| Bremerhaven Zoo | |
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 Bird's eye view of the Zoo (2009) | |
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| 53°32′41″N8°34′13″E / 53.54472°N 8.57028°E /53.54472; 8.57028 | |
| Location | Bremerhaven,Germany |
| Land area | 1.2 ha[1] |
| No. of animals | 292[1] |
| No. of species | 56[1] |
| Annual visitors | 100000[2] |
| Memberships | WAZA,EAZA,VDZ,yaqupacha.org, Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF),International Species Information System (ISIS) |
| Website | http://www.zoo-am-meer-bremerhaven.de/en/ |
TheBremerhaven Zoo (officiallyZoo am Meer[ˈtsoːamˈmeːɐ̯], which is German forZoo next to the Sea) is located next to the riverWeser and exhibits mainly species which live in the water or in northern environments; exceptions are, for instance,chimpanzees andWhite-headed marmosets.
The main attraction are thepolar bears, theSouth American sea-lions, theharbour seals and theSouth African fur seals.
Thenorthern gannet isnaturally abundant in Germany only since 1991 on the high-sea islandHelgoland. These birds share their area withcormorants and different ducks.
TheHumboldt penguins of the zoo became famous because there was ahomosexual penguin couple among them.
TheFischer’s chameleon was found in the woods nearBremerhaven, it is suspected that it was kept illegally by somebody and had been set free when it became too big.
In 1912, theNorth Sea Aquarium started in the cellar so-calledStrandhalle. On June 24, 1928 theTiergrotten (literallyAnimalGrotto) was opened outside theWeserembankment.
TheNorth Sea flood of 1962 killed a lot of animals in the zoo.
Major renovations took place in 1976 and from 2000 to 2004. TheZoo am Meer was opened on March 27, 2004.
Thepolar bearVictoria was transported fromTierpark Hagenbeck on January 10, 2008: (video) toZoo am Meer with the hope that she andLloyd might breed. She stayed in Bremerhaven until October 24, 2011.[3]
The polar bearIrka came fromCanada to Bremerhaven in 1979 when she was probably a year old and she spent her whole life in the zoo. She was suffering fromarthritis when she got old, but she was otherwise fit for a long time. She was euthanized on June 4, 2012 after she became disoriented, lost coordination and a blood test suggested changes in her liver. After her death a tumor was found in her liver.[4]
The eight-year-old polar bearValeska came to Bremerhaven in September 2012 from theRanua Wildlife Park in Finland as new partner forLlyod who has been in Bremerhaven since 2002.[5]
The two baby seals calledLuna andPaula were born on 21 and 22 July 2012 by different mothers.[6]
TheZoo am Meer will build a newaquarium in the cellar rooms underneath the compound of thepolar bears. The exhibit will have an area of 325 m2 and will cost around 1.5 millioneuro which will be paid by theEuropean Regional Development Fund.The operational costs is estimated to be around 70 thousandEuro per year.[7]
Valuable information was also taken from the charts in the zoo, seeOfficial English WebsiteZoo am Meer
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| National | |
