Wolfgang Gewalt (28 October 1928 – 26 April 2007) was a German

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

, author and former director of the Duisburg Zoo.

Biography

After the study of zoology,

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

and

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

, his main focus was research of the great bustard. He recorded his observations in the breeding grounds and his experience with hand bred great bustards in several publications. Moreover, he was chief assistant at the

Berlin Zoo The Berlin Zoological Garden (german: link=no, Zoologischer Garten Berlin) is the oldest surviving and best-known zoo in Germany. Opened in 1844, it covers and is located in Berlin's Tiergarten. With about 1,380 different species and over 20,2 ...

. In 1966, he became director of the Duisburg Zoo and landed in the headlines in May 1966 when the

white whale The beluga whale () (''Delphinapterus leucas'') is an Arctic and sub-Arctic cetacean. It is one of two members of the family Monodontidae, along with the narwhal, and the only member of the genus ''Delphinapterus''. It is also known as the wh ...

Moby Dick strayed into the Rhine. After futile attempts to capture Moby Dick, Wolfgang Gewalt came in for ever more negative criticism. A few newspapers even demanded: "Arrest Wolfgang Gewalt". In June 1966, the whale fortunately succeeded in swimming back to the North Sea. In 1969, Gewalt led an expedition to Canada and brought back the first beluga to

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in Nor ...

. For this he reaped angry criticism. In the same year Wolfgang Gewalt participated in the Encyclopedia

Grzimeks Tierleben __NOTOC__ ''Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia'' is a large comprehensive encyclopedia of animal life. It is named after its original editor in chief, Bernhard Grzimek ().{{Cite web, title=Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia act sheet, publisher=G ...

for which he wrote a contribution on Didelphidae. In 1972, he and his colleagues founded the European Association for Aquatic Mammals at the

Dolfinarium Harderwijk Dolfinarium Harderwijk, better known as the Dolfinarium, is a marine mammal park in Harderwijk, the Netherlands. It is the largest marine mammal park in Europe. Visitor numbers were steady from 2005 to 2011, numbering between 700,000 and 800,000, ...

in the Netherlands. This is a society for the care of aquatic mammals in human custody. In 1975, he brought five Orinoco river dolphins or toninas back to Duisburg from an expedition to

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. In 1978 one of Wolfgang Gewalt's dreams was fulfilled with the birth of the first

bottlenose dolphin Bottlenose dolphins are aquatic mammals in the genus ''Tursiops.'' They are common, cosmopolitan members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Molecular studies show the genus definitively contains two species: the common ...

in a German Zoo. In 1993, Wolfgang Gewalt retired. On April 26, 2007 he died from the consequences of an accident in his home.

Selected works

*1954 ''Die großen Trappen'' *1956 Die Großtrappe *1959 ''Das Eichörnchen'' *1964 ''Bakala'' *1965 ''Löwen vor dem zweiten Frühstück'' *1968 ''Tiere für dich und mich'' *1970 ''Delphine, meine Freunde'' *1972 ''Haltung und Zucht von Park- und Ziergeflügel'' *1973 ''Mein buntes Paradies'' *1976 ''Der Weißwal'' *1984 ''50 Jahre Zoo Duisburg'' *1985 ''Wie machen die das bloss?'' *1986 ''Auf den Spuren der Wale'' *1993 ''Wale und Delphine'' *1995 ''Liebe und Geburt im Zoo'', Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach

External links

* 20th-century German zoologists 1928 births 2007 deaths Französisches Gymnasium Berlin alumni {{Germany-zoologist-stub