Sorry to hear that news, as the director of my two favourite zoos worldwide he must be doing something right.
In a hard world awash with animal neglect and cruelty it sickens me to see such a man forced out.
Berlin Tierpark Tierpark Berlin news
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Sorry to hear that news, as the director of my two favourite zoos worldwide he must be doing something right.
In a hard world awash with animal neglect and cruelty it sickens me to see such a man forced out.
Some animal-birth news from Tierpark Berlin :
Chacoan pecari 1 born ( being hand-raised )
Chacoan mara 1 more born
Spotted hyena 1 young
Hammerhead 2 chicks hatched
Malayan civet 1 young
Chacoan pecari 1 born ( being hand-raised )
Chacoan mara 1 more born
Spotted hyena 1 young
Hammerhead 2 chicks hatched
Malayan civet 1 young
Update: Blaszkiewitz may even go before 2014. Apparently coresponding negotiations will be attempted. It only depends on Blaszkiewitz I guess. But the way I know him from other situations (that is the media representation of such), he may well turn down financial offers below full payment (which he must not refuse as far as I am aware of), however, and try to do continue his job for almost a year.
Markmeier nailed it down.
Tierpark needs extra several tens of millions Euro over next years to renovate its exhibits. Much of it must come from the City of Berlin budget, and I think, on the background of some dubious Berliner investments, it will be money very well spent.
Changing director sometimes sounds like diverting attention. Could a new zoo director renovate expensive buildings without money by magic?
Tierpark needs extra several tens of millions Euro over next years to renovate its exhibits. Much of it must come from the City of Berlin budget, and I think, on the background of some dubious Berliner investments, it will be money very well spent.
Changing director sometimes sounds like diverting attention. Could a new zoo director renovate expensive buildings without money by magic?
Any other city would be glad to have a zoo director of the zoological stature of Dr. Blaszkiewitz. He has his faults, but so have all others. He has achieved the maximum on little funding, almost exclusively on Lottery Fundings from 1991 till the present.
That he has to go has more to do with a no clues blinkered City Council with no inclination to even begin to provide the funding for a major zoo renovation (since 1991) than we any lack of capacities on his part. He may not be quite easy to deal with for some, but that was his strength vis a vis City Council and Boulevard Press (I have no other qualification for most Berlin press ... which has from the start tried to oust Dr. Blaszkiewitz by public trial). Sadly, Tierpark Berlin Council has now bowed to public pressure from the media and political class/bureacrats, and not by any defaulting personally on the part of Dr. Blaszkiewitz.
Who will take his place and is able to withstand the City Berlin pressures and be a good zoological / administrative business director is really beyond me. For all the quality in curatorial classes within Berlin's zoos, I do not see any of them taking the helm and fighting off press, politicians and raking in the funding required to re-present Berlin Tierpark.
Any other city would be envious of having 2 zoos of the stature and quality of Berlin and as a Municipality would ensure both zoos could co-exist and continue to evolve further.
That he has to go has more to do with a no clues blinkered City Council with no inclination to even begin to provide the funding for a major zoo renovation (since 1991) than we any lack of capacities on his part. He may not be quite easy to deal with for some, but that was his strength vis a vis City Council and Boulevard Press (I have no other qualification for most Berlin press ... which has from the start tried to oust Dr. Blaszkiewitz by public trial). Sadly, Tierpark Berlin Council has now bowed to public pressure from the media and political class/bureacrats, and not by any defaulting personally on the part of Dr. Blaszkiewitz.
Who will take his place and is able to withstand the City Berlin pressures and be a good zoological / administrative business director is really beyond me. For all the quality in curatorial classes within Berlin's zoos, I do not see any of them taking the helm and fighting off press, politicians and raking in the funding required to re-present Berlin Tierpark.
Any other city would be envious of having 2 zoos of the stature and quality of Berlin and as a Municipality would ensure both zoos could co-exist and continue to evolve further.
Bib Fortuna
Well-Known Member
Excellent News-now there is a bright light at he end of the Tunnel for both facillities-the"good Side of the Force"has won...It is a correct, best and only Logical option for Berlin.
So I hope, they will find a modern Zoodirector with more abitlities to led zoo,and of course more interest in the welfare of the animals instead a of a large collection with as much rarieties as can be"collected".I belive, these times are over now.
The best Thing for Berlin would be to choice for Zoo and Tierpark own directors and not again just one for both-the present Situation has shown, a single man isn't able to led two such large Zoos.
So I hope, they will find a modern Zoodirector with more abitlities to led zoo,and of course more interest in the welfare of the animals instead a of a large collection with as much rarieties as can be"collected".I belive, these times are over now.
