Zoo Wuppertal Zoo Wuppertal News
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Haliaeetus
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Note: I think the reason why I noted so many things is due to the expectations I had after having seen several other parks in the region that might not have been perfect either but felt realy like they were on the way to turn the whole thing around. Also I was not able to leave the house at all for literal years due to health issues, and having fought my way back into society also meant a bit that I had expectation towards others (mean as an autistic person one gets constantly told off by at least one uneducated person, so yes that does come back around) and means that I expect also institutions to make progress, if not already build new or at least renovated structures, a proper masterplan. So that said I still do sorta like this park, just need to vent a bit, and hopefully with time the two of us find ourselves in the middle.
Its been a realy long time since I have been in wuppertal, but a few days ago I went back, and not that the zoo would not be still good, or the very least have lots of potential left, but compared to where they were ten to fifteen years ago would I sadly have to note that the park sadly out of all the institutions in the region managed pretty much the least to compensate for the number of rarities. Symbolicaly speaking did they went from around a hundred species hardly anywhere kept (meaning five to ten max, often rather less) in europe or even worldwide to what felt like five.
The impression I had with other zoos in the area was that, when the space did not allow to further keep several relatively closely related species, the rarest stayed and was given the room of the others. Or in the case that a population started to get sourced out, at least a similarly rare species got brought to the park instead.
For example, the same space that used to consist of five, not so great, but not as small as i used to remember, enclosures for asian highland species (white lipped, pierre david and reindeer, as well as kiangs and the still present mishmi takin) got combined into one complex for the later. The landscape architecture was for the most realy great, looking a lot like viennas new takin exhibit, but due to the size, number of animals, and lack of other species did the enclosure feel rather empty. Three of these species were rather rare and two the only representatives anywhere near the benelux west germany area, with the third two or three hours drive away. Thats sadly representative.
Next doors was the (since then) new reindeer enclosure, that looked way more like what they turned the former rather platteau like enclosures into, already by nature. So I lowkey asked myself, 'why not connect this part with the other steap side and rearrange the parth, so that the very few even spaces could be used for species, that are not adapted to steap terrains?'
The path system is very wheelchair unfriendly, and what should have been either stairs or serpentines was claimed by a median form thats exactly the one wrong choice. Even the few stairs that are presented are tilted and for someone with neurological issues like me was it difficult to cope with cause the signals from my body often do not manage to get properly read within my brain. Another unintentional ableist concept is the three sixty film one has to walk through to get to the free flight aviary.
They could close the bird house and make the free flight hall accesable via the now one way exit people used as entry either way, and then reconstruct the previously formidable exhibit. Now its from left to right a row of rather small outdoor aviaries, followed by their indoor facilities not viewable by the visitors, a maintainance hallway, the viewable row of indoor aviaries the visitor path and another set of indoor aviaries on the other side with another maintainance path behind the scenes. It should be possible to place the visitor path to the back of the building with a look out onto the former black billed stork and shoebill enclosures, and three rows of indoor spaces combined into one so that one could see the species that would also have access to the outdoor aviaries that would also need to be enlarged, this way only a single maintainance path would be required, all species would be visible inside and out and have significantly more space. But such concept has never been voiced by the park, as far as I would know.
Find the concept of turning it into the indoor hall for asian species infuriating, I got the impression that in too many zoos the directors and so called friends of the zoo who are often the main financiers of project, are not as professional in certain fields as many members here on zoochat. It should be education first, not what a group of rich mostly elderly citizens would like to see giving us the billionth big eared fox or otter enclosure.
Surely would all of us enthusiasts have our personal dream masterplans for most parks, but rarely have i ever encountered such a mismatch, know your strengths and play to them. A memo wuppertal seems to have entirely missed.
The people were incredibly friendly.
Some enclosures were smaller than in my memory, I always loved wuppertal for its many indoor spaces, and most of them could easily be either restructured or simply house smaller species, but the primate house
They can not tell me, that bat eared fox were the best option to replace the asian golden cat, a species kept in several other institutions in the area, becoming happily so more common. They could have went for another small asian cat species.
Can understand that they want to call the zoo the green one, because a reference to the terrain could scare some visitors away, but they should find their way back to what they have, but others rather less to entirely none at all, mountain or at least hill sides. They would not even need to outsource many if even any species they either keep now or used to.
