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Bochum: Animal Park
Bochum: Animal Park
-english-
Autumn hovers gray in gray. So it is difficult to find something appealing from this season. The animal park in Bochum had been on our ToDo list for some time. Now we have finally managed to visit the small but very fine park.
Who expects large animals such as elephants, lions and Co., which will be disappointed by Bochum. The small animal park shows, however, that a zoo can be worth a visit even without the Big-5 from Africa.
In the outer enclosure you will find many interesting smaller species such as different monkeys, birds and of course meerkats. The latter alone is a quality feature for a zoo, meerkats are simple must be.
With just under 2 hectares, the animal park is a relatively small and therefore manageable affair, which nestles in Bochum to the city park, that is in the middle of the city. The animal park Bochum was opened in the early 1930s.
It claims to host about 3900 animals in 336 species from around the world. Among the mammals belong here u. a. Monkeys, seals and goats as well as sheep. In addition to many species of birds, including also the pink flamingos and Humboldt penguins, there are also numerous reptiles to admire.
If you expect giraffes, lions or even elephants here, you will not find them here. You should know that. In this context, one should not compare the Bochum animal park with a large zoo, which it simply isn´t.
There are smaller animals to admire. For the animal park Bochum it´s ideal. The nice thing about being a visitor is that you come relatively close to the respective enclosures, and so, above all, even small visitors have a good view on the animals . Of course, our first stop was the meerkats, which can be found right behind the entrance.
Focus of the Bochum animal park is the Aquarium / Terrarium House, which shows a variety of reptiles, a few smaller species of monkeys and tropical fresh and saltwater fish.
Heart of the house is the 170,000 liter shark basin with a cross section through a coral reef. The Fossilium, opened in 1996 with a collection of 1400 exhibits, shows a whole range of extinct animals.
A real highlight! If you are interested, you can inspect the flora and fauna 150 million years ago in the fossil record. Alone a visit to this house is worth the way to Bochum.
In addition to the mentioned tropical fish in the coral reef basin, visitors can observe starfish, sea cucumbers, snails, sponges, turtles and caimans. Also some small monkeys are romping on the trees. These include Pygmy Marmosets and Marmosets.
In the terrariums live iguanas, frogs and water monitors. In the aquariums there is also a swarm of piranhas. The fish are actually only in tropical freshwater in South America common.
The piranhas barely move and slowly glide through the water in a big swarm. Never would you expect the danger that they can be.
If the weather is not perfect, you can seek shelter in the aquarium / terrarium house or bridge the waiting period before it stops raining. There are also many seating options here - not only on benches, but also in hooded beach chairs. There are table groups with seating where you can host a great kids birthday party.
As extraordinary as the aquarium with its fossils is, so "common" is the animal population of the rest of the animal park.
Outside the aquarium, various parrots cavort in aviaries (the budgerigars are walkable), of course flamingos aren´t missing as well as various birds of prey (from vultures to red kite).
On just under 2 ha you couldn´t expect much, but a visit to the animal park is relaxing and surprisingly informative. For example, the collectively feeding of seals and penguins in the "North Sea Worlds" facility is also recommended.
The seals share their space with the Humboldt penguins, and in the walk-in Wadden Sea you will encounter oystercatchers, spoonbills and Pied avocets.
In recent years, numerous new facilities have been added, such as the funny kattas, coatis, squirrel monkeys and keas. The entrance building is also new, has a direct connection to the aquarium and if you want to be funny, you could say that it is larger than the rest of the animal park.
Of course, from autumn onwards many of the animals in their houses are in the "winter quarters" , which are very modern, spacious and appropriately designed. In addition, many houses are very lovingly staged.
For example, the ferrets live in a cuddly garden hut, a species of lizard on an artificially created railway line, and the keas, of course, live in the "Shire" of Middle-earth with a Hobbit house.
Of course, the petting zoo is a highlight for every child. As in so many animal parks and zoos, in Bochum you can feel the goats fur and caress them extensively.
Very nice: there is not only the obligatory animal feed for purchase, but in front of the hut hanging currycombs and brushes, which you can borrow and take in to the animals enclosure. So the children can brush, caress and pamper the four-legged friends with the brushes.
About three years ago, in the animal park opened a large adventure playground. The playground itself and the area around it´s ideal for families with children. Here is the kiosk where you can buy drinks or food. Countless seating options allow adults to watch the little ones play.
The animal park makes a very clean and well-kept impression, which as well applies to the animals themselves and their enclosures. In my opinion, the park is well suited for a morning or afternoon excursion. For this I myself would plan a time period of about 2 - 3 hours to visit.
