Schöne Aussicht im Wildpark Lüneburger Heide

The Lüneburg Heath Wildlife Park (german: Wildpark Lüneburger Heide) is a wildlife park near Nindorf in the municipality of

Hanstedt Hanstedt is a municipality in the district of Harburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 35 km south of Hamburg, and 25 km west of Lüneburg. Hanstedt is also the seat of the ''Samtgemeinde A ''Samtgemeinde'' ...

in the north German state of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

. The park is home to around 1,000 animals of over 120 species in an area of . The park is open all year.

Attractions

The park specializes in animal species from the northern hemisphere, such as the

grey wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly ...

, Arctic wolf,

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 ...

, Kodiak bear,

lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, Ontar ...

elk The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The common ...

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...

reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...

, sika deer,

ibex An ibex (plural ibex, ibexes or ibices) is any of several species of wild goat (genus ''Capra''), distinguished by the male's large recurved horns, which are transversely ridged in front. Ibex are found in Eurasia, North Africa and East Africa. ...

chamois The chamois (''Rupicapra rupicapra'') or Alpine chamois is a species of goat-antelope native to mountains in Europe, from west to east, including the Alps, the Dinarides, the Tatra and the Carpathian Mountains, the Balkan Mountains, the Ril ...

and

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

. ;Siberian tigers Two Siberian tigers, Alex and Ronja, live in a naturalistic exhibit that opened in June 2010. The exhibit includes a rocky outcrop for the tigers to climb on, and ponds to swim in. Visitors can view the tigers through a security fence that includes sections of bulletproof glass for better viewing. ;Petting zoo The petting zoo includes goats and deer, and children of all ages can pet and feed the animals.

Conservation

The park participates in international wildlife conservation programmes for otters,

red-crowned crane The red-crowned crane (''Grus japonensis''), also called the Manchurian crane or Japanese crane (; the Chinese character '丹' means 'red', '頂/顶' means 'crown' and '鶴/鹤' means 'crane'), is a large East Asian crane among the rarest cran ...

white-tailed eagle The white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla'') is a very large species of sea eagle widely distributed across temperate Palearctic, Eurasia. Like all eagles, it is a member of the family Accipitridae (or accipitrids) which includes other diur ...

s, snow leopards, muskoxen,

mink Mink are dark-colored, semiaquatic, carnivorous mammals of the genera ''Neogale'' and '' Mustela'' and part of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, otters, and ferrets. There are two extant species referred to as "mink": the A ...

and European bison.

Education

From April to October, the park has educational presentations including "The animal my friend", which highlights the ability of birds of prey and other animals to learn, "Hunters of the air", in which falconers show the speed and agility of eagles, falcons, and vultures in the air, and "Faszination Wolf", a lecture about the forefathers of our domesticated dogs at the wolf enclosure, and otter feedings. The Lüneburg Heath Wildlife Park hosted the zoo documentary series, ''Weiches Fell und scharfe Krallen'' ("Soft fur, sharp claws"), produced by the German TV company,

NDR NDR may refer to: Computing * Non delivery report, a return email message to a sender indicating failed message delivery * Network Data Representation, an implementation of the OSI model presentation layer Science and technology * Negative differ ...

. On 10 April 2007 it started its own series: ''Wolf, Bär & Co'' ("Wolf, Bear and Co."). Guided tours are offered to school classes free of charge.

Notes

References

* Eckard Gehm: ''Schneeleopard (Uncia uncia). Geist der Berge.'' Publishing house Wildpark Lüneburger Heide, Hanstedt-Nindorf 1. edition 2002. (German/English) * Wildpark Lüneburger Heide (Hrsg.): ''Wildparkführer. Wildlife Park Guide. 40 Jahre Wildpark.'' Zooführer. Nindorf o.J. (2010/2011). (German)

External links

* Zoos in Germany Geography of Lower Saxony Tourist attractions in Lower Saxony Zoos established in 1970 1970 establishments in West Germany Wildlife parks {{LowerSaxony-geo-stub