They used to have a very great collection of asian highland species (himalaya, sichuan, tibetean platteau, mongolia, even the western ghats would fit).
The andes spectrum from cloud forest (cock of the rock, trogon, hummingbird, tanagers, several amphibia) over the flamingos, darwin rheas, vicunias, pudus to the coast (penguins and sea lion) and surely more in between.
Central america could be represented by the peccarys, spider monkeys, and two species I hope might have a come back, thanks to (now potentialy outdated articles) that stated that there were planes to import new harpye eagles and bairds tapir. Mean the newly established mexican Ecnomiohyla valancifer is another great fit and thanks to burgers and antwerps central american collections an additional third center for the region could be established.
North american waterfowl, like several eider duck species, were another strength of the park.
Though not previously kept or in some cases not available but at least thanks to related species very much properly composable africa, with ethiopia that is not just home to geladas and their fellow cohabitance, but also the only known lion population that inhabits a rainforest, that also mountain guerezas and turacos call their home. The african rift valley would also fit the terrain, lowland gorillas as stand in for their mountain counterpart (is there any mountain gorilla concept anywhere in the world?).
The south african mountains are also criminaly underrepresented, with mountain zebras, blesboks are available as well as springbock, rhebok less likely, but black wildebeest rather. The round eared elephant shrews were one of the many iconic species of the park now sadly gone. Its unlikely that the black footed cats would come back any time soon, but the gordons cats look similar to the local subspecies.
Even Oceania could be represented by new guineas mountain range, bringing back the crocodiles, cause the current reptile house still can't keep any species properly in breeding condition, and the birds of paradise that arguably have a come back in europe. There would even be space left for a kangaroo and
Note, this concept would actualy allow to continue to keep both current and most of former rare species without any species needing to be given away thanks to the many 'unused' spaces in between structures. No people do not use them to lay or play there and converting them for animals would not make that much of a difference, but I selfspeakinglj accept if others would disagree.
The new macaw and flamingo aviary looks nice, but thats sadly about it the flamingos do not feel like a proper fit.
My apologize for the rumbling nature of the post, I hope I might still offer something of worth sharing.
Its been a realy long time since I have been in wuppertal, but a few days ago I went back, and not that the zoo would not be still good, or the very least have lots of potential left, but compared to where they were ten to fifteen years ago would I sadly have to note that the park sadly out of all the institutions in the region managed pretty much the least to compensate for the number of rarities. Symbolicaly speaking did they went from around a hundred species hardly anywhere kept (meaning five to ten max, often rather less) in europe or even worldwide to what felt like five.
The impression I had with other zoos in the area was that, when the space did not allow to further keep several relatively closely related species, the rarest stayed and was given the room of the others. Or in the case that a population started to get sourced out, at least a similarly rare species got brought to the park instead.
For example, the same space that used to consist of five, not so great, but not as small as i used to remember, enclosures for asian highland species (white lipped, pierre david and reindeer, as well as kiangs and the still present mishmi takin) got combined into one complex for the later. The landscape architecture was for the most realy great, looking a lot like viennas new takin exhibit, but due to the size, number of animals, and lack of other species did the enclosure feel rather empty. Three of these species were rather rare and two the only representatives anywhere near the benelux west germany area, with the third two or three hours drive away. Thats sadly representative.
Next doors was the (since then) new reindeer enclosure, that looked way more like what they turned the former rather platteau like enclosures into, already by nature. So I lowkey asked myself, 'why not connect this part with the other steap side and rearrange the parth, so that the very few even spaces could be used for species, that are not adapted to steap terrains?'
The path system is very wheelchair unfriendly, and what should have been either stairs or serpentines was claimed by a median form thats exactly the one wrong choice. Even the few stairs that are presented are tilted and for someone with neurological issues like me was it difficult to cope with cause the signals from my body often do not manage to get properly read within my brain. Another unintentional ableist concept is the three sixty film one has to walk through to get to the free flight aviary.
