Berlin Zoological Garden

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Elephant Gate, main entrance to Berlin Zoo from Budapester Straße

Berlin Zoological Garden (German: Zoologischer Garten Berlin) is one of the largest zoos in Germany and with the largest number of species of the world. It is located in Berlin Tiergarten near the S-Bahn and railway station in the city center.

Along with its aquarium, the zoological garden is one of the highlights of Berlin.

1 History
2 Animals
3 Knut the polar bear
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

Entrance to Berlin Zoo, around 1900

Flak tower (anti-aircraft blockhouse) in Berlin Zoo, after the battle. In the foreground two destroyed IS-2 tanks can be seen

Opened on August 1, 1844 the Zoologischer Garten Berlin was the first zoo in Germany. The aquarium opened 1913. The early animals were donated by Frederick William IV, King of Prussia, from the menagerie and pheasantry of the Tiergarten. During World War II, the first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin killed the only elephant in the zoo.^{[citation needed]}^[1] By the end of the war, the zoo area was completely destroyed and only 91 of 12,000 animals survived. Following their destruction during the Second World War, the zoo and the associated Aquarium have been reconstructed on the most modern principles so as to display the animals in their natural environment. The success achieved in breeding animals, including some rare species, demonstrates the efficiency of the new methods.

[edit] Animals

Today the zoo houses approximately 14,000 animals from 1500 species on a 35 hectare site in historical animal houses.

Highlights include giant pandas, which can only be seen at a few zoos in the world. All of the animals are housed in enclosures that are specially designed to recreate their natural habitat.

A breeding function of the zoo is its program maintaining the studbooks for white and black rhinoceroses and gaurs.

The Berlin Zoo is the most visited zoo in Europe with approximately 2.6 million visitors from all over the world. It is open all year long and can easily be reached by public transportation. Visitors can either enter the zoo through the exotically designed Elephant Gate beside the aquarium on Budapester Straße or through the Lion Gate on Hardenbergplatz.

Berlin also has another zoo, the Tierpark Berlin, which was previously the East Berlin zoo.

Berlin zoo is one of the few zoos to exhibit Tuatara and Luzon tarictic hornbills.

The Berlin Zoologischer Garten railway station (also known as Zoo Station) is one of Berlin's most important stations. It was the main railway station in West Berlin and played an iconic role in popular culture.

[edit] Knut the polar bear

Main article: Knut (polar bear)

Knut the polar bear.

Knut ([knuːt] (help·info)) is a polar bear who was born in captivity at the Zoo on 5 December 2006. Rejected by his mother at birth, he was subsequently raised by zookeepers. Knut became the center of a mass media phenomenon dubbed "Knutmania" that spanned the globe and quickly spawned numerous toys, media specials, DVDs, and books. Because of this, the cub was largely responsible for a significant increase in revenue, estimated at about five million euros, at the Berlin Zoo in 2007. Zoo attendance figures for the year increased by an estimated 30 percent making it the most profitable year in its 163-year history.^[2]

[edit] References

^ I believe this oft quoted statement is an "Urban Legend." James F. Dunnigan and Albert A. Nofi in their book "Dirty Little Secrets of WW2" (p. 164) make exactly the same statement about the first German bomb to fall on the city of Leningrad. Although it is possible that both statements are true, the odds are against it.
^ "Berlin Zoo culls creator of the cult of Knut", The Times, 2007-12-13. Retrieved on 2007-12-13.