The best Thing for Berlin would be to choice for Zoo and Tierpark own directors and not again just one for both-the present Situation has shown, a single man isn't able to led two such large Zoos.
Obviously, you have not been reading this thread more carefully. You would make a great Frau Haemmerling! 
I am incredibly relieved that the board has finally acted and that Blaszkiewitz will be gone soon. Kifaru Bwana, you should accept that people have different opinions on this!
Plus, you are wrong on a number of issues. Blaszkiewitz got an incredible amount of support by almost all politicans and the media for many years, regardless what kind of scandal he had caused (again) or at which journalist he had yelled. From about 2007 until at least 2011 the press was not out to "kill" him. Without all the support he got he would have been fired long ago. Ms. Hämmerling and other critics were never taken seriously by the media and Blaszkiewitz`excuses were almost always represented positively. That only changed rather recently, maybe one -two years ago, and Blaszkiewitz can only blame himself for that.
Running a zoo in Berlin is not more difficult then elsewhere - people in Berlin love animals and their zoos, the press loves "cute animal" stories and both parks get a huge amount of support from the local population. It`s not true that there isn`t any money, either - Blaszkiewitz had many millions to invest in the last 20 years, and he rebuilt half of the Tierpark with it. The problem is that most of the new stuff is neither interesting nor attractive for most visitors..
Just a few weeks ago the Zoo openend a new birdhouse for 12 million Euros and the Tierpark is in the final stages of renovating the Tropical Hall of the Brehm-House for a nice 10+ million Euros. So the money is there!! But - again - it is invested into projects that will not help with the failing visitor numbers at the Tierpark.
Plus, you are wrong on a number of issues. Blaszkiewitz got an incredible amount of support by almost all politicans and the media for many years, regardless what kind of scandal he had caused (again) or at which journalist he had yelled. From about 2007 until at least 2011 the press was not out to "kill" him. Without all the support he got he would have been fired long ago. Ms. Hämmerling and other critics were never taken seriously by the media and Blaszkiewitz`excuses were almost always represented positively. That only changed rather recently, maybe one -two years ago, and Blaszkiewitz can only blame himself for that.
Running a zoo in Berlin is not more difficult then elsewhere - people in Berlin love animals and their zoos, the press loves "cute animal" stories and both parks get a huge amount of support from the local population. It`s not true that there isn`t any money, either - Blaszkiewitz had many millions to invest in the last 20 years, and he rebuilt half of the Tierpark with it. The problem is that most of the new stuff is neither interesting nor attractive for most visitors..
Just a few weeks ago the Zoo openend a new birdhouse for 12 million Euros and the Tierpark is in the final stages of renovating the Tropical Hall of the Brehm-House for a nice 10+ million Euros. So the money is there!! But - again - it is invested into projects that will not help with the failing visitor numbers at the Tierpark.
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@Yassa: Sorry but you either don't know any better or you deliberately misrepresent some of the facts (in most cases this is not any issue of differing opinions, though). First of all Blaszkiewitz regularly (though not exclusively) received bad press since one of the last times his contract was to be renewed. Hämmerling indeed often got a platform for her criticism (I can easily remember various articles from recent and not so recent years some of which I could also provide links for if necessary I think) whereas Blaszkiewitz has often not received flattering characterizations in news articles.
Of course I don't know what you consider to be a "huge amount of support" from either politicians or the public. I certainly have a rather different idea of it, though (ok this is an issue of opinion to an extend I guess). As to money: Who ever said there was no money at all? Kifaru is totally right, however, in pointing out that almost all the money came from the lottery not the city and that Blaszkiewitz had to and did get a lot out of it. Anyone who knows what the Tierpark looked like in the 90s will have to agree. You even correctly say yourself that he rebuild half the park (even though you may not know what this actually means). Other Zoos like Leipzig, Gelsenkirchen or Hannover each had more than 100 mio € for a tiny fraction of the space. In fact Leipzig also got Pongo land for free and will receive another 56 mio in the years to come. And the Brehm building NEEDED renovation very badly. The money again came partly from the lottery (3 mio+) partly from an EU program supporting just such schemes that safe energy (6 mio+ which only came BECAUSE OF the original 3 mio from the lottery). Just as half the park in fact NEEDED renewal whereas the funding only allowed for rather functional structures. This can hardly be compared to any big investments in said zoos. So where is the money that could have been spent on new attractions but has been wasted (and you perhaps know that none of the funds from zoo Berlin ever ran into the Tierpark as both are seperate entities when it comes to funding so please leave the bird house out of here)??? I don't know of ANY and I have watched the process of modernization very closely for quite some years now. Or do you seriously try to make the case that a couple of millions every say 3-5 years would and should have made for a second Gondwana (when the real one took 60mio plus and many old structures were totally outdated with some of them almost falling apart)? I also would first prepare my house to last some years or better decades before painting it and putting fency elements into it. By the way: Hannover now has huge financial problems exactly because they primarily invested their 100 mio+ Euro into the elements visitors notice most. They even openly admit this and don't feel ashamed to ask for some more dozens of millions after failing to meet up to their promise of financial independence. Blaszkiewitz will leave behind a far better and more modern (and in my eyes also considerably more attractive) Tierpark than the one he got (himself into).
