[6] The zoo traces its origins to 1871, when a group of local bowlers and regulars of a restaurant at Starogard-Poznań railway station in Jeżyce decided to give President of Bowling Association an unusual birthday present.

Each of the bowling players brought a different animal including a pig, a goat, a sheep, a cat, a rabbit, a squirrel, a goose, a duck, a chicken, a peacock as well as a trained bear and a monkey.

This small menagerie was gradually expanded thanks to animals given by local inhabitants of Poznań and eventually became the foundation of the future zoo.

The Management Board of the society consisted of such figures as Franciszek Chłapowski, Ludwik Frankiewicz and Count Wawrzyniec Benzelstjerna Engeström.

In 1877, the complex officially assumed the name of a Zoological Garden, the inscription being written on a bilingual Polish-German board at the main entrance to the zoo.

The zoo underwent major renovations and expansions during the tenure of Robert Jaeckel (1851-1907) and his close aide Stanisław Zieliński (1844-1928).

In 1919, when the Polish authorities took control of the zoo, it was in possession of just 243 animals of 74 species that survived the war including Indian elephants, emu, condor and African wild ass.

Thanks to Szczerkowski's efforts the zoo joined the international Society for the Protection of the European Bison, which greatly contributed to saving this species from the brink of extinction.

Upon the opening of the first State National Exhibition in 1929 (now the Poznań International Fair) a new pavilion and facilities were built, while other were adapted to new purposes.

[15][16][17][18] The Poznań Zoological Garden participates in European Endangered Species Programmes for red pandas, snow leopards, vicunas, and bearded vultures, and coordinates the EEP studbooks for dalmatian pelicans and pygmy slow lorises.