HELLABRUNN ZOO

Description

Essentials about Hellabrunn Zoo in brief

Munich’s Hellabrunn Zoo is certainly one of the most beautiful zoos in Germany and definitely worth a visit, not only for animal lovers and families with children. Hellabrunn is particularly characterized by its natural location in the protected landscape area of the Isarauen. The great special feature of the zoo is that it was the first geozoo in the world, where animals were kept according to geographical aspects. Today, around 20,000 animals from over 700 species live in the Hellabrunn Zoo.

The history of Hellabrunn Zoo

Hellabrunn Zoo was initiated by Lieutenant Colonel Hermann von Manz, who in 1905 founded an association together with well-known Munich dignitaries to establish an animal park. The location chosen was an area on the banks of the Isar River, which belonged to the aristocratic estate and Pleasure Palace Hellabrunn and became the namesake for the zoo.

The zoo opened its doors on August 1, 1911. Although some of the animal houses were still relatively provisional, today’s Elephant House already dates from those early days. The artistic general plan for the zoo was drawn up by the architect Emanuel von Seidl, who skilfully exploited the sloping terrain with its cliffs and the floodplain landscape through which the Auer Mühlbach stream flows to create a near-natural animal enclosure.

As early as 1922, however, the zoo had to close again due to a lack of funds caused by rampant inflation. Numerous facilities were dismantled and the buildings fell into disrepair. In 1925, however, the reconstruction was started and three years later Hellabrunn could be reopened. At the time, the zoo was conceived as the world’s first geozoo, in which the arrangement of animal species was based on their geographical origin. The zoo quickly gained worldwide recognition and fame thanks to this concept.

During the World War II, the zoo suffered heavy bomb damage, and numerous animals also fell victim to the air raids. For this reason, it had to close in 1944. Hellabrunn was able to reopen in May 1945. Since the zoo did not receive any building subsidies from the city of Munich and had little money available for new buildings, some of the temporary enclosures remained in place for more than 20 years.

In the 1970s, due to the dilapidation of large parts of the zoo, a fundamental renovation of all the enclosures took place. Many of the grids that still existed at that time were replaced with less obtrusive glass panels. A children’s animal park and a petting zoo were also built.

To date, many of the animal enclosures have been completely rebuilt or renovated to meet the needs of the individual species. In the coming years, the concept of the geozoo is to be given even greater emphasis and the species-appropriate husbandry of the animals is to be further improved. Likewise, the zoo intends to keep fewer species in the future, but in better husbandry conditions.

In addition to the observation of over 700 animal species, Hellabrunn Zoo offers numerous demonstrations and animal feedings, such as the bird of prey or elephant show. Furthermore, there are guided tours, children’s birthday parties and the “Rendezvous with the favorite animal”.

The areas of Hellabrunn Zoo

Africa

This area is home to eland, Hartmann’s mountain zebra, kudu, mantled baboons, mhorr gazelles, ostriches and lowland nyala, among others. One of the visitor magnets in the zoo’s Africa section is the Elephant House. Opened in 1914, it is one of the oldest structures still standing at Hellabrunn Zoo. A group of Asian elephants currently lives here. Equally popular is the Jungle World, which houses large predators such as lions, jaguars and cheetahs, among others. The Turtle House is home not only to turtles, but also to numerous arachnids, lizards, amphibians and snakes. And in the Polar World you get to see polar bears, arctic foxes, snow hares and owls and penguins.

America

A very nice example of the socialization of different species according to the geozoo principle is the South America enclosure: The large enclosure is shared by the giant anteater, nandus, pampas hares, vicuñas and capybaras. Across the street, wood bison and a variety of native waterfowl share a home. There are also South American maned wolves to see.

Asia

The Asia section features a selection of large mammal species from the Eurasian continent. Among others, armored rhinos, Siberian tigers and Takine live here.

Australia

Australia is the smallest area of the zoo. Here nimble wallabies, swamp wallabies and red giant kangaroos live beside bird species such as emus, mourning swans and budgies.

Europe

Here you can see Abruzzo chamois, Alpine marmots and ibexes, moose, pink pelicans, wolves and various water birds, among others. The keeping of brown bears ended in 2018 with the death of the last animal.

Other facilities

Monkey fans should make their way to the Jungle House and the World of the Apes at Hellabrunn. The Jungle House is home to chimpanzees and a gorilla family as well as several stump crocodiles. Furthermore, there is a coral reef with various tropical fish. Also living in the building are blue monkeys and Cape klipsheep, as well as various reptiles such as snakes, chameleons, turtles and iguanas. In the World of the Apes are the enclosures of brown-headed spider monkeys, red-crowned mangabeys, silver gibbons and Sumarta orangutans. In addition, lemurs, New World monkeys and siamangs live here.

Fish fans should definitely visit the aquarium. About 5,000 fish from around 200 different species live in the aquarium’s tanks, which are organized by continent.

And bird lovers should definitely have seen the large aviary, which, at 18 meters high, is one of Hellabrunn’s largest structures. Covering an area of 5,000 square meters, the aviary provides a habitat for many species – including red sickles, black storks and bald ibises.