The rental of the handcarts is free. In good weather you have to be really lucky to get one.
The parking situation is not the best here. Especially at the weekends you hardly get a parking space. On busy days you should rather go directly to the nearby parking garage.
Ticket prices / day tickets Adults 7,50 Euros Discounted tickets 6,00 Euro Children & Youth 3,50 Euro Children under 3 years free Accompanying persons "B" free Dogs free
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Gelsenkirchen: Zoom
-english-
The city of Gelsenkirchen already had zoological garden 130 years ago. In 1889 Karl Cofflet decided to turn his property in Gelsenkirchen into an animal park.
He opened a tavern in 1889 and used the proceeds to gradually introduce the visitors to exotic animals as well as mongooses, macaque monkeys or some snakes.
70 years ago, the Ruhr Zoo opened then in the green area of Bismarckhain, the green area south of the Rhein-Herne-Channel, which wrote local zoo history.
Around 20 million guests visited the Ruhr Zoo in the first 40 years and admired many innovations: in 1952, the Great Ape House was opened, and the first orangutans moved in.
The animals vegetated in much too small and not very natural designed cages to themselves. Concrete and steel were the most used building materials. The wild cats paced back and forth in their cages, always facing the gaze of the visitors.
The elephants also only had a minimalist area and often stood in the same place for a long time, shifting their weight from one leg to the other and swinging their heads and their trunk from one side to the other.
Over the years, the Ruhr Zoo became less and less contemporary and less attractive. With the absence of visitors but also the problems were getting bigger. In 1987, the Zoo Foundation Association was founded.
The former Ruhr Zoo was completely renovated in the past decade (more or less razed to the ground) and renamed "Zoom Erlebniswelt" (Zoom adventure world).
Today, the Zoom Erlebniswelt offers more than 800 animals and 23 species of animals over an area of more than 30 hectares. The zoom world is divided into three thematic areas: Alaska, Africa and Asia.
At the entrance arised the "Grimberger Hof" with beer garden, petting zoo, climbing playground and rare German livestock such as Danish Protest Pig or the Hinterwald Cattle.
Alaska gives you an insight into the different vegetation zones of North America: the 1.3 kilometer circular trail leads us from the coastal rainforests over the tundra and the rocky mountain landscape to the polar region.
At least as exciting is the abandoned mine directly opposite the bear enclosure. Once upon a time, the gold diggers must have dug for their luck here.
The landscapes and enclosures are perfectly designed to the theme and come up with many small details. We walk like adventurers between rocks and rivers. Waterfalls with adventurous suspension bridges doing a spectacular scenario for the bears and for us to watch.
Special features here include the underwater glass tunnel in the basin of the California Sea Lions and the 3,000 m² bear complex that shows Polar, Kamchatka and Kodiak bears.
The safari through Africa takes us, next to the lions first, over a total distance of 1.8 kilometers. However, they have made themselves quite comfortable and doze well camouflaged in their enclosure.
Africa shows a village with domestic breeds, savanna scenery and the rainforest. A boat trip leads around the baboon rocks and along the different landscape enclosures.
The vast savanna with zebras, various gazelles and antelopes seemed endless. This impression is supported by the fact that it pulls along a slight slope, so that the otherworldly boundary isn´t visible to fast.
There is also an island where you walk through the enclosure of a group of lemurs, completely fenced off. If you do not like it, you can alternatively choose the path around the enclosure.
Asia is the youngest area with jungles, orangutans and many small Asian animals. A 1,300-meter-long promenade, sometimes even 5 meters in the height, meanders through the jungle. In addition, there is an indoor playground and a food court, which also served evening hours.
The gastronomy doesn´t stands out despite thematic naming, for example Africa Lodge or Alaska Diner, from the usual average offer.
Prices / Day ticket summer: Adults € 21.50 Children (4 to 12 years) 14,00 € Pupils and students with valid ID 16,00 € Dogs 6,00 € Prices / day ticket winter: Adults € 15.50 Children (4 to 12 years) 10,50 € Students and students with valid ID 12.50 € Dogs 5.00 € For the parking lot 6 Euro are cheekily charged as a daily rate!
Bochum: Tierpark
- Deutsch/German -
Der Herbst wabert so grau in grau vor sich hin. Da fällt es schwer, dieser Jahreszeit etwas Gutes abzugewinnen. Der Tierpark in Bochum stand schon länger auf unserer ToDo-Liste. Nun haben wir es endlich geschafft, den kleinen aber sehr feinen Zoo zu besuchen.
