Herford Zoo
| Herford Zoo | ||
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| place | Stadtholzstr. 234 32049 Herford |
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| surface | 3 ha | |
| opening | 1952 | |
| Animal species | 50 species | |
| Individuals | approx. 550 animals | |
| Visitor numbers | 64,000 (2017) | |
| organization | ||
| management | Sieghard Schöneberg | |
| Sponsorship | Profit company | |
| Member of | DTG | |
 Entrance to the zoo |
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| www.tierpark-herford.de | ||
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Coordinates: 52 ° 6 '23.7 " N , 8 ° 43' 6.3" E
The Herford zoo is a small zoo in the Herford district of Waldfrieden . It was therefore previously called the Waldfrieden animal park.
history
The zoo was founded in 1952 by the carpenter Walter Bobel in Schweicheln-Bermbeck. The triggering thought was a little monkey, a white-nosed monkey that arrived in Schweicheln as a thank you for a Great Dane sent from Africa. A woolly monkey and other, mostly native animals were added and a small zoo was created. But as early as 1954, the city of Herford leased the forest property on Stadtholzstraße and moved to Herford. Now, due to the space available, large game was also purchased. The interest of the local population was there because the Internet did not yet exist. The cheetah "Tilly" was u. a. engaged for participation in the film by Edgar Wallace "The Gang of Terror". Until 1975 the founder Walter Bobel and his wife Grete ran the Waldfrieden zoo with passion. Health reasons forced him to hand over the zoo to a new tenant. After wild animals such as lions, bears and monkeys were initially kept in narrow cages and enclosures, the realization prevailed that it was hardly possible to keep animals in a species-appropriate manner in the relatively small area. They separated from many wild animals, in the meantime u. a. a relatively large monkey forest was created. As the number of visitors declined over time, a private operator was found for the zoo, which had been publicly owned until then. In this context, the concept was changed and the zoo was redesigned. Today the zoo is managed by a GmbH . In 2017 Thorsten Dodt took over from his father Karl-Heinz Dodt as operations manager.
Animals
Today there are 550 animals of 50 species on an area of 3 hectares. At the end of 2016, two lynxes moved into the zoo. New for the 2017 season were: Himalayan pheasant, white-eared turaco, Canary lizard, great mara, mouflon, hunting pheasant, wild cats and Mexican king snake. There were offspring among the ring-tailed lemurs and the woolly pigs.
Other facilities
There is a children's playground and a kiosk in the zoo . The sum of 16,781 euros was donated to a crowdfunding project, thereby upgrading the playground: a five-meter-high slide tower was built, which was inaugurated at the end of February 2017. In the theme landscape European forest animals , the visitor should be brought closer to the European forest animals on a nature trail. The educational institutions in the region are addressed here. The zoo also includes the Waldfrieden café , which is located outside the site on Stadtholzstrasse .
Management and visitor numbers
The managing director is Sieghard Schöneberg, who replaced his mother in March 2009 after 16 years as managing director. Operations manager is Thorsten Dodt. In 2008 the zoo was visited by 44,935 paying guests; in 2016 there were 50,780 visitors. In 2017 more than 64,000 visitors came. The zoo is only open from March to November.
literature
- Original brochure from 1972 Print: Culemann, Hanover Edition: "20 Years of Herford Zoo"
- Former zoo tenants visited the "large building site Waldfrieden" . New Westphalian No. 63 from March 16, 1993
- It all started with a box from Africa. Westfalen-Blatt No. 180 of August 5, 2011
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Generation change in the Tierpark Waldfrieden. Neue Westfälische from June 7, 2017.
- ↑ a b c Neue Westfälische from February 23, 2017: Youngsters in the Herford zoo at the start of the season