Zooman September 2013 European Zoo tour

[zooman]

While in Germany you should consider visiting one or two of their Wildparks. There is a nice one in Hanau just outside Frankfurt. My favorite is in Gangelt, located on the Dutch border just north of the highway running west from Koln.

Hi P.

That is a very intertesting and origional idea! l have just looked up Gangelt and will try to add it to my tour.

In the past 3 days of touring l am constanly reminded of the very limited collection of animals we have in Australian Zoos. I think it could be very educational for me to go to a place with only European animals.

Thankyou

 

[zooman]

Thx Duerener1,

I actually thought she looked a little out of Proportion.

It will also explain her behaviour, my experiance is that a hand raised animal particually bears and most primates never really get used to the isolation after so much human contact in the formativie years.

 

[zooman]

Day 2
Duisburg & Krefeld

Duisberg,
Arrived and the rain started! First exhibit was a great walk through Lemur (Ring Tailed and Red Ruffed). A great use of very tall bamboo provided a total immersion into the Lemur experiance! The animals were all very activie and very interested in the public.

Affenhaus;
Gorillas a great exhibit, with one vantage point viewing pigmy hippo then in the background the Gorilla enclosure. The indoor area was definatley on the small side hoever it did have a great deal of height and it appeared that the off exhibit area may be larger still.

The indoor Orang enclosure was a brillant example of how to provide enrichment with at least 20 different objects in the enclosure. Also a Baby Orang, seems that there are allot of Baby Orangs around atm.

Went for a look at the Delfinarium and was seated waiting for the 11.30 Performance, however decided not to stay. A small pool and allot of People, l figured the zoo would be allot more interesting.

Giant Otters with two Young!
Two Young born recentley and l watched as the mother carried each out in her mouth and introduced them to the water. With at least 5 adults in the enclosure it was very interesting to watch all the interaction and behaviours. Also a baby Giant Otter could just be the cutest baby animal!

Was very much looking Forward to seeing the Fossa exhibits as Duisburg has significant insitu programs in Madagascar. Unfourtunaley was very dissapointed small enclosures and very little enrichment. Do any zoo exhibit these animals in large enclosures? As they definatley appear activie enough to make use of a large exhibit.

Went to see the Pink Dolphin, not sure of its history, his body is covered in scars and chunks missing. actually felt a little sad for him as l am sure they are a very social animal.

Overall a average zoo with a great Gorilla enclosure.

The pic is looking through the pigmy hippo enclosure into the Gorilla enclosure

 

[Tim May]

Went to see the Pink Dolphin, not sure of iis history, his body is covered in scars and chunks missing. actually felt a little sad for him as l am sure they are a very social animal.

This river dolphin has been at the zoo a great many years; I first went to Duisburg in October 1980, almost thirty-three years ago; it was there then and had already been in the zoo for several years. (There were actually three of these dolphins at the zoo in those days.)

In addition to the trio of South American river dolphins there were also belugas and Commerson's dolphin; three species of cetacean that I'd never seen before.

 

[zooman]

Day 2
Krefeld

I honestly only went to this zoo as Chizlit was so supportive and last year in the USA Snowleopard suggested SCZ and was very pleased l went to SCZ and Krefeld was also very worthwhile!

Gorilla Garten
The new Gorilla enclosure is very good and in a couple of years when the trees grow a little more it will be even better!

The rain was on and off all day and when l arrived at the Gorilla enclosure there were only 3 other members of the public, one with a dog, l will never get use to seeing dogs in zoo´s.

All the Gorillas were in the off exhibit area, only occasionaly showing a head or a half Body through the door. After watching and waiting for about another 10 minutes as the rain became heavier, l witnessed the most amazing 45 minutes of Gorilla behaviour l have ever seen (thx Chizlit

The Silverback who is about 12 came charging out of his off exhibit area and charged the glass and scared all of us including the little dog! In the pouring rain in the centre of the exhibit he washed himself exactly as a human would under the shower, after about 3-5 minutes with lots of grumbles of excitement he would roll in the grass. Then repeat with regular bursts of energy runing around the enclosure in the rain.

He then went to the pond in the enclosure that was full of a fine green weed, he would grab a hanfull and drink the water that ran off the weeds as he held it up to his mouth. Or occaionaly he would charge into the indoor areas and throw it around the exhibit and or drink from it again.

Every time he would enter the indoor areas he would intimidate the two females, one due next month the other with a new born. They were obviously distrubed by his behaviour, however it seems that they are not in any real danger or the zoo would seperate them.

