Wolfgang Puschmann (zoologist)

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Wolfgang Puschmann (born September 15, 1933 in Meerane , † August 19, 2008 in Leipzig ) was a German zoologist and zoo director.

Life

Wolfgang Puschmann was born on September 15th as the son of a pastor's family in Meerane in Saxony . He spent his childhood in Zwickau , where he also went to school and graduated from high school in 1952 . Puschmann began studying biology in 1952 at the Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald. In 1953 he moved to the University of Leipzig , where he graduated with a diploma in 1957. During his studies, Puschmann had already established connections with the Leipzig Zoo and its director Ludwig Zukowsky as well as the then assistant Lothar Dittrich . In 1958, Puschmann was able to join the Leipzig Zoo as a scientific assistant, even if he initially had to be content with reallocating the position of a toilet woman. From 1961 he held the position of curator for mammals. In 1963 he finally became assistant director at the Leipzig Zoo. On April 1, 1979, Puschmann moved to the Magdeburg Zoological Garden as director . After the political turning point, he held this position until he retired on September 30, 1998. For family reasons he moved back to Leipzig, where he died on August 19, 2008 after a long, serious illness.

Act

Already during his biology studies, Puschmann is said to have devoted himself to teaching at the technical college for medical taxidermists in Leipzig. In Leipzig Zoo he gained recognition primarily through the establishment of the internationally renowned breeding of Amur tigers . The coveted Leipzig tiger offspring often left the trade fair city in exchange for other precious rarities. In Magdeburg, Puschmann took over a zoo in need of renovation with large plans, which at that time consisted mostly of makeshift arrangements, apart from a modern pachyderm house. Although the situation seemed hopeless at the beginning, Puschmann succeeded in the subsequent 19 years of service in the gradual realization of numerous enclosures according to modern criteria, accompanied by the acquisition of numerous attractive and rare zoo animal species. The culmination of this development was the construction of a highly regarded giraffe house as part of a television show in record time. When he handed over the office, he left an ape house under construction to his long-term deputy and successor in the directorate, Michael Schröpel .

Puschmann made great contributions as the author of the mammal volume for the textbook for zoo animal keepers in the GDR . After several revisions, this book has now become a compact reference work for all those interested in zoo. Puschmann worked on the revision for the fifth edition until his death.

From 1991 to 1995 Puschmann was Vice President of the Association of German Zoo Directors, from 1995 to 1997 its President.

Works

  • Teaching materials for apprenticeship training and adult qualifications for zoo animal keepers (zoo keepers, zoological gardens and animal parks). Mammals.
  • Wild animals in human hands. Volume 2: Mammals. (from 1975 in several editions under changed titles of the multi-volume complete works; excerpts translated into Finnish)
  • (together with Günther Pilz): Animals around us. (in several editions)
  • (as editor): Zoo animals. Leipzig 1989, ISBN 3-323-00280-6 (Lexicon in the Bibliographisches Institut Leipzig)

literature

  • Wolfgang Puschmann (Ed.): Zoo animal husbandry. Animals in human care. Mammals. 4th edition, Frankfurt 2004, ISBN 3-8171-1620-9 , p. 780 ( online ).
  • Michael Schröpel: Under the sign of the lynx. 50 years of Magdeburg Zoo. Zoological Garden, Magdeburg [2000].
  • Michael Schröpel: Obituary for old zoo director Wolfgang Puschmann (Sept. 15, 1933– Aug. 19, 2008). In: The Zoological Garden. New series, Vol. 78 (2009), pp. 149–153, doi: 10.1016 / j.zoolgart.2009.02.006 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Schröpel 2009
  2. ↑ a b c d Puschmann 2004, page 780
  3. ↑ Schröpel n.d., pages: 69 and 113
  4. ↑ Wolfgang Puschmann: Overture to a show that turned into a thriller. Felis 10 (1992), pages 40-42, ISSN  0232-8593

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Puschmann, Wolfgang
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German zoologist and zoo director
DATE OF BIRTH September 15, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH Meerane
DATE OF DEATH August 19, 2008
Place of death Leipzig