Get to know 40 live native animal species kept in Museum Niederösterreich’s aquariums, terrariums, and formicarium.

In the large, 125,000-liter Danube tank, some visitors believe they see a shark - a fish with an asymmetrical caudal fin. However, on closer inspection, the “shark” turns out to be a member of the sturgeon family that once lived in Lower Austria.

The Russian sturgeon is just one of 40 animal species in the care of the staff at Museum Niederösterreich. Among them are also endangered species. Some of the animals have been successfully bred for years and re-introduced into the wild, for example sand lizards, Aesculapian snakes, ring snakes and dice snakes. In this way Museum Niederösterreich makes a valuable contribution to the conservation of these species.

The museum obtained the zoo license in 2002. Its operation is subject to strict regulations such as hiring professional keepers, regular veterinary visits and maintaining a breed registry.

By the way, the amount of food required by our animals is astonishing! Every year we need 150 kilos of fish feed, 30,000 grasshoppers and 50 kilos of maggots!