Autumn in Tallinn

16.10.2026 by Inari Leiman

🦏 Binti, the 22-year-old East African black rhino living at our zoo, has been practising being in the outdoor enclosure throughout the summer and is currently enjoying her time there. As a crepuscular animal, she prefers to laze about outdoors during the day or doze whilst standing, unless she’s chewing on a branch. She tends to use the morning or evening hours to wallow in the blue clay pit in the outdoor enclosure.

🐾 On Thursday morning, Bruna, a 13-year-old brown-backed pangolin who had been living in the Tropical House, was lifted into a crate and taken to the Pachyderm House. She can now be seen in one of the two new enclosures built in front of the elephant area with the help of zoo supporters. Her father, 18-year-old Remondo, lives in the other enclosure.

🐾 Bruna, who had previously lived mainly on mulch and dug in it, initially looked very dark compared to her father, who lives on sandy ground. However, just a few runs and some digging in her new sandy enclosure have already helped to lighten her coat.

🐆 Training Alexei, the Amur leopard, for medical procedures has paid off. The animal, which has been taught to lie down near the mesh and allow itself to be touched, received his annual vaccination in the hind leg without needing to be restrained or targeted from a distance.

💚 At the start of autumn, hard-working volunteers from Swedbank and the messaging platform Twilio have helped carry out a great deal of tidying, dismantling and painting work at the zoo. On Monday, however, volunteers from SEB Bank and the Estonian Zoo Friends’ Society cleaned the snow leopards’ enclosure. They cut back branches, trimmed the edges of the enclosure and erected a swing on the lawn, crafted from disused fire hoses – a favourite with the snow leopards. Makalu and Somu, the snow leopards allowed into the tidied-up enclosure, frolicked in the enclosure and on the swing until dusk.

Somu

The bright and warm start to October brings joy

🍂 Autumn is turning the leaves bright colours, whilst the warm sun still allows us to linger outdoors for a long time. The zoo’s opening hours have been reduced by an hour, and admission prices have been reduced in line with the winter season.

Our 37-year-old Dalmatian pelican, Pašha, found a sheltered, sunny spot in a corner of the enclosure where he spent a long time carefully preening his plumage.

🐻‍❄️ The warm autumn afternoon sun lulled Imaq, the six-year-old polar bear, into a nap on the edge of the pool.

Meanwhile, Totoro, a three-year-old male weasel, was busy searching for his meal amongst the colourful maple leaves.

🩺 Veterinary dentists from the Estonian University of Life Sciences examined Danuta’s mouth and the tooth that had undergone root canal treatment, and also checked the mouth and teeth of Inuk the polar bear – he is missing his lower left canine.

Having recovered from his visit to the dentist, Inuk the polar bear cheekily stuck out his tongue and clung fiercely to his toy bobbing in the water.

🐾 Led by the Estonian Zoo Friends’ Society, work has begun on the construction of the meerkats’ outdoor enclosure; as a result, visitors can now enjoy watching the meerkat family through small openings between the rhinoceros enclosure and the Reisinger’s monitor lizard habitat.

👉 You can find zoo news here

✏ Written by Inari Leiman

Finally a couple of photos by Imbi Taniel.

Inuk and Imaq are best friends.

Sun rays through Autumn leaves

This is what I call a totally relaxed polar bear 🙂

With a nice smile Inuk wishes you all a pleasant Autumn time!