Berlin Tierpark Tierpark Berlin news 2021

German Zoo World said:
This could be the best and largest Himalaya Enclosure in Germany
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Largest? By far, I should think. Actually, there are only a few dozen zoos in Germany which are even larger than 6 ha/ 15 acres altogether. And even for some of the largest German zoos this area would cover a substantial part of their overall area (e.g. some 20-30% at Stuttgart, Leipzig, Hamburg, Hannover or Cologne and even around 50% at Frankfurt, Dresden or Heidelberg). I am not even sure, which German zoos have a substantial Himalaya complex (Leipzig, Halle and Karlsruhe all have around 2-4 exhibits and each focus on a few characteristic species like Snow Leopard, Red Panda, Tufted Deer etc. along with some birds or small mammals).

Best? That would have to be subjective. If you want to get a rather deep grasp of the Himalaya fauna - and if you don't mind walking (uphill and downhill) - it probably will offer the best experience for you. If you prefer to get a quick encounter with some of the highlight species, Leipzig etc. will probably do. I guess, the Himalaya complex will appeal to people who like Berlin Tierpark for what it is (a zoo of large landscapes/ habitats with a focus on large herds of ungulates).
 
I am looking forward to discover the new area.
However, I am a bit disappointed by some specific points :

- First of all, it is 5 million euros which will mainly serve visitor experience, not a lot of money seems to go into exhibit improvements (even though I agree, most of the ungulates paddocks are nearly perfect for their occupants).
- Let's see what will be done for snow leopards but a simple refurbishment of the wolverine cage would be disappointly small.
- TP Berlin house three species of takin, of which one is totally inbred to my knowledge (golden takin) while another was recently recommended for phase out in European zoos (Sichuan takin). It would have been great to move the large herd of Mishmi takin on the hill.
- I am curious to see how Siberian ibex and markhor will coexist, especially if breeding is planned. Both belong to the same genus and are of more or less similar size...

As for the nice, points of course, I like the various ungulates species but also the inclusion of birds species and small mammals such as pikas and marmots.
 
@Therabu

I think, your observation is correct: Yes, the whole money basically does get invested to make this area more attractive for average visitors. But it makes some more sense, if brought to more context. To be fair, the new administration has been hired to improve the visiting experience and to attract more paying visitors. And they still first dealt with the hotspots of frequent criticism (Brehm building, sun bear exhibit, elephant building). Also, they raised all that money in the first place (by promising to draw significantly more visitors which they in fact already have started to do).

As to the mountain area, the species mix as well as the lack of alpine decoration (particularly rocks and rock formations inside and outside of enclosures) never really drew many visitors up there. After the old Diesel train stopped operating in the park and the new electric one never covered this part, it has gotten even worse. Most of the days, it felt like a whole small zoo mainly for the sake of the animals and some zoo enthusiasts. I certainly enjoyed this luxury, but it never felt healthy for the park which had spent some millions for this area (but originally focused the soending on large exhibits and infrastructure - so just the very core).

Ironically, the old administration has been heavily criticised for ignoring aesthetic/design aspects and just extending or newly creating exhibits - but they never received much money, if you consider the size of the areas it developed. And now the new administration gets criticised for taking so much money just to make these areas more attractive.

But if you consider the size of the Himalaya area, 5 Million Euro isn't even that much. For instance, Leipzig's Himalya area is 24 times(!) smaller and they still spent millions on it. And their two snow leopard enclosures combined are only slightly larger than just the old wolverine cage (the respective dimensions of each park and each Himalaya area gives a different impression, though). According to some media report, the new snow leopard enclosure will cover 500 square metres (which means, the existing cage at the most would be slightly extended or it may stay the same - it is just about that size as someon checked on Google Maps). I guess it depends on what they plan for the visitor access. But I am sure they will make each of the enclosures attractive for the animals as well (e.g. more climbing structures).
 
markmeier said:
@Therabu,After the old Diesel train stopped operating in the park and the new electric one never covered this part, it has gotten even worse.
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This is basically 100% of the problem with this part of the zoo - distance from the entrance. Besides, the old service road cuts it from the most popular exhibits. Few families reach this back end, no matter how attractive it is.

In contrast, this part of the zoo could become very visited immediately, if e.g. an electric train would travel straight from the entrance to the end and drop visitors, who would walk back on foot to the entrance.
 
Jurek7 said:
This is basically 100% of the problem with this part of the zoo - distance from the entrance. Besides, the old service road cuts it from the most popular exhibits. Few families reach this back end, no matter how attractive it is.

In contrast, this part of the zoo could become very visited immediately, if e.g. an electric train would travel straight from the entrance to the end and drop visitors, who would walk back on foot to the entrance.
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Visiting Tierpark Berlin is all about planning your day. It's never been different. And I hope it stays that way for a very long time.

First time visit and your an old skool guy who doesn't do internet preparation and other modern stuff like that? Take a coffee at the Bärenschaufenster entrance and study for 10 minutes the park map. It's worth it. You learn immediately not to waste any time on the nearby bison/wisent meadows, slow your speed only a bit at the bear enclosures, never ever waste any second on the Tierkinderzoo and the Haustieranlagen and keep on running to the Alfred Brehmehaus.

