Blog
There's always something fun happening at Parken Zoo. Go behind the scenes and see how the work is done.
Gibbon born at Parken Zoo
13 April 2026
Parken Zoo has received a long-awaited addition – a white-cheeked gibbon baby that has now ventured out into the spring sunshine with its family for the first time.
Magnificent singalong summer at Parken Zoo!
13 April 2026
This summer, Parken Zoo in Eskilstuna will become an obvious meeting place for music, togetherness and summer vibes when four big singalong evenings take place on the Folkpark stage under the open sky.
Parken Zoo's new king of the jungle – 360° at a height of 25 metres
13 April 2026
Parken Zoo in Eskilstuna is making its biggest ever investment in a funfair, with a total of over 20 million SEK being invested in Parken before the summer. A total of three new rides are ready for their premiere on May 14th, with the star attraction, Top Spin, being the only one of its kind in Scandinavia.
Parken Zoo meets Nashville!
13 April 2026
On 24th July, Parken Zoo transforms into a vibrant meeting place where the sounds of Nashville blend with the Swedish summer night.
World Tiger Day - Global Tiger Day
29 July 2020
Today 29 July is global tiger day!
This year's theme is ”Don't turn your back on wild tigers and those working for wildlife”.
We live in a world of climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss and other environmental threats. Many animal species, including the tiger, are at risk of extinction as humans destroy their natural habitat. The work of zoos complements conservation efforts around the world by preserving endangered species. Conservation work for the Sumatran tiger is carried out through the most intensive type of conservation breeding programme within the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) called the EEP (EAZA Ex situ Programme). All individuals within an EEP programme are pedigreed and a so-called species coordinator plans the future of the species; which animals will breed or not breed and which animals will be moved from one zoo to another, etc. The tigers in the zoo also act as ambassadors for their resting relatives. At the zoo, we have the chance to teach and tell people about these amazing animals. People get the chance to see the animals and gain an understanding of what we, you and I, can do to help them.
The Sumatran tiger is also threatened by poaching and the trade in animals and animal parts is a constant threat around the tigers. The Wildcats Conservation Alliance is an organisation that works in the wild to help tigers. If you want to read more about the organisation or support it with money, you can find more information at https://conservewildcats.org/
The corona pandemic is causing problems in many ways around the world, but we still have happy news at Parken Zoo as we at Parken Zoo have now managed to carry out a safe land transport during the early summer where a new male Sumatran tiger has arrived in Eskilstuna. Our new male is currently getting to know his new family and we hope of course that a liking will arise.
Don't turn your back on the endangered tigers, do your bit and think about what you can do. Switch off the lights when you leave a room, recycle your rubbish, choose certified wood for your furniture... the list goes on, but we can all help.
Hooray for the drills
4 May 2020
Today we celebrate the first International Drill Day - #dayofthedrill
We celebrate this by offering a fruitcake to the great apes living at Parken Zoo, you can see the film here
The drill is classified as critically endangered by the IUCN, and it is estimated that there are fewer than 3000 individuals left in the wild. The individuals living in the wild are divided into many smaller groups that are not close to each other due to habitat loss and habitat fragmentation. They are only found in Nigeria, Cameroon and on an island called Bioko belonging to Equatorial Guinea.
Parken Zoo is a member of ”Save the Drill”, the main purpose of which is to support Pandrillus” projects in Nigeria (Afi Moutain and Calbar) and Cameroon. If you would like to join us in supporting this important work, you can swish to 123 083 82 35 and mark your contribution with ”save the drill". The contributions received will be sent to the work taking place in Nigeria and Cameroon.
You can read more about drill on our website and from 16 May, you can come and visit the drills at Parken Zoo.
We also highly recommend the film ”Island of the great apes” which can be viewed until 30 May 2020.
Save the drill - Save the drill
20 February 2020
Did you know that we are members of the ”save the drill” association? The aim of the association is to promote and preserve the endangered drills in their natural environment. The association supports both the drills and the nature and environment they live in.
An important part of the work to save the drills is carried out by the organisation Pandrillus, which operates in Nigeria on the so-called drill ranch. On the ranch in Nigeria, the organisation takes care of more than 600 drills that make their home in the area around the ranch. Pandrillus staff at the ranch have dedicated the last 30 years of their lives to standing up for the drills and actively working to protect one of Nigeria's most beautiful places, the place that is also home to the drills. After a series of terrible events, the Drill Ranch and Pandrillus need all the help they can get to continue the work of saving the Drill. Read on below to find out more.
We have previously told you about the work being done at the ”drill ranch” in Nigeria to save the drills from extinction. In 2017, the ranch was hit by two severe storms that left the ranch in ruins. With the help of donations, including from us at Parken Zoo, the ranch could be rebuilt and the work of helping the drills on site in Nigeria could continue.
