Although the school year is officially over, our Zoo’s educational activities continue throughout the summer. In the first half of 2025, 9,303 children and adults took part in various programmes — from school sessions and experience days to clubs, competitions, adult training, and community service learning.
Most participants joined through organised school and kindergarten visits. Between January and June 2025, 8,580 people attended classroom and themed sessions held for 385 groups. These programmes are tailored to the National Core Curriculum and the participants’ age groups, and we offer about forty different topics each year. In 2024, a total of 14,142 children took part in similar programmes, so the data from the first half of this year already suggests a comparable level of interest. During the summer experience days, learning takes on a different form, but it doesn’t stop.
We are particularly pleased that, so far this year, 309 children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds have participated in the experience day programme free of charge. Applications for these programmes are coordinated through local child welfare centres. The days are led by our zoo educators, and all programme elements — from craft activities to meeting animal carers — are designed to offer hands-on, nature-focused experiences.
Talent development also plays an important role in our Zoo. After a twenty-year break, our zoo club has restarted with two groups and a total of thirty participants. Meanwhile, the final round of the Csaba Anghi National Zoology and Nature Conservation Competition, relaunched after forty years, was held at the Zoo with thirty students selected from among 85 applicants. In addition, 205 secondary school students have so far completed their 50-hour community service requirement at our institution this year, actively contributing to visitor engagement and supporting our educational activities.
Our knowledge-sharing efforts go beyond children’s programmes. In the first half of 2025, 256 university students took part in methodological training sessions held in cooperation with the Faculty of Primary and Pre-School Education and the Faculty of Education and Psychology of Eötvös Loránd University. These sessions gave participants the opportunity to learn about educational possibilities at the Zoo and explore the practical applications of zoo pedagogy. The Zoo also plays an active role in higher education in other ways: through our collaboration with the University of Veterinary Medicine, students attend a voluntary course titled “Diseases of Zoo Animals” held on site. We also cooperate with the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and students from both Hungarian and foreign universities — from the United States to the United Arab Emirates — regularly complete internships or conduct their PhD research here.
Informal learning during day-to-day visits is equally important. So far this year, the Zoo has welcomed nearly 580,000 visitors, and education remains an integral part of our activities. One example is the “TapiZoo” programme, where visitors can touch and explore prepared specimens, minerals, fossils, and various animal parts, all accompanied by expert explanations. Our feeding demonstrations, training sessions, and presentations — from the Shark School to the Wildlife Rescue Centre — serve a similar purpose, offering meaningful learning experiences alongside engaging encounters.
