In front of the entrance there is a carpark, and the area offers refreshments. Another part of the zoological garden is the AQUA-TERA exposition in the center of Plzeň (on Palackého street). The area of the zoo is 21.5 hectares.
The Plzeň Zoological and Botanical Garden was established in 1926, and later in 1963 reopened on its current premises. The botanical garden was built in 1961, and the zoo was connected with the botanical garden in 1981. Every year there are about one-quarter million visitors.
The Plzeň Zoo specializes mainly in zoo-geographical division, biotope expositions, breeding of reptiles, invertebrates and small birds and mammals.
Among the most remarkable species that can be seen here are, first of all, 23 species included in the European saving program, e.g. Humbold penguin, Leucopsar rothschildi, liontail macaque, lemur vari, bison, musk-oxen, Pudu puda and Chinese alligator. Attractive for visitors are also the Barbary lion, spurred tortoise, gibbons, lemurs catta, pelicanes, leopards, wolves, kangaroos and others.
During your visit, it would be a pity to miss a grange from the 19th century with domestic animals and ancient tools, a nature trail on the Quarternary with a hectare egress of brown bears, a pavilion called Mysterious World of the African Night, an open-air run of chimpanzees or the Ape Islands. You can also ride a camel in a petting zoo, buy souvenirs at Souvenirs at Lemur's, visit the African restaurant or buy refreshments at a Siberian cabin, and get some information in a magazine called Sklipkan (Trapdoor Spider).
The rarity of the Plzeň zoo is the most robust lizard of the world – dragon lizard. Transport to the zoo is available by mass transport from the city.