Once again, we have received terrible news from the Drill Ranch. At the end of December 2019, the ranch was raided. The local police were immediately called in and two suspects were arrested. During a police transport to a nearby police station, a serious traffic accident occurred, killing one of the suspects and the driver. All witnesses and 6 police officers are hospitalised following the road accident.
A few days later, the ranch was attacked by a large gang of men who literally smashed the ranch to pieces, assaulting and beating the ranch staff who were chained and severely injured during the attack.
The ranch has since been guarded day and night by armed police officers, but the staff live in constant fear of what will happen next.
Staff are struggling to patch up the ranch piece by piece. But as you can imagine, there is a great need for both labour and financial donations. Parken Zoo continues to support the ”save the drill” organisation financially. If you would also like to help, or learn more about the work to save the drills, please visit save-the-drill.org
Today, the drill is classified as critically endangered in the wild and it is one of the species included in the EAZA conservation breeding project. Within the project in the European zoos, there are currently 44 males and 56 females. In the picture you see the female Hakuna Matata who lives with us here at Parken Zoo. Parken Zoo participates in the European breeding programme for the conservation of the drill.
World Wildlife Day
3 March 2019
Today, 3 March, is World Wildlife Day, a day when people around the world join together to celebrate and raise awareness of the world's wildlife. This year's theme is life below the surface, but since we don't have many aquatic animals, we thought we'd focus a little extra on our critically endangered Sumatran tigers.
In fact, top predators - those animals at the top of the food chain - also ultimately affect water. Predators play a very important role in an ecosystem. They keep prey populations from becoming too numerous and, in turn, eating too much of what the prey eat. But predators have an impact in many more ways than just keeping prey and smaller predators down. The mere presence of predators in an area causes prey to change their behaviour, morphology (shape and structure) and choice of habitat. This means that predators also affect the whole vegetation both on land and in water, benefiting many other species. Predators that keep down the number of large herbivores also counteract the greenhouse effect and climate change on Earth.
Together with the children from Gredby Preschool, who visit us every month, we have created an artwork inspired by a previous World Wildlife Day poster winner. The children have made handprints in different colours. Each finger corresponds to a Sumatran tiger left in the wild (400-500).
Each finger on the black handprints corresponds to one tiger shot annually (50).
The zoo's tigers are Wayan, Bagus, Keisha and Tenga and they are part of a conservation programme for endangered species.
We still have the chance to save the world's species together!
6 November 2018
Image: https://www.wwf.se/wwfs-arbete/ekologiska-fotavtryck/living-planet-report/1672817-living-planet-report-2018-mangden-vilda-ryggradsdjur-har-minskat-med-60-procent-pa-44-ar
On 30 October, WWF launched its Living Planet Report 2018 showing that vertebrate populations have declined by 60% since 1970. This is a worrying trend that we need to reverse now if our mammals, reptiles, fish, reptiles and birds are to survive in the future.
Species and ecosystems, known as biodiversity, are important to humans as they provide us with many ecosystem services, including our livelihoods. Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting, energy production, transport, mining and infrastructure can lead to threats such as habitat loss, overexploitation, climate change, pollution and invasive species.
There is hope!
This means that through our consumption of goods and services, we can influence the impact we have on the planet. It is in the small everyday choices, such as what you choose to eat, that you can make the biggest difference. For concrete tips, see here.
”Today, we still have a choice. We can be the founders of a global movement that changed our relationship with the planet, that saw us secure a future for all life on Earth, including our own. Or we can be the generation that had its chance and failed to act; that let Earth slip away. The choice is ours. Together we can make it happen for nature and for people.
- Marco Lambertini ”
RED PANDA NETWORK
11 September 2018
Saturday, 15 September, is International Red Panda Day, where we draw extra attention to the species and the threats it faces. We are supporting the Red Panda Network organisation. The organisation works to protect and conserve wild red pandas and their habitat through education and empowerment of local communities. The Himalayan panda habitat is one of the most biodiverse areas in the world. It is home to many unique and endangered species including snow leopards, tree leopards, Asiatic wild dogs and red pandas. The red panda has been identified as an indicator and umbrella species in this ecoregion. Since 2007, the RPN has been working to protect the area and also successfully expanded the programme to central and western Nepal and Bhutan. Going forward, the RPN will duplicate efforts in all countries in the red panda range, including India, China and Myanmar. If you would also like to contribute, or find out more, visit redpandanetwok.org
Conserving endangered species, and preventing them from becoming extinct, requires efforts at several points in the chain. In the zoo, we can contribute with breeding and research to create a gene bank, while learning more about the species' behaviour and needs. Conservation work in zoos is referred to as ex-situ, which means that the work is carried out away from the species' home range. Conservation measures are also carried out in-situ, i.e. in the area where the species lives or has lived in the past. We at Parken Zoo contribute to several such projects, of which the Red Panda Network is one.