They could close the bird house and make the free flight hall accesable via the now one way exit people used as entry either way, and then reconstruct the previously formidable exhibit. Now its from left to right a row of rather small outdoor aviaries, followed by their indoor facilities not viewable by the visitors, a maintainance hallway, the viewable row of indoor aviaries the visitor path and another set of indoor aviaries on the other side with another maintainance path behind the scenes. It should be possible to place the visitor path to the back of the building with a look out onto the former black billed stork and shoebill enclosures, and three rows of indoor spaces combined into one so that one could see the species that would also have access to the outdoor aviaries that would also need to be enlarged, this way only a single maintainance path would be required, all species would be visible inside and out and have significantly more space. But such concept has never been voiced by the park, as far as I would know.
Find the concept of turning it into the indoor hall for asian species infuriating, I got the impression that in too many zoos the directors and so called friends of the zoo who are often the main financiers of project, are not as professional in certain fields as many members here on zoochat. It should be education first, not what a group of rich mostly elderly citizens would like to see giving us the billionth big eared fox or otter enclosure.
Surely would all of us enthusiasts have our personal dream masterplans for most parks, but rarely have i ever encountered such a mismatch, know your strengths and play to them. A memo wuppertal seems to have entirely missed.
The people were incredibly friendly.
Some enclosures were smaller than in my memory, I always loved wuppertal for its many indoor spaces, and most of them could easily be either restructured or simply house smaller species, but the primate house
They can not tell me, that bat eared fox were the best option to replace the asian golden cat, a species kept in several other institutions in the area, becoming happily so more common. They could have went for another small asian cat species.
Can understand that they want to call the zoo the green one, because a reference to the terrain could scare some visitors away, but they should find their way back to what they have, but others rather less to entirely none at all, mountain or at least hill sides. They would not even need to outsource many if even any species they either keep now or used to.
They used to have a very great collection of asian highland species (himalaya, sichuan, tibetean platteau, mongolia, even the western ghats would fit).
The andes spectrum from cloud forest (cock of the rock, trogon, hummingbird, tanagers, several amphibia) over the flamingos, darwin rheas, vicunias, pudus to the coast (penguins and sea lion) and surely more in between.
Central america could be represented by the peccarys, spider monkeys, and two species I hope might have a come back, thanks to (now potentialy outdated articles) that stated that there were planes to import new harpye eagles and bairds tapir. Mean the newly established mexican Ecnomiohyla valancifer is another great fit and thanks to burgers and antwerps central american collections an additional third center for the region could be established.
North american waterfowl, like several eider duck species, were another strength of the park.
Though not previously kept or in some cases not available but at least thanks to related species very much properly composable africa, with ethiopia that is not just home to geladas and their fellow cohabitance, but also the only known lion population that inhabits a rainforest, that also mountain guerezas and turacos call their home. The african rift valley would also fit the terrain, lowland gorillas as stand in for their mountain counterpart (is there any mountain gorilla concept anywhere in the world?).
The south african mountains are also criminaly underrepresented, with mountain zebras, blesboks are available as well as springbock, rhebok less likely, but black wildebeest rather. The round eared elephant shrews were one of the many iconic species of the park now sadly gone. Its unlikely that the black footed cats would come back any time soon, but the gordons cats look similar to the local subspecies.
Even Oceania could be represented by new guineas mountain range, bringing back the crocodiles, cause the current reptile house still can't keep any species properly in breeding condition, and the birds of paradise that arguably have a come back in europe. There would even be space left for a kangaroo and
Note, this concept would actualy allow to continue to keep both current and most of former rare species without any species needing to be given away thanks to the many 'unused' spaces in between structures. No people do not use them to lay or play there and converting them for animals would not make that much of a difference, but I selfspeakinglj accept if others would disagree.
The new macaw and flamingo aviary looks nice, but thats sadly about it the flamingos do not feel like a proper fit.
My apologize for the rumbling nature of the post, I hope I might still offer something of worth sharing.
Haliaeetus
Well-Known Member
Haliaeetus
Well-Known Member
Haliaeetus
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Haliaeetus
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Haliaeetus
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Haliaeetus
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Haliaeetus
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Haliaeetus
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Haliaeetus
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Haliaeetus
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Haliaeetus
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Unsere Löwen erhielten dadurch eine frische, qualitativ sehr hochwertige Mahlzeit, denn wir wissen sicher, dass auch unser Waldrentier nur mit bestem Futter versorgt wurde, tiergerecht in seiner Herde aufwuchs und in einem guten Gesundheitszustand war.