Gera zoo
Gera zoo | ||
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Full name | Thuringian Forest Zoo Gera | |
particularities | has a park railway | |
place | Straße des Friedens 85 07548 Gera |
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surface | about 23 hectares | |
opening | June 30, 1962 | |
Animal species | 76 species (as of December 31, 2011) | |
Individuals | 884 animals (as of December 31, 2011) | |
Species focus | Nordic animals / animals from Eurasia | |
Visitor numbers | approx. 100,000 per year | |
organization | ||
management | Ulrich Fischer | |
Sponsorship | City of Gera | |
Funding organizations |
Geraer Wald-Eisenbahn-Verein e. V. Association of Friends and Supporters of the Gera Zoo e. V. |
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Barbary macaque in the accessible monkey forest |
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http://www.gera.de/sixcms/detail.php?id=62990 | ||
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Coordinates: 50 ° 51 ′ 59 ″ N , 12 ° 3 ′ 52 ″ E
The Thuringian Forest Zoo Gera was founded in 1962 as a small home animal enclosure and developed into the largest forest zoo in East Thuringia and one of the largest in Thuringia. It is located in the middle of the city forest - right outside the gates of Gera - in Martinsgrund. The deep gorges created by heavy erosion are a specialty .
Almost 900 animals from around 76 different species live here on an area of 20 hectares. These are mainly found in the northern hemisphere, such as fallow deer , red deer , roe deer , alpine ibex , bison or Przewalski's horses . The Gera Forest Zoo is particularly successful in keeping moose . Reindeer , yaks and European mouflons are other hoofed animals kept. The zoo keeps eagle owls , snowy owls , marsh harriers , red kites , arctic foxes and lynxes in cages and aviaries . Other birds are represented by amazons and parakeets . Ducks , geese and swans enliven the watercourses in the park. Raccoons share a facility with ferrets and raccoon dogs live with stone martens .
While the forest zoo originally showed mostly domestic animals, today there are also some exotic animals in the park. The zoo also has a walk Monkey Forest with a family group of Barbary apes . The heraldic animal of the city of Gera, the lion , is present in the forest zoo. Chinese leopards ( Panthera pardus japonensis ), an Asian subspecies of the leopard , are also housed in the same predator house. There is also a facility with rheas and llamas . The farm integrated into the forest zoo is particularly popular with children . In addition to typical farm animals such as Haflingers , chickens and ducks , old Thuringian domestic animal breeds such as the Thuringian forest goat and the Thuringian forest donkey also live here .
The Thuringian Forest Zoo Gera has a park railway . This was laid out in 1975 as a pioneer railway and today transports around 45,000 zoo visitors annually on its 800 meter long track. There is a petting zoo and adventure playgrounds. Guided tours and the numerous viewing and resting places in the park are other attractions.
The number of visitors was 107,748 in 2008.