Nuremberg Zoo (german: Tiergarten Nürnberg) is a zoo located in the
Nuremberg Reichswald
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ci ...
("imperial forest"), southeast of
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
, Germany. With an area of , approximately 300 animal species are kept by the zoo.
History
In the Middle Ages
The tradition of zoos in Nuremberg goes back to the Middle Ages. However the only indications of a zoo maintained by the local nobility, the Burgraves, take the form of certain place names, such as the Zoo Gate (''Tiergärtner Tor'') and the adjoining Zoo Square (''Tiergärtnertorplatz''). This preserve stretched as far as the so-called Johannisfelder (present-day St. Johannis) and the Rohlederersgarten (present-day Klinikum Nord). One can only speculate about the use made of the park.
20th century
![Tiergarten Nbg Weiherlandschaft](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Tiergarten_Nbg_Weiherlandschaft.JPG)
The Nuremberg Zoo was founded on 11 May 1912 on the site of the Bavarian State Exhibition at the Luitpoldhain. After the
Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
seized power, the zoo had to give way for the
Reichsparteitagsgelände
The Nazi party rally grounds (german: Reichsparteitagsgelände, literally: ''Reich Party Congress Grounds'') covered about 11 square kilometres in the southeast of Nuremberg, Germany. Six Nazi party rallies were held there between 1933 and 1938. ...
at the
Dutzendteich and was closed in February 1939. In May 1939, the new zoo was opened in the Reichswald at the Schmausenbuck. It was almost completely destroyed after World War II and rebuilt at the end of the 1950s.
Today
![NBG-Big-Cat-House](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/NBG-Big-Cat-House.jpg)
With , it is one of the largest European zoos. Typical are large, natural enclosures, which are embedded in a landscape of forests and stone pits. More than one million visitors are counted every year. Many new enclosures, e.g., for gorillas, snow leopards and polar bears, were built in recent years.
Flocke, a captive-born polar bear who was born at the zoo in December 2007, became a popular tourist attraction and an international celebrity after a controversial decision to remove her from her mother and raise her by hand. Flocke has since been "adopted" by
United Nations Environment Programme
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on th ...
chief
Achim Steiner
Achim Steiner (born 17 May 1961) is a Brazilian-born environmentalist who currently serves as the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and chairman of United Nations Sustainable Development Group.
Before joining UNDP, he w ...
.
Animals
![Panthera leo persica male](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Panthera_leo_persica_male.jpg)
The zoo has
Asiatic lion
The Asiatic lion is a population of ''Panthera leo leo'' that today survives in the wild only in India. Since the turn of the 20th century, its range has been restricted to Gir National Park and the surrounding areas in the Indian state of Gujarat ...
s and
Siberian tiger
The Siberian tiger or Amur tiger is a population of the tiger subspecies ''Panthera tigris tigris'' native to the Russian Far East, Northeast China and possibly North Korea. It once ranged throughout the Korean Peninsula, but currently inhabit ...
s, which live in former stone pits. The inner cages of both large cat species are behind a rock face and can be visited only after entering the house through a tunnel. Other carnivores are
snow leopard
The snow leopard (''Panthera uncia''), also known as the ounce, is a Felidae, felid in the genus ''Panthera'' native to the mountain ranges of Central Asia, Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable species, Vulnerable on the IUCN Red ...
s,
polar bear
The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...
s,
Syrian brown bears, and
maned wolves
The maned wolf (''Chrysocyon brachyurus'') is a large canine of South America. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, and Paraguay, and is almost extinct in Uruguay. Its markings resemble those of foxes, but it is neither a fox nor a w ...
. The zoo is also successful in breeding
South African cheetah
The Southeast African cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus jubatus'') is the nominate cheetah subspecies native to East and Southern Africa. The Southern African cheetah lives mainly in the lowland areas and deserts of the Kalahari, the savannahs of Okav ...
s.
Further attractions are
Common bottlenose dolphin
The common bottlenose dolphin or Atlantic bottlenose dolphin (''Tursiops truncatus'') is a wide-ranging marine mammal of the family Delphinidae. The common bottlenose dolphin is a very familiar dolphin due to the wide exposure it gets in captivi ...
s,
Indian rhinoceros
}
The Indian rhinoceros (''Rhinoceros unicornis''), also called the Indian rhino, greater one-horned rhinoceros or great Indian rhinoceros, is a rhinoceros species native to the Indian subcontinent. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red Li ...
es,
Malayan tapir
The Malayan tapir (''Tapirus indicus''), also called Asian tapir, Asiatic tapir and Indian tapir, is the only tapir species native to Southeast Asia from the Malay Peninsula to Sumatra. It has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List since ...
s,
lowland gorilla
The western lowland gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla gorilla'') is one of two Critically Endangered subspecies of the western gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla'') that lives in montane, primary and secondary forest and lowland swampland in central Africa ...
s,
California sea lion
The California sea lion (''Zalophus californianus'') is a coastal eared seal native to western North America. It is one of six species of sea lions. Its natural habitat ranges from southeast Alaska to central Mexico, including the Gulf of C ...
s and
manatee
Manatees (family Trichechidae, genus ''Trichechus'') are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing three of the four living species ...
s.