Wer große Tiere wie Elefanten, Löwen und Co. erwartet, der wird von Bochum enttäuscht sein. Der kleine Tierpark zeigt aber, dass ein Zoo auch ohne die Big-5 aus Afrika einen Besuch wert sein kann.
In den Aussengehegen findet man viele interessante kleinere Tierarten, wie verschiedene Affen, Vögel und natürlich Erdmännchen. Letzteres alleine ist für uns schon ein Qualitätsmerkmal für einen Zoo, Erdmännchen müssen einfach sein.
Mit knapp 2 Hektar Fläche ist der Tierpark eine relativ kleine und damit überschaubare Angelegenheit, der sich in Bochum an den Stadtpark anschmiegt, also mitten in der Stadt ist. Eröffnet wurde der Tierpark Bochum Anfang der 1930er-Jahre.
Er beherbergt nach eigenen Angaben rund 3900 Tiere in 336 Arten aus der ganzen Welt . Zu den Säugetieren gehören hier u. a. Affen, Seehunde und Ziegen sowie Schafe. Neben vielen Vogelarten, wozu u. a. auch die rosa Flamingos und Humboldt-Pinguine gehören, gibt es auch zahlreiche Reptilien zu bestaunen.
Wer hier Giraffen, Löwen oder auch Elefanten erwartet, der wird sie hier nicht vorfinden. Das sollte man einfach wissen. Man darf den Bochumer Tierpark in diesem Zusammenhang keinesfalls mit einem großen Zoo vergleichen, den das ist er einfach nicht.
Hier gibt es eher kleinere Tiere zu bestaunen. Dafür ist der Bochumer Tierpark bestens geeignet. Das Schöne als Besucher ist, dass man relativ nah an die jeweiligen Gehege kommt, und damit vor allen Dingen auch kleine Besucher die Tiere so auch besser sehen können. Unsere erste Station waren natürlich die Erdmännchen, die direkt hinter dem Eingang zu finden sind.
Schwerpunkt des Bochumer Tierparks bildet das Aquarien-/Terrarienhaus, das eine Vielzahl an Reptilien, ein paar kleinere Affenarten sowie tropische Süß- und Meerwasserfische zeigt.
Herz des Hauses ist das 170.000 Liter fassende Hai-Becken mit einem Querschnitt durch ein Korallenriff. Das 1996 eröffnete Fossilium mit der 1400 Exponate umfassenden Fossilien-Sammlung zeigt eine ganze Palette ausgestorbener Tiere.
Ein wirkliches Highlight! Wer sich dafür interessiert, kann im Fossilium die Tier- und Pflanzenwelt vor 150 Millionen Jahren begutachten. Alleine ein Besuch dieses Hauses ist den Weg nach Bochum wert.
Neben den erwähnten tropischen Fischen im Korallenriffbecken, können Besucher Seesterne, Seegurken, Schnecken, Schwämme, Schildkröten und Kaimane beobachten. Auch einige kleine Affenarten turnen auf den Bäumen umher. Dazu gehören Zwergseidenäffchen und Krallenaffen.
In den Terrarien wohnen Leguane, Frösche und Warane. In den Aquarien findet sich auch ein Schwarm von Piranhas. Die Fische kommen ja eigentlich nur in tropischen Süßgewässern in Südamerika vor.
Die Piranhas bewegen sich kaum und gleiten langsam in einem großen Schwarm durchs Wasser. Niemals würde man ihnen so die Gefahr, die sie darstellen können, ansehen.
Bei nicht ganz perfekten Wetter kann man im Aquarien-/Terrarienhaus Schutz suchen oder die Wartezeit, bis es aufhört zu regnen, überbrücken. Hier gibt es dann auch viele Sitzmöglichkeiten - nicht nur auf Bänken, sondern auch in Strandkörben. Es gibt Tischgruppen mit Bestuhlung an denen sich prima ein Kindergeburtstag gestalten lässt.
So außergewöhnlich das Aquarium mit seinen Fossilien auch ist, so „gewöhnlich“ ist der Tierbestand des restlichen Zoos.
Außerhalb des Aquariums tummeln sich verschiedene Papageien in Volieren (die der Wellensittiche ist begehbar), Flamingos fehlen ebenso wenig wie verschiedene Greifvögel (vom Geier bis zum Milan).
Auf knapp 2 ha kann man könnte nicht viel erwarten und doch ist ein Besuch des Tierparks entspannend und überraschend informativ. Empfehlenswert ist beispielsweise auch die gemeinsame Fütterung von Seehunden und Pinguinen in der Anlage "Nordseewelten".
