Schönbrunn Zoo

Schönbrunn Zoo, located in the garden of Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna’s 13th district of Hietzing, was created by the Habsburgs in 1752 and is the world’s oldest zoo.Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck, a zoologist, has been the zoo’s director since 2020.Every year since 2006, the zoo has attracted over 2 million visitors.On a 17-hectare space, there are around 7,800 animals representing 700 species.In Anthony Sheridan’s zoo rating, the zoo was named the “Best European Zoo Award” in group A (more than 1 million visitors) six years in a row (2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018, and 2021).

Exhibits

Schönbrunn Zoo is one of Europe’s few zoos that exhibits giant pandas.Two animals arrived in Vienna in 2003, the female Yang Yang (“sunshine”) and the male Long Hui (“dragon sign”), ensuring extraordinary breeding success.Long Hui died in December 2016 as a result of tumor complications. Yuan Yuan, a new male panda, arrived in the zoo in April 2019.

The polar bear display is housed at the Franz Josef Land building, which includes a pool where visitors may see the bears swim underwater. The building measures 1,700 square meters in size. The name pays homage to Austria-Hungary’s previous successful voyage to the Arctic. The Polar Dome tourist center has been named a ‘Arctic Ambassador Centre’ by Polar Bears International.

The South American sea lion may be found outside the Polarium display. Inside are king penguins and northern rockhopper penguins, for which the seasonal light and climatic conditions of their native habitats are replicated, with temperatures hovering around 10 °C in the chamber and 8 °C in the ocean.

The Rainforest House exhibit debuted in 2002, the zoo’s 250th anniversary year. Inside the glass house is a recreation of a south-east Asian rainforest mountain slope. The uncommon northern river terrapin, Asian small-clawed otters, several bird species, flying foxes, and Fiji banded iguanas may all be found here. It is maintained that temperatures do not dip below 25 °C and humidity does not fall below 80% at any time of year.

The original Palm House, erected in the 19th century under Emperor Franz I and used as a film studio from 1920, was revitalized in 2009 and has been home to orangutans since then. ‘Atelier Nonja,’ the neighboring café-restaurant, has reproductions of Nonja’s artwork on display.Nonja is well-known for the paintings she created with the paints and brushes she was given to pass her time in the 1990s.

The Insectarium, which opened in 2005, houses insects in 14 terrariums.

The crocodile pavilion leads to the Aquarium and Terrarium House. The aquarium has piranhas, lionfish, moray eels, and rays, as well as a massive coral reef with hundreds of Indo-Pacific fish. The Schönbrunn Zoo has the most jellyfish species in the world.[Citation required]A tunnel aquarium filled with arapaimas leads guests into the terrarium structure, which houses snakes, iguanas, Aldabra giant tortoises, and other reptiles.

The Haidachhof, a two-story Lower Inn Valley single-structure farm erected in 1722, is a listed building that was disassembled in Brandenberg, Tyrol, and rebuilt at the zoo. Since then, the stables have housed endangered farm animals such as Tux-Zillertal, Pustertaler Sprinzen, Noriker horses, Carinthian sheep, Original Braunvieh, Tauernsheck goats, and Sulmtaler poultry.

The Nature Discovery Trail is a route that leads from the Tirolerhof (Tyrolean farmyard) up 10 meters into the forest canopy, allowing visitors to watch native bird species. The route through the woodland continues through outdoor terrariums containing native reptiles and amphibians. The ‘Am Wasser’ (At the Waterside) part showcases the world of local species in big tanks.

The South America Park houses giant anteaters, capybaras, Brazilian tapirs, vicuas, and larger rheas. The outside space has been designed to replicate a pampas environment complete with hills and ponds.

Visitors are welcome to engage with tiny domestic animals such as guinea pigs at the neighboring Pet Park.

The Big Cat House connects to the indoor enclosures that house Amur leopards and Siberian tigers. Each species may enjoy a huge planted outdoor space adjacent to the structure, complete with elevated platforms, ponds, and plants for hiding. Helmut Pechlaner’s creativity is regularly recognized in the cheetah cage. In 1994, he had the asphalted visiting area transformed into an outdoor setting, allowing guests to see the animals from the old cages.

The Birdhouse consists of two open-air rooms that each offer a separate scenery and native wildlife: the African savannah and the South American tropics, each with hundreds of birds amid a rich forest of plants. Linnaeus’ two-toed sloths live in the zoo’s central hall.

Fancy rats, Gambian pouched rats, and Northern Luzon huge cloud rats live at the Rat House. Visitors may see the nocturnal rodents climbing, bathing, and digging thanks to special lighting equipment that adapts to the rhythms of the day and night.

