Hermann Landois (19 April 1835, Münster – 29 January 1905) was a German zoologist. He was the brother of physiologist Leonard Landois (1837–1902). He belonged to the Catholic popularizers of science who gained attraction in late nineteenth-century Germany. ^[1]

He studied natural sciences and Catholic theology in Münster, where he was ordained as a priest in 1859. In 1863 he obtained his doctorate in zoology at the University of Greifswald, later becoming an associate professor of zoology at the Academy in Münster (1873). ^[2]

In 1871 he founded the Westfälischen Vereins für Vogelschutz, Geflügel- und Singvögelzucht (Westphalian Association for bird protection, poultry and songbird breeding), and during the following year founded the Zoologischen Sektion für Westfalen und Lippe (Zoological Division of Westphalia and Lippe). ^[2]

In 1875, he founded the Westphalian Zoo in Münster, a preserve with emphasis on European domestic mammals. ^[3] It had a building for the display, cultivation and breeding of various fowl as well as aviaries for songbirds. In 1876 a "monkey house" was constructed. ^[3] Eventually, the zoo expanded to include native fauna in general. By the end of 1882, the site had "niche displays" ( dioramas) representing fauna from Australia, the North Sea coast, German forests, the African landscape, as well as a section that contained fossils from prehistoric Westphalia. ^[4]

Among his students was the popular writer Hermann Löns.

• Lehrbuch der Zoologie (with Bernard Altum), 1868.
• Thierstimmen, 1874.
• Das Studium der Zoologie mit besonderer Rücksicht auf das Zeichnen der Tierformen, 1905. ^[5]

• Vom Landois-Zoo zum Allwetterzoo History.