockholm, with the Zoo, Akvariet and Baltic Sea Science Centre covering the zoological part.

(Source: website Skansen, accessed November 2024 ;Wikipedia, accessed December 2024)

Visit(s)

07.12.2013

Stockholm Zoo is located on the premises and part of one of the world's oldest open-air museums, Skansen, which was founded in 1891 on the island Djurgården. Skansen, consists of historical buildings and dwellings that provide a sense of Swedish history. As the Zoo comprises only indigenous Scandinavian animals including farm animals, which are part of Swedish history as well, it seems like an obvious choice to house these animals on this particular site, close to the city centre.

In addition to these native species there are exotic animals to be seen in the Skansen Aquarium. The 'Akvariet' is operated by another organisation, which explains the additional admission fee - on top of the Skansen admission fee - that is charged for this small but nevertheless interesting zoo with species exotic to Sweden (the name aquarium is misleading).

It was a cold and cloudy day when I visited the Zoo. With a temperature of minus 4 °C, and more snow to come after the several centimeters that had fallen the night before, I decided that I would go and see the Scandinavian species first while it was still dry. So, from the main entrance I passed the Aquarium and followed the signs to the native animals.

The first enclosure I encountered this way was the wolverine exhibit. The wolverine is a species you do not see often in zoos. It is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species ™, but its population size is decreasing, so zoos might step up and increase their conservation efforts. In Sweden wolverines became protected by law in 1969 and they may not be hunted. Nevertheless, the greatest threat to the wolverine is illegal hunting. The wolverine is known for its fearlessness and hunting prey animals larger than themselves, like in wintertime they mostly hunt reindeer. The large enclosure consists of two parts, separated by window panes but connected via a door that was open at time of visit. The grounds are undulating with rocks and trees, and there's a deep moat at the visitors' side. The two wolverines were very active when I arrived and were chasing each other covering the area of both enclosures. It turned out they were excited and anxiously waiting for their food (see video).

Just across the footpath the wolf enclosure is situated, downwards sloping towards the outer fence of the Zoo. Like the wolverine enclosure it seems as if original habitat of the island Djurgården is fenced off, after which some trees have been felled. It is a rather small pack of wolves, three to be exact, that are housed at Skansen. They roamed around restlessly - as wolves tend to do in zoos, according to my personal experience - in the exhibit that contains a large pool. Due to the fact that the footpath runs along the uphill side of the enclosure, the visitor looks down on the animals. Located at one end of the enclosure is a shelter for visitors to observe the animals from up close. Furthermore, in the shelter detailed information is provided on the wolf population history in Sweden (see more info).

Two specimens of Eurasian eagle owl (Bubo bubo) are housed in an aviary of steel mesh that is large enough to allow the birds to spread their wings and fly for several meters. The cage contains enrichment such as a small pond, trees and other vegetation, and rocks at the rear fence. Next door the wisent are housed together with wild boar in a modern paddock that consists of several sections. A wisent calf was born on 7 May this year.

The pair of lynx produced offspring this year also, three cubs were born on 24 May. These three young busybodies were a pleasure to watch (see video), and made me stay and stand still for a long time at their enclosure, even return several times, ignoring the cold. As with the wolf enclosure the visitor looks down into the enclosure, which has a rather bare environment with a few trees and only one large rock formation of about 6 meters high for the animals to hide from the public. Though I can imagine that during spring and summer the vegetation is more lush than during my visit in winter.

Unfortunately, the brown bears were hibernating in their den, so I haven't seen them. They have got two enclosures at their disposal, of which one they have to share with red foxes. This is a rather straightforward enclosure with an environment that is very exposed to the public. The other enclosure, just across the footpath, has a much more interesting design. It's not to be shared with the foxes and resembles a large amphitheatre that seems carved into the rocks, with viewing options on one side and a rockface rear wall on the other. There's a water filled moat on the public side, but what makes it outstanding are the narrow passages that leads to different small sections of the exhibit which allows the bears to retreat into more enclosed environments away from the public.

Two enclosures are worth mentioning for their design. One is the seal pool that allows for really close encounters with the marine mammals. I haven't seen any signs warning visitors to be aware of the odd curious seal that puts its head over the pool basin edge, which is quite low actually. And this edge is the only separation between the seals and the public. I saw a woman being startled when suddenly a seal's head appeared at close range from her camera lens while she kneeled down to take a picture. Quite funny though.

The other enclosure which I thought was exceptional, was the walk-through aviary for great grey owls (Strix nebulosa). The aviary is not only large enough (500 m² and 10 m high) for the owls to fly around it even has a boardwalk for visitors to have unobstructed views at these birds of prey in an exhibit with lush vegetation.