The enclosure also had next to a glass viewing window a metal grill with holes that the Gorillas would frequentley approach and smell whoever was on the other side. A couple of the others viewing all this must have been regualrs as there were rumbles of pleasure being communicated.

The rest of the zoo, not that l personally needed more!

The baboon bluestone Island as bad as it looks in pictures, very small and nowhere to really escape eachother. The flip side to this is that it gives a brillant opportunity to watch behaviours that are all intensified, grooming, looking for food in the small sand area.

A really nice European otter exhibit, no underwater viewing, however very well layed out with a unobtrusive low wire mesh restraining barrier.

A Baby black rhino awwww.

A beutifull old zoo cafe.

Baby snow owls, why do these owls not have trees ect in the enclosure to roost on? ( the same at Wuppertal no trees or roosting platforms) surely they are not born on the ground? Or are they prone to injury?

The staff really do deserve credit for providing enrichment to all the animals. It seemed that every exhibit had a abundance of enrichment.

A very nice little zoo with only one really bad enclosure (Baboon).

Yes the Affentropenhaus is definatley bad, however it must have been great when first opened! From what l could read the Gorillas and chimps have been in there a very Long time 40 years?.

BTW the silverback in Affentropenhaus through a a cardboard pipe at me just missed me! My experiance is that when l behave like a Gorilla it can really agitate some males. Others it seems to relax. Just Standing and watching like the public never gets a response.

I would definatley revist on my next tour, or probably later on this tour, just to see the Gorillas agian and hopefully another Baby.

 

[zooman]

Day 3
Wuppertal,

A short revciew for a huge Zoo!

This zoo is located on the side of a hill and would have to have some of the steepest paths l have ever encountered. I would consider myself fitt, however by the end of the day my legs were killing me!

Gorilla exhibit outdoor a little small and not allot of climing opportunities. What was good was most of the large outdoor viewing windows had bamboo growing in front of so you had to look through the bamboo. The indoor area typically small. Only 3 females on exhibit a silverback and another female off exhibit?

Stand out exhibit has to be the Lion enclosure, it is situated on the side of a hill, with the lions using all areas of the enclosure. I have some great pics l will post.

Great tiger enclosure MOCK ROCK WARNING!! I have never seen so much fake rock and again will post pics to explain, it was everwhere! Some would say the exhibit is to large with too many trees making it hard to see the tiger, but well worth the effort l thought.

A very nice Kodiak bear exhibit, from looking at the bears and the enclosure l think they were very old as they moved very slowly and allot of the exhibit was hot wired to Keep them away from the moat.

A very productivie elephant herd with many babies. Does Europe have a problem with surplus males? where do they go?

Allot of very old enclosures that l will let the pictures tell the story.

I would say an average very old zoo, again the keepers appear to work very hard at providing enrichment and privacy to the animals where possible.

The attached picture is the view from the inside of a new primate enclosure under construction, l think Bonobo, looking out to the public.

 

[sooty mangabey]

Day 2


Baby snow owls, why do these owls not have trees ect in the enclosure to roost on? ( the same at Wuppertal no trees or roosting platforms) surely they are not born on the ground? Or are they prone to injury?

Snowy owls are ground-nesters. They are usually seen on the ground when they are in captivity.

I'm glad you enjoyed Krefeld - I concur with those who like it very much. You didn't mention two of their best enclosures: the Regenwaldhaus, which is full of interesting species, presented with thought (and where on quiet days you may very well get a saki monkey climbing over you) and the Bird House, which is pretty small but which is beautifully done, with just a few zoogeographic presentations.

The zoo is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year; was this commemorated in any way at all?

 

[sooty mangabey]

Day 3
Wuppertal,

Allot of very old enclosures that l will let the pictures tell the story.

I would say an average very old zoo, again the keepers appear to work very hard at providing enrichment and privacy to the animals where possible.

What follows is in no way a criticism!

It is interesting to note the totally different ways in which different people approach zoos. The bits of Wuppertal on which you comment - the gorillas, lions, tigers, elephants, bears - are the bits in which I would be least interested. They're all pretty nicely done - although the lion enclosure is a bit too big for my taste! - but give me the Bird House, with its collection of really unusual rarities, or the various infrequently-seen mammals, any day! Gorillas, tigers and so on are great - but they're not difficult to find in zoos. Pompadour cotinga, yellow-backed duiker, Baird's tapir, Indian leopard - here are the real treats of this zoo! And a wonderful collection of European birds.

 

[Kifaru Bwana]

Snowy owls are ground-nesters. They are usually seen on the ground when they are in captivity.