Seriously I usually not try to get agitated about stuff like this but don't give me this kind of nonsense and then tell others off, because they presumably don't get their facts right.
@Bib Fortuna: The Tierpark does not even have a large collection compared to other zoos which includes Leipzig. And if you also consider the sheer size of the place this point needs to be relativated anyways (of course there also are many spots without enclosures on them but this goes for other zoos as well). I will continue to claim that most animals don't do too bad in the Tierpark (and certainly FAR better then before Blaszkiewitz got there) as long as no one makes a good case against it in the corresponding thread that offers sufficient material and claims to go about it.
Of course I don't know what you consider to be a "huge amount of support" from either politicians or the public. I certainly have a rather different idea of it, though (ok this is an issue of opinion to an extend I guess). As to money: Who ever said there was no money at all? Kifaru is totally right, however, in pointing out that almost all the money came from the lottery not the city and that Blaszkiewitz had to and did get a lot out of it. Anyone who knows what the Tierpark looked like in the 90s will have to agree. You even correctly say yourself that he rebuild half the park (even though you may not know what this actually means). Other Zoos like Leipzig, Gelsenkirchen or Hannover each had more than 100 mio € for a tiny fraction of the space. In fact Leipzig also got Pongo land for free and will receive another 56 mio in the years to come. And the Brehm building NEEDED renovation very badly. The money again came partly from the lottery (3 mio+) partly from an EU program supporting just such schemes that safe energy (6 mio+ which only came BECAUSE OF the original 3 mio from the lottery). Just as half the park in fact NEEDED renewal whereas the funding only allowed for rather functional structures. This can hardly be compared to any big investments in said zoos. So where is the money that could have been spent on new attractions but has been wasted (and you perhaps know that none of the funds from zoo Berlin ever ran into the Tierpark as both are seperate entities when it comes to funding so please leave the bird house out of here)??? I don't know of ANY and I have watched the process of modernization very closely for quite some years now. Or do you seriously try to make the case that a couple of millions every say 3-5 years would and should have made for a second Gondwana (when the real one took 60mio plus and many old structures were totally outdated with some of them almost falling apart)? I also would first prepare my house to last some years or better decades before painting it and putting fency elements into it. By the way: Hannover now has huge financial problems exactly because they primarily invested their 100 mio+ Euro into the elements visitors notice most. They even openly admit this and don't feel ashamed to ask for some more dozens of millions after failing to meet up to their promise of financial independence. Blaszkiewitz will leave behind a far better and more modern (and in my eyes also considerably more attractive) Tierpark than the one he got (himself into).
Seriously I usually not try to get agitated about stuff like this but don't give me this kind of nonsense and then tell others off, because they presumably don't get their facts right.
@Bib Fortuna: The Tierpark does not even have a large collection compared to other zoos which includes Leipzig. And if you also consider the sheer size of the place this point needs to be relativated anyways (of course there also are many spots without enclosures on them but this goes for other zoos as well). I will continue to claim that most animals don't do too bad in the Tierpark (and certainly FAR better then before Blaszkiewitz got there) as long as no one makes a good case against it in the corresponding thread that offers sufficient material and claims to go about it.
I never said that the Berlin Zoos had the same amount of money Hannover, Leipzig or Gelsenkirchen got (and I do not agree with the way the money was spent in Hannover, not at all!!). I certainly dont want any zoo to go the way Hannover went.
The rest seems so highly subjective that it seems useless to discuss it any longer.
The rest seems so highly subjective that it seems useless to discuss it any longer.
Update: Blaszkiewitz seems to be willing to step down now. Apparently he was literally shocked about his release and doesn't see a real perspective any more. I think he is totally right and it is the best for every one.
Apparently there also is a discussion to have seperate directors for the two institutions again. This is another positive surprise for me.
