NUREMBERG ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN

Nuremberg Zoo, originally founded in 1912 as a joint-stock company, covered a 24-hectare area. In May 1939, the Tiergarten was transferred to the edge of a big forest area east of Nuremberg city. Different natural biotopes of medieval sandstone quarries, mixed woodlands, meadows, natural slopes and artificial ponds on this 63-hectare zoo site offers environments for many native species in addition to the zoo animals. This led to the zoo being designated as a protected area according to the EU Natura 2000 programme, specifically through its Birds Directive (1979) and Habitat Directive (1991).

The design of the zoo aimed at an integration of enclosures and landscape. Following the ideas of Carl Hagenbeck, it was felt that animals should no longer be kept solitary in cages but in spacious panoramas with the opportunity to form natural social groups. Some 2,500 animals from 280 species form the present stock, specialised on rare hoofstock, birds of prey and aquatic mammals.

The dolphinarium was built in 1971, where the zoo's oldest (48 years old) dolphin is living and where five dolphins can be raised. In the small tropic house 16 manatees have been raised since 1977, including a pair of twins, some of them second generation and these now live in Japan, Singapore, France, Netherlands and Germany. For the dolphins there is an outside lagoon comprising 800m² and 4,000m³, and a new manatee house is scheduled to be built. Supporting the Yaqu Pacha e.V., a society focusing on research and conservation of South American aquatic mammals, the dolphinarium and manatee house are also involved with in-situ conservation.

The zoo's development was shifted toward conservation breeding decades ago. Nuremberg Zoo joined 35 European Breeding Programmes (EEPs) and co-ordinates the programmes for the Malayan tapirs and Caribbean manatees. Throughout its history, the zoo has had success in breeding a variety of mostly endangered species. It is also involved in programmes for reintroducing species into the wild: Przewalski horses in Mongolia; Alpine ibex and Bearded Vultures in the European Alps, Waldrapp ibisses in Morocco, Ural owls in the Bavarian Forest National Park and European lynxes in Poland.

Underpinning its commitment to nature conservation, Nuremberg Zoo has strong interests in animal welfare generally. A three-year continuous, scientific study by Bayreuth University on the effects on dolphins of husbandry and trained performances revealed very low levels of cortisol hormones, effectively closing the discussion about stress in dolphins caused by these practices. New enclosures for gorillas, sealions, polar bears and so on are spacious, multiple structured and provide a mostly natural environment. For species that tend to show stereotypical behaviour under certain environmental conditions, martens for example, the zoo provides specialist facilities, such as its 600m² biotope for Yellow-throated martens.