Walter Encke

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Walter Encke (born January 19, 1931 in Cologne ) is a German zoologist. From 1959 to 1996 he was director of the Krefeld Zoological Garden .

Life

Walter Encke is a son of the evangelical clergyman Hans Encke and a grandson of the garden architect Fritz Encke . He attended the humanistic Dreikönigsgymnasium and the natural science Humboldt-Gymnasium in Cologne. From 1952 he studied natural sciences in Cologne, Tübingen and Bonn (among others with Erwin Bünning , Emil Heitz and Hermann Wurmbach ) and received his doctorate in 1957 with Rolf Danneel with a thesis on the influence of chromogen, ferment and inhibitor on the body pigmentation of Drosophila melanogaster .

After his first zoological experience in Cologne Zoo , Encke was entrusted with the management of the Krefeld zoo in 1959. At that time, at the age of 28, as five years earlier, he was Heinz-Georg Klös in the Osnabrück Zoo , currently Germany's youngest zoo director. He ran the Krefeld Zoo until 1996.

Walter Encke is married to the photographer Bruni Encke and has four children with her. The son Dag Encke is the director of the Nuremberg Zoo .

Services

Walter Encke had to do basic construction work in the initially very small zoo in the city of Krefeld, because apart from the historical tree population, a small castle used for gastronomy purposes and an approximately 300-year-old farmhouse that had fallen into disrepair, he found little. "In terms of animal houses, there is a terrible monkey house with four inside and outside boxes for baboons and monkeys, a small bird house, a dungeon-like shelter for bears and an unfinished so-called dog shelter." He developed a concept "which had to lead to the consolidation of the almost dying zoo" and contained directional objectives for future development. It was also important not to be in direct competition with the zoological gardens in neighboring cities by creating a new, characteristic profile. The focus was on "the optimal keeping of wild animals in the most natural environment possible with high aesthetic standards". When selecting the animals, in addition to the animal world of the African steppe, Encke placed a focus on the animal world of South America and principally on "keeping rare animals that are often endangered in nature with the aim of conservation breeding." He also attached particular importance to the preservation of the park character and the adjacent beech forest.

The ape tropical house, which opened in 1975, brought the zoo international recognition. It was based on the field research by Jane Goodall and George B. Schaller and was an absolute novelty for those times "when people still worshiped the aseptic 'bathroom tile' attitude". It followed later u. a. an outdoor enclosure for Guereza monkeys , in 1988 a 560 m² large free flight hall (bird tropical hall) and in 1998 the 1,100 m² rainforest house, also named "Gehlenhalle" after the founder Walter Gehlen.

For example, under the direction of Walter Encke, the Krefeld Zoo was able to raise the world's first cheetahs born in a zoo and in 1962, after purchasing a snow leopard, set up the first flourishing Irbis breed in German zoos, from which more than 20 snow leopards were sent around the world between 1964 and 1996 were. The other breeding successes of this time include u. a. the hyenas , brown-bristle armadillos , tayras , red-billed tokos , maned wolves , elk , white -naped cranes and mountain anoas .

Articles (selection)

  • (1963): Report on the birth and rearing of cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) in the Krefeld zoo. In: Zool. Garten (NF), Vol. 27, pp. 177-181.
  • (1965): Rearing of bristle armadillos (Chaetophractus villosus). In: Zool. Garten (NF), Vol. 31, pp. 88-90.
  • (1968): A Note on Breeding and Rearing of Tayras (Eira Barbara) at Krefeld Zoo. In: Intern. Zoo Yearbook , 8, p. 132.
  • (1969): Breeding of the red-billed potato (Tockus erythrorhynchus). In: Der Zoologischer Garten , Vol. 37, H. 1-3, pp. 111-113.
  • (1970): Observations and experiences with the keeping and breeding of maned wolves in the Krefeld zoo. In: Freunde des Kölner Zoo , 13. Jr., H. 2, pp. 69–75.
  • (1980): with Reinhold Gandras: The problem of keeping primates in zoological gardens. Negotiation report of the 22nd Int. Symposium on diseases of zoo animals. , Pp. 191-193.
  • (1991): White-naped cranes - loan from nature - keeping and breeding of Grus Vipio in the Krefeld Zoo. In: Zoo Pedagogy Classes , Vol. 1, Vol. 1, pp. 301–317.
  • (1992): keeping of Tamanduas (Tamandua tetradactyla) in the Krefeld Zoo from 1968–1992. In: Der Zoologischer Garten , 62 (NF), H. 6, P. 369–378.
  • (2003): From the bee-eater - to the kingfisher breeding wall : Transferring experiences from the zoo to the great outdoors. In: Der Zoologische Garten , 73, H. 6, S. 402-408.

literature

  • Walter Encke: memories of a paradise. Looking back on 37 years of zoological activity as head of the Krefeld Zoological Garden (1959–1996). In: The home. Krefelder Jahrbuch , vol. 77, November 2006, pp. 103–128.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gereon Tönnihsen: Zoo anniversary: ​​Interview with ex-director Walter Encke: "Rhinos are wonderful". download August 18, 2018.
  2. ↑ Krefeld Zoo: Great photos by Bruni Encke download August 18, 2018.
  3. ↑ Walter Encke: Memories of a paradise. Looking back on 37 years of zoological activity as head of the Krefeld Zoological Garden (1959–1996). In: The home. Krefelder Jahrbuch , vol. 77, November 2006, pp. 103–128, here p. 103.
  4. ↑ Walter Encke: Memories of a paradise. Looking back on 37 years of zoological activity as head of the Krefeld Zoological Garden (1959–1996). In: The home. Krefelder Jahrbuch , vol. 77, November 2006, pp. 103–128, p. 104
  5. ↑ Walter Encke: Memories of a paradise. Looking back on 37 years of zoological activity as head of the Krefeld Zoological Garden (1959–1996). In: The home. Krefelder Jahrbuch , vol. 77, November 2006, pp. 103–128, pp. 110f.
  6. ↑ Walter Encke: Memories of a paradise. Looking back on 37 years of zoological activity as head of the Krefeld Zoological Garden (1959–1996). In: The home. Krefelder Jahrbuch , vol. 77, November 2006, pp. 103–128, pp. 115, 116
personal data
SURNAME Encke, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German zoologist and zoo director
DATE OF BIRTH January 19, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Cologne