Die Seehunde teilen sich ihre Anlage mit den Humboldt-Pinguinen und in der begehbaren Watt-Anlage trifft man auf Austernfischer, Löffler und Säbelschnäbler.
In den letzten Jahren sind zahlreiche neue Anlagen hinzugekommen, etwa für die lustigen Kattas, Nasenbären, Totenkopfäffchen und Keas. Auch das Eingangsgebäude ist neu, weist eine direkte Verbindung zum Aquarium auf und wenn man witzig sein möchte, könnte man behaupten, dass es größer als der restliche Zoo ist.
Ab dem Herbst sind natürlich viele Tiere in ihren Häusern im "Winterquartier", die sehr modern, geräumig und artgerecht gestaltet sind. Darüber hinaus sind viele Häuser sehr liebevoll in Szene gesetzt.
Die Frettchen wohnen zum Beispiel in einer knuffig gestalteten Gartenhütte, eine Echsenart auf einer künstlich angelegten Bahnstrecke und die Keas leben natürlich im "Auenland" selbstverständlich mit einem Hobbit-Haus.
Der Streichelzoo ist natürlich für jedes Kind ein Highlight. Wie in so vielen Tierparks und Zoos kann man auch in Bochum Ziegen aufs Fell fühlen und sie ausgiebig liebkosen.
Sehr nett: es gibt nicht nur das obligatorische Tierfutter zum Kauf, sondern vor der Hütte hängen Striegel und Bürsten, die man ausleihen und mit zu den Tieren rein nehmen kann. So können die Kinder die Vierbeiner mit den Bürsten striegeln, streicheln und verwöhnen.
Vor rund drei Jahren eröffnete im Tierpark ein großer Abenteuerspielplatz. Der Spielplatz selbst und der Bereich um diesen herum ist ideal für Familien mit Kindern.
Hier befindet sich u. a. der Kiosk, wo man Getränke oder Essen kaufen kann. Unzählige Sitzmöglichkeiten ermöglichen den Erwachsenen den Kleinen beim Spielen zuzuschauen.
Der Tierpark macht einen sehr sauberen und gepflegten Eindruck, was auch für die Tiere selbst und deren Gehege gilt.
Meiner Meinung nach ist der Tierpark bestens für einen Ausflug am Vormittag oder Nachmittag geeignet. Hierfür würde ich selbst einen Zeitraum von etwa 2 – 3 Stunden zur Besichtigung einplanen.
Eintrittspreise/Tageskarten
Erwachsene 7,50 Euro Ermäßigte Tickets 6,00 Euro Kinder & Jugendliche 3,50 Euro Kinder unter 3 Jahren frei Begleitpersonen bei "B" frei Hunde frei
Der Verleih der Bollerwagen ist kostenlos. Bei gutem Wetter muss man aber wirklich Glück haben, dass man überhaupt einen bekommt.
Die Parkplatzsituation ist hier nicht die Beste. Vor allen Dingen am Wochenende bekommt man kaum einen Parkplatz. An stark besuchten Tagen sollte man lieber direkt ins nahe gelegene Parkhaus fahren.
Hamm: Animal Park
-english-
What to do on a semi-gloomy day in rainy November with short days? Right! You went to a nearby zoo. In order not to waste too much time with the approach with short daylight, it should be the animal park in Hamm.
What a positive surprise! Of course, this animal park can not sting against the big, well-known zoos, but it's still an insider's tip.
From the presentation Hamm is also more classic, not with over-the-top theme area decoration, but nicely laid out and maintained.
Due to the season, it was decorated throughout the area with autumnal decor. No expensive art installations, no pompous figures, but small, nice and above all natural details.
The special feature is that the animal park Hamm works wherever possible with walk-in enclosures. Not only to the Bennet kangaroos the visitors can stroll in, but also to various birds, goats, sheep and - my personal highlight - the alpacas.
Because you are allowed to feed many animals with the food from the everywhere available machines, they are particularly tame and like to come to the fence. So we could cuddle not only the alpacas, but also crawling camels, donkeys and eland antelopes, even the otherwise nocturnal porcupines mutated to deeply affectionated smoochers.
I can imagine that this concept has not only proponents. Every zoo raises ethical questions, no question at all, and there are always different answers, depending on point of view and reasoning.
At least there were retreats for the animals everywhere, and a lot of staff was always in sight, or came straight to it when it became confusing, so that inappropriate behavior could have be quickly stopped.
The animal park Hamm was opened by the participation of the members of the association "citizens' initiative animal park" in 1934. The history of the park begins with the founding of the association.
The facilities for the animal and plant garden were built in the Southern city park, which the city provided. The first enclosures were built in "self-help".
