It is Radosław Ratajszczak, the president of Wroclaw ZOO, who is the originator and the author of the entire concept and the name AFRICARIUM. The word is the compound of the words Africa and Aquarium. The primary idea of Africarium is the presentation of various ecosystems related to the aquatic environment of Africa and following the motto: ‘Life-giving waters of Africa’!

An architectural competition was launched at the beginning of 2008 and out of 14 projects that were submitted for it the jury selected a study from the ArC2 Design Factory in Wroclaw. Making of detailed executive designs took nearly 4 years. Finally, the construction of AFRICARIUM began at the turn of March and April 2012.

Thanks to this extraordinary concept Africarium has become a facility unique on a global scale. It presents various ecosystems related to the aquatic environment of Africa and these include:

1. The Red Sea
   In the reservoir with a capacity of a million litres of water a coral reef ecosystem was created. Here you can admire over 60 species of beautiful colourful fish.

2. East Africa

Nile hippos that move with great grace underwater. Next to them there are unusual ants, anteaters, often confused with South American ones, and a colony of naked rat-moles – unusual rodents that arouse great interest. Further on, there are two aquariums with endemic fish from the lakes of the Great African Rift – Tanganyika and Malawi, as well as dik-diks – one of the smallest antelopes in the world.

3. Mozambique Channel

Its biggest attraction is the 18-meter transparent acrylic tunnel which allows our guests to admire a green turtle, sharks, rays and other species of fish.

4. Skeleton Coast

Inhabitants of this zone are African cats (often mistaken for seals) and African penguins, as well as jellyfish, moray eels and interesting species of fish such as lionfish.

5. Jungle on the Congo River

The jungle surrounding the Congo River is the habitat of crocodiles and manatees – unusual, herbivorous mammals also called mermaids. Numerous species of birds joined tchem.