Apparently there also is a discussion to have seperate directors for the two institutions again. This is another positive surprise for me.
sooty mangabey
Well-Known Member
I hope the weasels who are responsible for Blaszkiewitz's destruction feel a sense of shame at the way in which he has been treated, despite his having done so much for the Zoo and the Tierpark - even putting his own health on the line to continue working when others would have taken weeks away from their offices.
Self-serving politicians, ignorant journalists - and zoo people, here and elsewhere, who are not fit to lace his boots. "The good side of the force", eh, 'Bib Fortuna'? What - so the Tierpark can be transformed into a slightly larger version of Landau Zoo?
So - what, or who, will come next? Someone who is going to do what they believe to be right? Or someone who is going to be pushed around by politicians who know nothing about zoos? There are some excellent people in curatorial positions at both Berlin zoos; I hope that one (or two) of these may get the opportunity to carry on.
Self-serving politicians, ignorant journalists - and zoo people, here and elsewhere, who are not fit to lace his boots. "The good side of the force", eh, 'Bib Fortuna'? What - so the Tierpark can be transformed into a slightly larger version of Landau Zoo?
So - what, or who, will come next? Someone who is going to do what they believe to be right? Or someone who is going to be pushed around by politicians who know nothing about zoos? There are some excellent people in curatorial positions at both Berlin zoos; I hope that one (or two) of these may get the opportunity to carry on.
IanRRobinson
Well-Known Member
A sad story.
From an outsider's perspective, I do think it would be a retrograde move to have separate directors for the two zoos. One individual should have the responsibility for planning the two sites - there is so much unused land in the Tierpark, ideal for larger mammals, which might in turn free up space for the carnivores and primates in the Zoo. With good curators on each site one director should suffice.
And one doesn't have to be a stamp collector to want the incredible diversity of animal life in Berlin to be maintained.
From an outsider's perspective, I do think it would be a retrograde move to have separate directors for the two zoos. One individual should have the responsibility for planning the two sites - there is so much unused land in the Tierpark, ideal for larger mammals, which might in turn free up space for the carnivores and primates in the Zoo. With good curators on each site one director should suffice.
And one doesn't have to be a stamp collector to want the incredible diversity of animal life in Berlin to be maintained.
While the diversity remains remarkable and there has been little change in the Zoo, it has fallen rather sharply, almost 20%, in mammal and bird species present in the Tierpark today compared to 10 years ago. While most of this fall happen ~5 years ago, I wouldn't be all that surprised if it'll continue over the next decade at a slower pace. That is guesswork on my part, of course.
Apparently, Blaszkiewitz does want to stay. Newspaper articles by Berlin's notorius boulevard press which described him like a Judas that only tries to get as much Money as possible out of a premature release obviously were rather misinformed. I am not really surprised, but I do certainly hope Blaszkiewitz does not have to suffer too much media abuse in his final months and that he can indeed use the time to further develop the Tierpark (and Zoo) as he expressed his single desire. At least he was able to open the new bird house and the enclosure for Tropical bears in the zoo and I hope he will still be around when the Brehm building reopens. He waited many years for this to happen.
By the way: The director of Zoo Stuttgart wrote a letter in which he criticizes how Blaszkiewitz has been dealt with lately. For any one able to read German or to use a good translation program I can only recommend the article:
Brief Dieter Jauch: Ein beschämender Vorgang | Berlin - Berliner Zeitung
By the way: The director of Zoo Stuttgart wrote a letter in which he criticizes how Blaszkiewitz has been dealt with lately. For any one able to read German or to use a good translation program I can only recommend the article:
Brief Dieter Jauch: Ein beschämender Vorgang | Berlin - Berliner Zeitung
Calling for divine intervention! This all seems very personal for you.
Are you an ex employee, or related to someone who fell foul of this director as this would explain your passionate desire for him to lose his job.
Can we please stay on topic! Your ranting has certainly no relevance to nor place in this thread. We may agree to disagree .. which is fine .., just do not make a personal vendetta out of you disagreeing with another poster's convictions! Thank you!
As to the Tierpark: The roof construction in the tropical hall of the Brehm building seems to be finished by now. It appears like the board walk is now being constructed. I hope they will be able to put in plants by autumn and open it by winter. It could well take longer, though.
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In my view your (markmeier) comments are always fair and objective and I certainly appreciate the regular updates re zoos that I enjoy visiting.
The problem with the anti-everything brigade is they become more and more personal and aggressive in their postings/comments and sound like cranks who are just a pain.
The problem with the anti-everything brigade is they become more and more personal and aggressive in their postings/comments and sound like cranks who are just a pain.
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