April 3rd 2014 - My first day at Tierpark Berlin
Part I - Arrival
As previously alluded to, I had arranged prior to my trip to meet up at Tierpark Berlin with Animal (henceforth referred to as Sven) along with his partner Katja and his friend and fellow administrator on Zootierliste, Markus - who is a lurker on Zoochat himself under the username Hongabonga.
As such, myself and Hel caught the U2 line from Senefelderplatz to Alexanderplatz, changing there onto the U5 line which took us to the U-bahn stop for the Tierpark. The stop was in front of the Bear Gate, where we had arranged to meet the three German zoonerds prior to the collection opening.
In case anyone is unaware, this particular entrance to the Tierpark is so named because there is an enclosure for
American Black Bear (
Ursus americanus) next to the gate, which members of the public are able to view without entering the collection. In point of fact, the enclosure in question is no longer viewable from within the collection - I am informed that in the past there was elevated viewing into the enclosure from the Tierpark side, but construction work on new eagle aviaries has rendered this a thing of the past.
When we arrived, and having neglected to get breakfast at our hostel, we bought a few Streuselschnecken at a stall in the Tierpark U-bahn and surfaced to our first sight of Tierpark Berlin. There we found that Markus was already waiting at the bear enclosure, but Sven and Katja were yet to arrive. As we waited, I took the opportunity to have a look at the bear enclosure whilst chatting with Markus and joking that the two late-comers were belying the stereotype of German punctuality
I rather enjoyed getting prolonged views of the American Black Bears, my prior experience of the species having been in the drive-through area at Woburn. The animals in question were highly active and - as they included a number of year-old cubs - rather energetic to say the least! The exterior of the Tierpark was also marked by a plaque talking about the first director of the collection, Dr Heinrich Dathe.
Eventually, Sven and Katja arrived just after the collection opened at 9am and we approached the ticket kiosks. Myself and Hel got a 25% discount on entry to the collection as a result of the collection's participation in the WelcomeCard scheme, and we took the opportunity to buy a few of the latest guide to the collection - noting the giftshop by the entrance for future reference, as we had been informed it sometimes sold old guidebooks.
Myself and Hel were told by our German companions that we would be getting the high-speed tour of the collection, with the added bonus that one - Sven - is somewhat cynical about the collection whilst another - Markus - is a big fan of both Berlin collections. As such, we would be getting an all-round view of the collection from the point of view of individuals much more familiar with it than anyone we had consulted from the UK.
As we entered the collection, the first enclosures we came across were disused, intended as previously noted for future use as eagle enclosures. As such the first enclosures we were to see in-use were a little way into the collection, where we were to find the
Spectacled Bear (
Tremarctos ornatus) enclosure. Nowhere near as big nor as thickly planted as the enclosure for the species I am familiar with from Chester, I still rather liked the enclosure as it provided a high level of climbing opportunity for the animals within - a number of which were taking advantage of this opportunity - and unlike certain collections I could name, no unsuitable species were mixed within!
We next approached the polar bear enclosure, one of the oldest in the collection having been in use since the 1950's and still - I believe - used for the original purpose.
Attached are images of the entrance to the collection, the Dathe plaque and the Spectacled Bear enclosure.
I talked so much about this topic that day