Gallery

Video

More info

Wolves in Sweden

Wolves, the Eurasian or common wolf (Canis lupus lupus) that is - a subspecies of the gray wolf (Canis lupus), are indigenous to Sweden and have been roaming the area since time immemorial. No one knows exactly how many wolves there are in Sweden but the official number was 166-210 wolves on the Scandinavian peninsula in 2007/08, shared between Sweden and Norway. Nowadays Sweden has a protected population of around 200 wolves that is growing, and compensation is paid for livestock damage. The Swedish wolf population is restricted to forested areas in mid-Sweden [Wikipedia].

As early as the 13th century in Sweden, farmers were legally obliged to maintain wolf nets and wolf pens in order to be able to hunt wolves. Farmers were also legally obliged to take part in the comprehensive drives through the forest to flush out wolves. In 1647 a premium for killing wolves was introduced. Throughout the 19th century and in the early years of the 20th, wolves were ruthlessly hunted in Sweden. The most rapid decline in wolf population took place between 1840 to 1860. In the county of Stockholm there were many wolves too, but about 271 of them were killed between 1827 and 1839. The last wolf in Stockholm county was shot in 1871. Besides being hunted, the situation for wolves deteriorated because of a lack of prey animals. Wolves were pronounced a protected species in Sweden in 1967, but also had been officially declared extinct in Sweden [The Epoch Times]. Some ten years later the first litter of wolf cubs was born in the wild.

Up until 2008, when two males of Finnish origin became fathers of pups in Sweden and Norway, the entire wolf population in Sweden descended from only three individuals. This meant that all the Swedish wolves were closely related and had a small genetic basis which led to inbreeding. The greater the degree of inbreeding in a group of animals, the greater is the risk of genetic disorders and disease that can cause the species to go extinct. In order to reduce the inbreeding among the wolf population new animals with new genes ('fresh blood') needed to be introduced. However, since almost the northern half of Sweden is to be kept free of wolves to protect reindeer herding it is difficult for Finnish or Russian wolves to breed with Swedish specimens. Therefore, the Swedish government has decided on an active policy of moving wolves into Sweden by human activity. In order to gain acceptance of this policy the decision included that the wolf population should not grow during the period when new wolves are moved to Sweden.

Every year wolves harm or kill several hundreds domestic animals and 20-50 hunting dogs, which are used for the traditional moose or European elk (Alces alces) hunting, in Sweden. Especially, in parts of the country where reindeer are herded a great deal of damage is done. In order to protect the reindeer herding, the government has decided that there has to be no wolf packs in grazing grounds that are used all year round. A further conflict is caused by the fact that wolves compete with huntsmen for quarry, which led to quite a controversy between hunters and conservationists [BBC].

The last time a wolf attacked a person in Sweden was in 1821 in Gysinge. The wolf in question was captured as a pup and had been kept in captivity for several years but had escaped. Normally, wolves in the wild are very shy and will avoid humans.

Three-quarters of the Swedish population is in favour of there being predatory animals in Sweden. Predators have a natural place in the ecosystem and contribute to biological diversity.

(Source: information panels Skansen Zoo; The Epoch Times, 07.08.2012; BBC News, 07.02.2013; Wikipedia)

SmartZoos

In a project funded by the European Union three zoos - Tallinn Zoo, Korkeasaari Zoo in Helsinki and Skansen Zoo in Stockholm - in collaboration with two universities developed an innovative approach on how to attract the interest of the public for the educational activities of the zoos involved. Creative adventure learning with mobile devices it is called in the project description. Nowadays, most people below roughly 40 years of age become nervous when they do not have their smartphone in close range - their smartphone can be regarded as an inseparable extension of their hand, as if it is a natural body part. So, it could be a smart idea to challenge the zoo visitors with adventurous and educational tasks on a social interactive internet platform, because they are very much used to such platforms. Moreover, it seems that young people outgrew the simple method by which many old-timers have been educated in zoos - read the information panels!

SmartZoos is a location-based game service, where the activities will guide players through their environment and teach them a thing or two. In other words, SmartZoos is an online environment where people can complete exciting discovery trails. People who engage with SmartZoos will find out interesting knowledge about animals, will learn to watch and observe animals, get to solve exciting tasks, develop orientation skills and by accomplishing certain tasks within SmartZoos, they will be rewarded with badges. SmartZoos is a modern way to combine education with gamified fun, and is further promoted like this, 'you can create fun and activities to be used by you and other SmartZoos users when you have a Creator account.'

The SmartZoos project is part of the European Union's Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme in the framework of which the aforementioned partners have set up a series of gamified, yet educational discovery trails. More discovery trails will be established, the trails will constantly change and new features will be added.

(Source: Tallinn Zoo website; SmartZoos platform; Interreg Central Baltic website )

Endangered species