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Hamm: Animal Park
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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!
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
Haltern: Game Park Granat
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Where to go on a cold Saturday in November with only a few hours of daylight? So our choice fell on the natural game park Granat in Haltern Lavesum.
The roughly 600,000 square meter site near the town of Haltern-am-See between the Ruhr area and the Münsterland is teeming with hart, roe deer and other herds.
The outward appearance that reveals itself when driving into the parking lot should not be a deterrent to us. For at first the area seemed rather deserted and poorly maintained. But the first impression is deceptive.
Directly behind the cash register are the toilets. Here you should definitely stop again, because in the park there are no more toilets!
For children, here are some game options that are ideal for releasing the first "steam". On the right hand side comes the enclosure with the wild boars, which joyfully also come running in anticipation of possibly brought treats .
The wolves, who hid all the time and didn´t show themselves didn´t behaved very visitor-friendly. The densely vegetated enclosure is inhabited by two wolves (Mato and Luna). The two were raised with the bottle.
In the wetland habitat, Japanese koi carp, turtles and frogs can be observed. Parakeets, pigeons and pheasants in various colors flutter in the aviaries. Behind the biotope is the "Australia" enclosure with emus and the medium sized Benett kangaroos.
Through a gate with embedded in the ground "Cattle Grid" you enter the first free enclosure. Here you will find Vietnamese Pot-bellied pigs, moufflons and a few smaller deer species. They are almost in touch with the visitors.
Until you reach the considerable main area, you walk around the lynx enclosure. The respectable cat lies completely deep relaxed right on the fence and can hardly be disturbed in it´s cat's nap. Even the excited ladies group, shooting photos, he acknowledged only with a contemptuous pffffhht.
Afterwards we went through the wooden gate on the large outdoor area and with the encounter of a variety of different wild animals, launched our harmonious game walk.
If you want, just go for a nice round through the open terrain and enjoy the forest idyll or feed the free-roaming animals, with a corn filled feed box for 1 €.
The animals are good observers and of course they manage to find out quickly, where there is food without effort. As a visitor, you can feed the corn with a clear conscience, as it is an appropriate feed.
But beware: Before you know it, you have immediately attracted a whole herd of harts and roe deers, begging sometimes quite rude the generous feed dispenser. Comes one, come all! - is often the principle. Then just stay cool and enjoy the bliss, between the loving four-legged friends.
They are happy to keep the visitors company for a couple of time while hoping to get hold of one or the other treat.
Some particularly clever animals have already specialized in the control of jacket pockets. You always have to expect to be slobbered. Also accompanying cameras are not spared.
Grown ups and the small ones are having fun and enjoying this form of diversion without any digital fuss.
The game reserve Granat has a considerable area and the special feature here is that almost all animal species run around freely. Lots of red deer, Fallow deer, sika deer and mouflons can be admired and fed.
Together with the South American Guanacos, they move freely across the richly forested, slightly mountainous area.
This allows the guests to get to know the approximately 400 inhabitants of the game park in their natural habitat and up close.
At each enclosure signs are attached, which provide accurate information about the animals. Especially popular with them is who has a little food with them.
On the main paths there is seating everywhere. Here you can eat your own picnic, if the animal siege allows it, or just sit and watch.
Tip: The feed boxes are available either directly at the entrance, at the cash register or at the respective feed stations on the premises.
The animal park in Haltern is not only for adults, but also for families with children a nice destination, which does not take too much time. About 2 hours are sufficient for the visit.
In my opinion, the natural game park Garnet is an absolutely positive example that an animal park could also be different. Not 1000 playground equipment, no takeaways (apart from a small kiosk directly in the entrance area), but simply enjoy (almost) pure nature.
The area has its charm in every season and you take there a lot of knowledge about the animals living.
Entrance Fees / Day Tickets:
5 € adults 3 € children (2 - 12 years)