Wilhelma - 19/8/19
'Concrete jungle where dreams are made of'
Stuttgart is, I think, well-known as a fairly divisive zoo. Everybody acknowledges that it is a major zoo, but it ranges from being much-loved, to being considered really quite poor. Having visited, it's kind of easy to see why, but I think it's important to point out at the outset that Wilhelma has changed quite a lot recently. A disappointing hippo house has become an average one for tapirs, and three bear species held has shrunk to one. Given that Stuttgart only has one good bear exhibit I think this alone has made a big difference. Other exhibits were clearly newly opened (or closed), and there is ongoing work in several parts of the zoo. More so than usual, I am conscious that I have only seen Wilhelma as a slice in time, and that the zoos of five years past and five years hence were and will be quite different places.
This is surprising, since Wilhelma is strongly rooted in its history. The lower zoo is built around, and dominated by, a very traditional Botanical Garden with beautiful old greenhouses, courtyards and terraces. This Garden still exists in conjunction with the zoo today, and this is made very clear by the suggested route initially running through a single, narrow greenhouse that is hundreds of metres long. Mostly dominated by plants, it also includes a few smaller exhibits and really sets the tone. I was immediately entranced.
I alluded earlier to the lower zoo, and to a set of terraces; these rise out of the traditional gardens and by walking up them you reach the upper half, which is partially wooded and feels much more like a 'normal' zoo. The terraces themselves contain two rows of parrot aviaries, holding a very large collection, including the famed kaka. The overall experience is rather wonderful, but the aviaries themselves fairly mediocre. It must be fairly low on the list, but I hope eventually the zoo can work out how to add height to them in a way that doesn't lose the visual effect of steps.
The upper zoo makes an initially poor impression. The cat house has very poor cages for Persian leopard and Sumatran tiger (being the same size the tiger exhibit feels worse), and nearby is a cramped exhibit with two stereotyping Asian elephants. A large baboon rock feels like a poor choice for geladas, with nothing for them to graze on, but the group is huge with what seems like dozens of youngsters, and with Barbary sheep and rock hyrax as well it was a busy place with lots to watch. On a return visit in the late afternoon it was lovely to see one of the geladas grooming a sheep. In this section too can be found the Giraffe House. Whilst the hoofstock holding itself is unremarkable, the house also contains exhibits for Von der Deckens hornbill, fennec fox and round-eared elephant shrew and was quite successful I thought. Also, okapi, bongo and lesser kudu is a line-up I can really get behind.
As the zoo narrows towards its northern section it becomes dominated by the new Ape House, which is called the Gorilla Bonobo House, but also holds orangutans at the moment. The fact that the later are not intended to be long term residents really shows, as although all three species have similar, and similarly impressive, indoor spaces the orangs' outdoors is far inferior to the the other two species', both in terms of space as well as furnishings. Apart from this, the house is hugely impressive. Bonobos and gorillas both have extremely large and vegetated exhibits, and both groups are very large as well. The indoors is finished in Stuttgart's signature style, with prevelent use of concrete, polished metal and wood. I'm sure it's one of the things that puts people off Wilhelma, but I absolutely love it. It's an aesthetic that I can really get behind, and whilst it's not at all naturalistic it provides a very dynamic environment for primates, which in the new house is twinned with a mulch floor and lots of space, rather than the old sterile glass boxes that can still be seen in the lower zoo.
If you aren't familiar with what I'm talking about, check out Wilhelma's gallery, as this really is a unique zoo. In particular, look for the gibbon cage, which is one of the most iconic zoo structures in the world. Huge, bold, possibly Teutonic, definitely Brutalist, it is ridiculously over-engineered, the opposite of natural, and yet still remains a good exhibit. The interior is full of suspended ledges, making the entire space available to the gibbons for brachiating, which I got to enjoy watching. It's a real credit to Stuttgart's vision of itself that a clear line of heritage can be drawn from this building to the new Ape House. It's a little harder to connect these buildings with the classical greenhouses, but that in itself is part of the charm of Wilhelma; it's a bewitching and bewildering blend of seamless harmony and stark contrast.
One appealing aspect of a first visit here is that the map gives no sense of topography or vegetation. If you strike out along a path that looks like it leads to a typically bland South American area, you suddenly find yourself climbing hard, surrounded by towering Californian redwoods. Once you've passed the paddocks for maned wolf, alpaca and rhea the ground drops away in front of you, revealing an Alpine zone that is quite breathtaking to behold. Here can be found ibex, spectacled bear, Californian sealion, beaver, snow leopard, rocky mountain goat and markhor, all bar the last in spectacular exhibits. Again the Stuttgart aesthetic shines through, with even the rocky slopes being cut through with streaks of white cement. The sealions are only being held here temporarily whilst their exhibit in a 'fountain-style' pool in the lower gardens is renovated. Their current exhibit used to hold polar bears, and I'm glad I didn't see that, as it's a classic deep pool and small land set-up. If Stuttgart go back into icebears they will need to combine this pool with the spectacled bear slope next to it, but I think it would be much better to keep things as they are, and just bring in another pinniped species.
When I first arrived at the zoo I found it to be physically smaller than I expected, but with such diversity of exhibits and so many obviously lingering points my visit really got away from me. There is a large Aquarium and Reptile House, and with a bus to catch I gave myself enough time to do this, quickly visit the Amazon House, nip back to the bonobos to try to spot the new baby and then head off. To my horror, with only enough time to fit this in, I realised I had totally overlooked the Insect House and another, really substantial, bird section. So I had to blitz all remaining areas. This is really a full day zoo, and I really wish I had given myself a full day to enjoy it. I'm sure that on a sunny evening the gardens in particular are gorgeous.
I really loved Stuttgart. Even with all its flaws, and they are not few in number, I absolutely loved the pants off the place. Having had two days to reflect on it, I am now certain of what I suspected early on in the visit: it's my new favourite zoo. Sure, it's not Prague, or Zurich, or Berlin. There are many better zoos in the world, but perfection is not the way to this man's heart. I love the fact that it has so many different faces, so many unexpected places, and yes, so much concrete. It just makes me happy, and I'm happier still knowing how much better the zoo is getting, whilst still remaining true to itself. I hope it will continue to make me happy for a long time to come.
, disappoint. I think the rural site is a much better setting to realise the Erlebnis Zoo than a city.