Many hooved mammals, like
reticulated giraffe
The reticulated giraffe (''Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata'' or ''G. reticulata''), also known as the Somali giraffe, is a subspecies or species of giraffe native to the Horn of Africa. It lives in Somalia, southern Ethiopia, and northern Kenya ...
s,
Somali wild ass
The Somali wild ass (''Equus africanus somaliensis'') is a subspecies of the African wild ass.
It is found in Somalia, the Southern Red Sea region of Eritrea, and the Afar Region of Ethiopia. The legs of the Somali wild ass are striped, resembli ...
es,
Père David's deer
The Père David's deer (''Elaphurus davidianus''), also known as the ''milu'' () or elaphure, is a species of deer native to the subtropical river valleys of China. It grazes mainly on grass and aquatic plants. It is the only extant member of ...
,
European
European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
and
American bison
The American bison (''Bison bison'') is a species of bison native to North America. Sometimes colloquially referred to as American buffalo or simply buffalo (a different clade of bovine), it is one of two extant species of bison, alongside the ...
,
African buffalo,
plains zebra
The plains zebra (''Equus quagga'', formerly ''Equus burchellii''), also known as the common zebra, is the most common and geographically widespread species of zebra. Its range is fragmented, but spans much of southern and eastern Africa south of ...
s and
Turkmenian kulan
The Turkmenian kulan (''Equus hemionus kulan''), also called Transcaspian wild ass, Turkmenistani onager or simply the ', is a subspecies of onager (Asiatic wild ass) native to Central Asia. It was declared Endangered in 2016.
The species's popu ...
s live in large enclosures, which are embedded in the forested, hilly landscape. Beautiful ponds are home to a variety of water birds.
Structures and statues
![Eisbären-Skulptur im Nürnberger Tiergarten](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Eisb%C3%A4ren-Skulptur_im_N%C3%BCrnberger_Tiergarten.JPG)
"The Polar Bear Group" is a life-size, bronze animal sculpture in the Aqua Park of the Zoo, created by
Josef Tabachnyk in 2007.
The Group consists of a mother
polar bear
The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...
with her young cubs in a playful pose, and is based on a flat plate from bright
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
, which is reminiscent of an ice floe. The Group was created by the sculptor
Josef Tabachnyk and was installed in the zoo in 2007. The measurements of the Polar Bear Group are 120x240x90 cm. Since November 2010, another bronze bear sculpture created by the same artist was installed in the entrance area of the zoo. It depicts a
brown bear
The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is kno ...
lying on its back, playing with a slug.
![Lebensbaum Nürnberg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Lebensbaum_N%C3%BCrnberg.JPG)
"The Tree of Life" is a bronze sculpture also created by the artist Tabachnyk. It has been standing on public grounds of the Zoo since November 2012.
[article 'Lebensbaum blüht ständig', newspaper 'Nürnberger Nachrichten', 6 November 2012, page 25]
The sculpture, when viewed from a distance, depicts a blossoming
apple tree
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...
. Up close, one can see a few elements of the life cycle embedded in the various elements of the tree. In the tree’s roots and bark, faces, hands and other body parts are implied. Within the branches grows a young male figure, who appears to raise up the leaves and fruit of the tree. Additionally a female figure lies in the trees. At the top of the tree birds are leaving and flying up to heaven. The measurements of the sculpture are 270x190x95cm.
From below the generations are depicted. The ancestors, which are shown in the tree’s roots, bark and branches, create the foundation for the current generation. The current generation cares for and provides for the leaves and fruit, which depict the future generations.
References
Literature
* Dr. Peter Mühling, ''Der Alte Nürnberger Tiergarten 1912–1939: Eine Chronik'', Tiergarten der Stadt Nürnberg, Nürnberg 1987,
* ''Wegweiser durch den Tiergarten Nürnberg'', 29. neubearbeitete Auflage, Tiergarten der Stadt Nürnberg, Nürnberg 2007, ISSN 1436-4352
* Lorenzo von Fersen, ''Delfinariumsführer Tiergarten Nürnberg'', 3. Aufl., Tiergarten der Stadt Nürnberg, Nürnberg 2003,
* ''Der Tiergarten Nürnberg – Ein Virtueller Rundgang'', imbiss-media, Nürnberg 2002,
* Michael Diefenbacher, Rudolf Endres (Hsg.): ''Stadtlexikon Nürnberg''. 2. verb. Auflage. Nürnberg: Verlag W. Tümmels, 2000, 1247 S.,
External links
Map of the zooProjekt DelphinlagunePolar bear baby ''Flocke''
{{authority control
Tourist attractions in Nuremberg
Zoos in Germany
Buildings and structures in Nuremberg