Get out of bed early, a Tierpark day is by no means an ordinary vacation day. It's working, a kind like jogging all day long ( in a way it's a bit like Stephen King's The Long Walk, but you will not be shot down) and satisfaction comes late, when the zoo is closed.

And remember, the Tierpak nowadays got about 650 species, the first time I came along, it had over a 1000 species.
 
Philipine eagle said:
never ever waste any second on the Tierkinderzoo and the Haustieranlagen
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Your mileage may vary on that point, of course ;) both because they hold quite a few unusual domestic breeds, but also because (until recently, anyway) this is where the dingo pack was held, something which until Hamerton picked the species up was a definite oddity for any British visitor!

That said, I definitely agree with the overall sentiments of your post! :)
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Your mileage may vary on that point, of course ;) both because they hold quite a few unusual domestic breeds, but also because (until recently, anyway) this is where the dingo pack was held, something which until Hamerton picked the species up was a definite oddity for any British visitor!

That said, I definitely agree with the overall sentiments of your post! :)
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True, but that's a matter of drinking coffee and making decisions :) I certainly will not deny an Englishman his dingo ;)

When I visit the Tierpark for the first time I was nervous as hell : there were about a dozen or so tanagers and cotingas in the Krokodilehalle and about 20 species of laughing thrushes and allies in the nearby Fasanerie and those two exhibits seemed bloody miles away from the entrance.
 
I've become quite good at navigating Tierpark over the last 1,5 years and even if you take no photos and stuff is closed as it is now (no mountain area, no pachyderm house, no crocodile house), walking the whole thing without stopping takes 4-5 hours. Falling onto your couch after such a tour is one of the most satisfying ways to end your Sunday.

The current management sadly has a tendancy to cut off pathways that don't fit with their concept for visitors (old sun bear area, path along cheetah enclosure, goral/arkal loop in mountain area as seen on plans), so I expect that it will be streamlined a fai bit more in the next years. So far, none of the cutoffs are irreversible so it also may change again with new management.
 
AthleticBinturong said:
Any hope of either of the former crocodile/snake houses opening back up as anything again in the future?
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No, this area will be cut out of the park and passed over to the Leipniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) which will construct at least one new building on there (they also plan a shared building, where they present their work to park visitors).
Some information on IZW: Home - Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (izw-berlin.de)

Also, reptiles will be spread over the park (Monkey Building, Brehm Building, Elephant Building and possibly in the future Amazon Building).
 
markmeier said:
So the area (6 ha or 15 acres wide, up to 30 metres or 100 feet high) will contain 20 species (around 100 individuals). Existing structures will be integrated in the new landscape. There will also be didactic materials to learn about the region and its highly adapted fauna as well as Himalaya themed decoration and playgrounds. The new mountain zoo area costs almost 5 mio Euro.
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I need to correct myself. I just copied a lot of data/ information from a newspaper article and didn't really check it for myself.

In fact, the mountain area is up to 67 metres or 220 feet high! Sorry, this quite a difference! By the way, Berlin's highest elevation (Teufelsberg) is about 120 metres or almost 400 feet high (most of the high hills were artificially created by piling up rubble from the war era and covering it with soil and plants). You can actually see some parts of Berlin from the top of Berlin Tierpark's mountain area, e.g. the TV tower.
 
Some recent updates:

There is an early update about the construction of the Himalaya area:

Also, the polar bears received new equipment again (the Tierpark receives a lot of donations for them):

The two sifakas started using their outdoor exhibit:

One of the new species in Berlin Tierpark (Brehm building):
 
Does anyone have a list of the free-roamers in the Alfred Brehm Haus?

So far I got this but I'm not sure it's up to date:
- Sclater's crowned pigeon
- Western crowned pigeon
- Nicobar pigeon
- Barlett's bleeding-heart pigeon
- Bali starling
- Red-whiskered bulbul
- Himalayan black bulbul
- Fairy bluebird
- Blue-crowned laughing thrush
- Crested wood patridge
- Flying fox
 
Bib Fortuna said:
Mulchy ?

I would say, it looks like Tar sprinkled with powdered sugar, because giraffes love sweets.
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No one uses tar anymore due to it being a toxic and carcinogenic (certainly not in the UK, pass about the rest of the world), looks like a bitumous material and then before its cooled covered in a material to give it some resistance so the animals don't slip on the smooth surface if just left.
 
Recently a male Goodfellow's tree-kangaroo named Tamilo arrived at the zoo, hopefully he will mate with the already present female Nunsi. Eventhough there is an age difference of 13 years and thus the probability of offspring is very low due to Nunsi's older age, Tierpark still wants to take the chance. According to ZTL Tamilo came from Belfast Zoo.

Source:
Instagram of Tierpark Berlin (11/08/2021) https://www.instagram.com/p/CScJE0OMWS2/
 
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