Universeum

Universeum
Universeum is Sweden's largest science center, located in Gothenburg. We were short on time, so this was a fairly quick visit and we only focused on the animal-related parts.

The building spans seven floors, but only some of them feature animals. Starting from the top, the first relevant area is Vattnets väg (Water's Way), which follows Sweden's waterways from mountain springs through forests and lakes, out to the coast and sea. During my visit in 2025, species on show included Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus), Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus), and European tree frog (Hyla arborea).

This section blends into Akvariehallen / Ocean Zone, described as one of the largest immersive aquarium experiences in Northern Europe. The main attraction is the 1.4 million litre tank with a walk-through tunnel. The aquarium area itself was smaller than I expected, but still very good. During my visit in 2025, species on show included leopard-spotted goby (Thorogobius ephippiatus), Yarrell's blenny (Chirolophis ascanii), longspined bullhead (Taurulus bubalis), canarytop wrasse (Halichoeres leucoxanthus), bicolor goatfish (Parupeneus barberinoides), and yellow-banded sweetlips (Plectorhinchus lineatus).

Next to the aquarium is the reptile room. This was also much smaller than I'd imagined, but species-wise it delivered. Highlights during my visit in 2025 included Catalina Island rattlesnake (Crotalus catalinensis), rough-scaled death adder (Acanthophis rugosus), Ethiopian mountain adder (Bitis parviocula), Yucatán neotropical rattlesnake (Crotalus tzabcan), and many-horned viper (Bitis cornuta).

After the reptile room you have to return through the aquarium (it's a dead end), and from there you enter Regnskogen, the rainforest. This is easily the most impressive part of Universeum: an 18,000 m³ glass cube designed to recreate an equatorial rainforest, complete with heat, humidity, and a 25 metre kapok tree. The rainforest spans five to six floors depending on how you count, and visually it's very striking.

That said, this was also where I felt a bit disappointed. I expected far more birds. According to Zootierliste, species such as blue-necked tanager, blue-crowned motmot, crimson-rumped toucanet, saffron-crowned tanager, yellow-hooded blackbird, red siskin, flame-faced tanager, white-throated toucan, and white-tailed jay have been kept here.

During my visit in 2025, however, we only saw thick-billed euphonia (Euphonia laniirostris), Inca jay (Cyanocorax yncas), toco toucan (Ramphastos toco), scarlet ibis (Eudocimus ruber), and sunbittern (Eurypyga helias). Whether some of the other species were no longer present or simply out of sight, I can't say, but I had expected to see a greater variety of birds.

I had the same impression elsewhere in the collection. During my visit in 2025, several snake and fish species that had been reported online in previous years were neither signed nor on show.

Even so, this is a really strong collection overall, with high-quality exhibits and some excellent species. Despite the missing signage and the differences between my visit and older species records, it's absolutely a place I'll return to.