I'm glad you enjoyed Krefeld - I concur with those who like it very much. You didn't mention two of their best enclosures: the Regenwaldhaus, which is full of interesting species, presented with thought (and where on quiet days you may very well get a saki monkey climbing over you) and the Bird House, which is pretty small but which is beautifully done, with just a few zoogeographic presentations.

The zoo is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year; was this commemorated in any way at all?

I fully agree there. Both these and the new Butterfly section have been really nicely done. Also much enjoyed the Goodfellow's tree kangaroos ... there!

 

[chizlit]

Snowy owls are ground-nesters. They are usually seen on the ground when they are in captivity.

I'm glad you enjoyed Krefeld - I concur with those who like it very much. You didn't mention two of their best enclosures: the Regenwaldhaus, which is full of interesting species, presented with thought (and where on quiet days you may very well get a saki monkey climbing over you) and the Bird House, which is pretty small but which is beautifully done, with just a few zoogeographic presentations.

The zoo is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year; was this commemorated in any way at all?

I'm glad I'm not the only one who loves this little zoo! They are not a big hitter in the zoo world, they have far bigger rivals in the local area, yet to me they stand out as being somewhere special without any need to throw big money at things. I love the Regenwaldhaus, it's kind of like a tardis to me much bigger on the inside and full of interest, I like the birdhouse too.

 

[chizlit]

While in Germany you should consider visiting one or two of their Wildparks. There is a nice one in Hanau just outside Frankfurt. My favorite is in Gangelt, located on the Dutch border just north of the highway running west from Koln.

I just looked up this place and it does look great, and a place I'd like to visit.
Any idea how easy/difficult it is to get to by public transport from Koln?

 

[zooman]

Snowy owls are ground-nesters. They are usually seen on the ground when they are in captivity.

The zoo is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year; was this commemorated in any way at all?

Ahh well that makes sense re the Snowy owls thx.

Allot of Posters, billboards (out front of zoo), staff tshirts all with 75th anniversary images.

 

[zooman]

the Regenwaldhaus, which is full of interesting species, presented with thought (and where on quiet days you may very well get a saki monkey climbing over you) and the Bird House, which is pretty small but which is beautifully done, with just a few zoogeographic presentations.

?

Yes of course they are just not my thing. I did repeatedly visit both as the butterflys were amazing many vaieties l had never seen before, and the up close and personal with the Saki is very memorable.

I did also spend a long time trying to find the find the, was it a boa constrictor? in a great exhibit and the leaf cutter ants with the islands surronded by the bubbling water was also very good.

 

[Taisha]

You were lucky to see this week some of the gorillas at Wuppertal Zoo. They all have been very sick lately, the missing two still are. The cause of the illness seems to be unknown.

 

[jwer]

Hi Zooman! Sorry for not getting back to you on the last PM.

Great to read your trip report. For some reason, I really didn't like Krefeld when I was there. The gorilla outside exhibit wasn't open and in my opinion there weren't any real stand-out exhibits other then the jaguar one. But great to hear you enjoyed yourself.

Other then that i agree with some of the other people that you really do look at different things at zoos, who cares about cats anyways...? Wuppertal has an amazing collection, ansell's mole rat, spectacled langur, shoebill stork, painted stork to add to the ones already mentioned.

Good luck in making choices on this trip, must be hard to scratch some of the list. Keep it coming!

 

[chizlit]

Jwer, the point with Krefeld to my mind is that it works WITHOUT a major stand out, it's just a great little zoo doing things well in the face of major local competition.

 

[zooman]

Frankfurt Zoo,

Mock Rock at the ticket counter, well l thought it was very funny! See pic below.

Frankfurt Zoo has some of the best and some of the worst exhibits l have seen so far on this tour.

After entering the first mixed exhibit is sincerely brilliant! Andean Bear And Black Howler Monkey. There is a adult bear at the front of the pic and a younger bear in the tree in the rear of the exhibit, The monkeys were not on exhibit ATM.

 

[zooman]

The Andean Bear exhibit.

 

[zooman]

The Frankfurt Zoo had many very older style primate exhibits, that l have taken many photos of that really let the zoo down. Not sure why they would continue to exhibit the variety of primates they do when they could increase the exhibits by joining adjacent exhibits, they have done this a couple of times but there is definitely capacity to do this more.

The picture is of the indoor exhibit and the adjacent outdoor exhibits were similar sizes.

 

[zooman]

Of course there was also amazing outdoor exhibits for apes, the picture shows 3 enclosures that were all opened to each other and were mixed exhibits orangutans and simangs.