Copenhagen Zoo

Copenhagen Zoo
Full name	København Zoo
particularities	Denmark's oldest zoo and one of the oldest in Europe
place	Roskildevej 38, DK-2000 Frederiksberg
surface	11 hectares
opening	September 20, 1859
Animal species	240
Individuals	3,508
Visitor numbers	1,055,593 (as of 2010)
organization
management	Lars Lunding Andersen
Sponsorship	Zoologisk Have
Member of	EAZA , WAZA
	Main entrance of the Copenhagen Zoo
	www.zoo.dk

55.672805555556 12.521194444444Coordinates: 55 ° 40 ′ 22.1 ″ N , 12 ° 31 ′ 16.3 ″ E

The Copenhagen Zoo ( Danish København Zoo ) was founded in 1859, making it the oldest zoo in Denmark and one of the oldest in Europe. It is located in the municipality of Frederiksberg, which is enclosed by Copenhagen, and in 2010 it was home to more than 3500 animals of 240 species . In that year 162 employees were employed full-time and over 1.055 million visitors were counted.

concept

The park is a geozoo , which means that the animal species are not kept according to their families and classes, but according to regions of origin and continents. The zoo specializes in keeping northern animals such as bears , wolves and musk ox . Further attractions are the giraffe house, the night animal house The Living Night and the Tropical Zoo . As one of the few zoos outside of Australia , it offers the opportunity to watch the Tasmanian Devil .

With the new facilities currently in place and under construction, the zoo is one of the best equipped in Europe. In addition, the garden is one of the oldest zoos in Europe, which was founded in Frederiksberg Have Palace Park in 1859 .

Elephant house

On the north side, located to the park out 2008 by the architectural firm was Foster + Partners planned Elephant House opened. The entire facility has an area of over 10,000 m², of which the outdoor area takes up around 3300 m². This is separated from the castle park by a water basin and can be seen by park visitors. The construction costs of 280 million Danish kroner (about 37.5 million euros) were donated by various donors, including the Danish Holiday Fund. The building is inhabited by seven Asian elephants : the old bull Chieng Mai , the cows Jula and Winthida and the Tonsak , Surin and Kungrao imported from Thailand in 2001 and Khao Sok, born in 2013. His parents are Chang Mai and Kungrao, and he was named after a Thai national park.

history

The zoo was created on the initiative of the Danish ornithologist Niels Kjærbølling . After a visit to the Berlin Zoo in 1851, he was determined to create such an institution in Copenhagen as well, which should not lag behind other European capitals with a zoological garden. He was able to win over King Frederik VII for the idea. Kjærbølling was given the summer garden “Prinsess Vilhelmines Have” (Princess Vilhelmine's Garden) by the Copenhagen administration. The zoo opened its doors on September 20, 1859.

The animals that visitors could see at the opening were eagles, chickens, ducks, owls, rabbits, a fox, a seal in a bathtub and a turtle in a tub. In its early years, the zoo focused on showing many different species of animals. When the idea of animal welfare came into focus later, this diversity was reduced and more space was created for each animal. In addition to the live animals, visitors could also see the private collection of stuffed birds owned by the ornithologist who was entrusted with running the zoo.

The zoo is also known in Germany as the setting and background of the popular children's book "Penguin Pondus". The story is based on a king penguin who actually lives relatively free in the zoo, to whom a bronze monument is dedicated today.

Controversy

Giraffes in Copenhagen Zoo, May 2012

The zoo hit the headlines in February 2014 when the Copenhagen-born giraffe bull Marius was killed for risk of inbreeding. The 18-month-old animal was shot in the head on February 9, butchered in front of the zoo audience and then fed to the lions. Thousands of people spoke out against the killing in online petitions and the social network Facebook. The zoo's scientific director, Bengt Holst, justified the procedure on the zoo's website by stating that Copenhagen was part of an international giraffe breeding program that strictly ensured that only those giraffes that were not related to each other mate for genetic reasons Maintain diversity of the population in the zoos. According to these rules, one must kill Marius in order to maintain the health of the giraffe population in Europe's zoos. Holst then received several death threats. On the other hand, he received support from German zoo directors. The procedure was correct and it is also quite common in Germany to feed zoo animals to other zoo animals. In March 2014, the zoo killed four of the lions the giraffe had been fed to. There were two older breeding lions and their offspring, the zoo wanted to make room for a new generation.

gallery

Giant anteater ( Myrmecophaga tridactyla ) in Copenhagen Zoo
Asian elephants ( Elephas maximus ) photographed in the grounds of the elephant house in the palace gardens.
Gray heron ( Ardea cinerea ) building a nest in Frederiksberg Have Park