There is an argument that saiga do not do well in urban zoos due to the air quality as one issue, as well as noise as another, but the group at Cologne seemed to do very well with regular breeding.
There is an argument that saiga do not do well in urban zoos due to the air quality as one issue, as well as noise as another, but the group at Cologne seemed to do very well with regular breeding.
I can't remember how close it is to the center, having not been there since 2002, but like almost all German city and town zoos, it is very easy to access. Maybe German members can comment further.
Cologne Zoo is located quite close to the city centre. It takes about 30 minutes to walk there if you follow the Rhine from the central railwaystation/cathedral to the zoo. A walk almost as pleasant as the zoo itself
@kiang. Saigas have never done well in any zoo of the world. Hundreds of them were imported,too many of them died just a few hours, days or weeks after importation. San Diego has kept them also and was wondering about, why they died out very soon ( maybe the climate was too hot for them ???? ) You can't keep Saigas in human care, fortuantely, the zoos have regognized this fact.
Tierpark Berlin has kept them, and this park is huge and far away from the city, but the saigas died also there within a short time...A german zoo was recently thinking about to import saigas, but after they have heared about the hundreds of saigas died during the attempt, to keep them ALIVE, they said no to saigas....A good decision, made in the interest of the animals. Not every zoodirector would do the same.
The regular breeding at coogne zoo wasn't that succesful,most calfs died after the birth, and the surving calfs stayed at the zoo to replace the dead adults....Thats the resaon why this group survived a little bit longer than the other attempts to keep saigas in zoos. The only way to help them is, to protect them in the wild.