The first animal park in Hamm was initially without big cats and attractions. Pheasants, guinea pigs, budgerigars and canaries were the first "permanent guests" of the small park. Later, fallow deer, deer and a wild boar were added.
On June 30, 1934 Mayor Leinberger opened the resulting first animal park. The association now had 6,000 members and thus became something of a popular movement in the city of Hamm.
He improved in the following years with a varied entertainment program, which was offered with the participation of the Heesen forest stage, his finances. As the zoo also attracted around 100,000 visitors per year, the expansion continued swiftly.
However, the first animal park continuanced only until the 22th April 1944 . The park was the victim of the bombing of the Second World War. During the war, 166 bombs and 17 aerial mines had fallen on the park terrain.
Eyewitnesses later reported that the park was littered with bombs, but only injured and no dead were complained.
The surviving animals were temporarily housed at a peasant in Uentrop. Consumable animals such as deer or wild boar were slaughtered and distributed.
The population of the city were responsible for disassembling the remaining stables and enclosures by demolished the remaining material to mend their damaged or destroyed homes.
Luckily, the animal park also profited from the post-war optimism. First, bomb craters had to be refilled and the paths repaired. Every evening, volunteers met and did the necessary work with a pick and shovel alone.
On March 28th, 1949 the "association animal and plant garden" was re-established and by the end of the year the association already had 800 members. And so the park was rebuilt in 1951 and reopened.
In 1977, the animal asylum of the city of Hamm was established adjacent to the zoo. Visitors can "borrow" a dog and go for a walk with it. We found it particularly great that the cats, who are familiar with free roaming around, are allowed to use the animal park as their personal space.
Visitors will find cats everywhere, looking everywhere and decimating the uninvited mice and rats, which are inevitably always close to their feed. A win-win situation for everyone.
Unfortunately, the natural history museum in the animal park, completed in 1982, is currently closed, and the exhibition has been dismantled. The Museum of Natural History was born, among other things, from the consideration that a small animal park like Hamm would not be able to keep all or even the most important native species of animals species-appropriate.
However, in order to be able to show the local wildlife and their habitats for educational purposes, the three halls of the museum were equipped with a permanent exhibition of corresponding animal preparations. There is not much left.
Today the animal park in Hamm is a great destination for the whole family. Nearly 200,000 people now visit the zoo every year. On 6.5 hectares, there are about 500 animals from over 80 species to discover - many of them even up close, because some enclosures are even walkable.
How to get casually closer to the alpacas like never before! With feed pellets from the machines of the park you can feed almost all ungulates by yourself.
Although a variety of different animal species are shown in Hamm, the number of predators and primates is surprisingly high. Fossas, Tayras and Bornean gibbons are among the rarer species shown.
The meerkats are trusting and have a very large and modern enclosure available and the new Mandrill house we found very nicely done.
Unfortunately, other monkeys still live in completely outdated enclosures. Completely indiscussable are the enclosures of the big cats: Cougar and Tiger. Not only did the blood in our veins froze, but other visitors turned away with horror. Terrible!
Hope for improvement brings the development concept 2025, which wants to fix obvious deficiencies with 12 million euros. It remains to be hoped that the animal park will reach this future, because money problems run through the entire history of the park.
With the many animals in the park the animal park has a special attention to the "animal seniors". The astonishing number of older animals that have reached a considerable age here, which is well above the normal life expectancy, testify to the good care of the animals.
On the big playground of the park the children can let off steam later. The newly designed playground provides swings, slides and climbing frames for the little visitors.
Meanwhile, parents can enjoy a cup of coffee in the Tier park restaurant. Here would be a "slight" increase in the offer, which goes beyond the baked waffles and chips with Currywurst, desirable. Surely everyone likes a nice piece of apple pie or cheesecake ?!
Overall, we had a really nice morning in the animal park Hamm. Even if there are still many things to improve, the park made a lovingly tended impression on us. In about three hours we made the tour along all enclosures.
Parking: relatively small free parking, otherwise on the street (free). Opening hours: daily from 9am to 5pm, from March to October to 6:30 pm.
Entrance Fees / Day Tickets: Adults 7.50 Euro, Children (from three to 18 years) 4,50 Euro, from two children, the family card pays off (if both parents are present). With Ruhr.Topcard one-time free admission. Pupils and students (from 18 years, with valid ID) 6,50 € People with disabilities (with B, G, aG, H, Gl or Bl): Adults € 6.00 Children 4,00 € For a B or an H in the ID card, an accompanying person has free admission. Animal food: small 1.00 €, large 2.00 € Handcart rental 2.00 € Dogs allowed!
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