The Südliche Weinstraße Wildlife Park (german: Wild- und Wanderpark Südliche Weinstraße) is located in the
Wasgau
The Wasgau (german: Wasgau, french: Vasgovie) is a Franco-German hill range in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate and the French departments of Bas-Rhin and Moselle. It is formed from the southern part of the Palatine Forest and the north ...
, a region on the Franco-German border that forms the southern part of the
Palatine Forest and the northern part of the
Vosges
The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...
, near the village of
Silz in the south of the state of
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...
. The park is not named after the
German Wine Route which passes about 6 kilometres away, but after the county of ''
Südliche Weinstraße
Südliche Weinstraße ( pfl, Siedlischi Woischdrooß; en, "Southern Wine Route") is a district (''Kreis'') in the south of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from west clockwise) Südwestpfalz, Bad Dürkheim, the district-f ...
'' (literally "Southern Wine Road"). The tourist attraction receives about 100,000 visitors annually.
Location
The park, which is part of the Franco-German
Palatine Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve
The Franco-German Palatinate Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve (german: Biosphärenreservat Pfälzerwald-Nordvogesen, french: Réserve de biosphère transfrontalière des Vosges du Nord-Forêt palatine) was created in 1998 as the first UNESCO t ...
, is located in the
Klingbach valley and is surrounded by hills. It lies between 200 and 350 metres above sea level and has an area of about 100 hectares. The
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
border is 12 kilometres away to the south.
History
The park was based on a planning study by the president of the wildlife enclosure section of the International Hunting Association, Heinrich Prinz Reuß. The planning laid particular value on family-oriented amenities and only used land that would otherwise have been abandoned. The then Mayor of Silz, Franz Andelfinger, became involved as the ''
Oberamtsrat'' at the Südliche Weinstraße county council aiming to unite professional expertise and municipal requirements and to locate the wildlife and walking park in the parish of Silz.
The park was officially handed on 18 April 1975 by the then Minister for Transport and the Economy for Rhineland-Palatinate, Heinrich Holkenbrink.
Features
Species
15 different
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of larger animal live here, totally about 400 individuals. Some of them can be seen in the open.
Mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
s include
European bison,
red
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
and
fallow deer,
mouflon,
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 ...
,
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 u ...
,
red fox
The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the Order (biology), order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe ...
,
Arctic fox and
ferret
The ferret (''Mustela furo'') is a small, Domestication, domesticated species belonging to the family Mustelidae. The ferret is most likely a domesticated form of the wild European polecat (''Mustela putorius''), evidenced by their Hybrid (biol ...
s. In the
aviaries are
Snowy owls and
Eagle owls; in addition, there are two duck ponds.
Facilities
As well as a restaurant, kiosk und barbecue hut there is an
observation tower, a
petting zoo, a children's
play park
A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people w ...
and an adventure play area. The "short circular path" (''kleine Rundweg'') takes about an hour, the "long" walk about two hours. There are no significant steep sections. Branching paths are sometimes steeper and not suitable for
wheelchair
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...
s,
prams or
pushchairs.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sudliche Weinstrasse Wildlife Park
Zoos in Germany
Culture of the Palatinate (region)
Südliche Weinstraße
Palatinate Forest
Wasgau