After two prior conversions (1906, 1930), the historic Monkey House building had a thorough makeover in 2012 and now houses king colobus, meerkats, red ruffed lemurs, pygmy marmosets, common squirrel monkeys, emperor tamarins, and Goeldi’s marmosets.

In the Rhino Park, two Indian rhinoceros share 6,000 square meters with other Asian species such as nilgais, indochinese sika deer, and blackbucks.

In 2017, the ancient Giraffe House was renovated. In compliance with conservation standards, a winter garden was erected to the back of the building to provide extra area for the giraffes during the winter months. The solar system integrated into the glass roof generates all of the power required by the enclosure. The heat that builds during the day is converted into night-time heating by a layer of gravel in the basement. For its use of these technology, the zoo received the City of Vienna’s environmental prize.

Smaller species of animals from the same habitat as the giraffes, such as common dwarf mongooses and Von der Decken’s hornbills, which forage together in the wild, and southern ground hornbills, who reside in the same outdoor enclosure as the giraffes, dwell in the East Africa House.

The Desert House stands opposite the Palm House at the zoo’s entry gates. A circuit road winds through a desert ecosystem filled with rattlesnakes, naked mole rats, colorful birds, and other desert wildlife. The botanical emphasis is on cactus and other succulents.

History

The idea for Schönbrunn Zoo came from Francis Stephen of Lorraine, the spouse of Maria Theresa, the empress of the Habsburg dynasty at the time. Francis Stephen commissioned the architect Jean Nicolas Jadot de Ville-Issey to create a menagerie in the garden of the Habsburg-Lorraine summer house in Schönbrunn in 1745.

The park was built with twelve enclosures, each with an equally large shelter for the animals and an administration house with a front garden. Later, a pond and two yards were constructed. In the summer of 1752, the menagerie was shown to guests following a year of building. The octagonal pavilion in the center of the site, which was built up as a breakfast and social area in 1759, was the last part to be constructed. It is remains the zoo’s historical heart to this day. Since 1949, it has been utilized as a restaurant.

The first elephant came at Schönbrunn Zoo in 1770, while the first predators arrived in 1781: wolves and bears. Around 1800, the first polar bears, large cats, hyenas, and kangaroos came, along with another pair of Asian elephants. The zoo was originally restricted for the royal family, but students, embassies, and private visitors were eventually allowed to enter. In 1778, the menagerie, palace, and park were opened to “decently dressed persons” (at first just on Sundays). The unusual creatures drew a large number of tourists, not only from Vienna and the neighboring areas, but also from other nations. The zoo was already available to tourists on a daily basis at that point, and the first thorough descriptions and zoo guides were being produced.

In 1828, the Viceroy of Egypt presented Schönbrunn Zoo with its first giraffe. Its introduction sparked a true frenzy and affected Vienna’s dress, handicrafts, and social life. Clothes, shoes, and kitchenware with giraffe themes were produced, as well as hairstyles, a perfume, a play, and two pieces à la giraffe.

The appearance of the menagerie altered dramatically towards the end of the nineteenth century. Alois Kraus, the zoo’s director from 1879 until early 1919, reorganized the old grounds to make them more suited for the animals and simpler to visit for the public. Animal cages and farm buildings were erected or renovated, and the zoo was expanded to the east and south. By the turn of the twentieth century, Schönbrunn Zoo had established itself as one of the world’s most beautiful zoos.

Schönbrunn Zoo gave birth to the first elephant conceived in a zoological garden in 1906.

The complex remained the imperial family’s private property until the end of the Austro-Hungarian empire.

Due to supply shortages and accompanying hygienic issues, just 400 animals survived World War I. The zoo was only able to survive because Vienna locals organized a relief drive and donated animals and resources.

Otto Antonius, who directed Schönbrunn Zoo from 1924 until 1945, was the first biologist in charge. During his reign, the zoo’s animal population grew to over 3,000 by 1930. He also proposed reproducing endangered animals for conservation purposes. He became interested in raising public awareness, promoting environmental protection, and expanding his increasingly essential links with the media, colleges, and museums. In 1926, the name’menagerie’ was officially replaced with the term ‘zoo’.

At the close of WWII, the zoo was bombed from the air, destroying and damaging many of the animal cages and killing over a thousand animals. Following the end of hostilities, the Soviet and then British occupation forces assisted with rebuilding.

Julius Brachetka, who led the zoo from 1945 to 1958, piqued public interest with amusing media appearances that were usually accompanied by zoo animals. The first posters were made, and photographic contests were launched. In 1959, a new aquarium and terrarium building opened to replace the one that had been damaged during the bombing for the ostriches and reptiles.

With the conversion of the old Kleinen Fasangarten (Little Pheasant Garden) to the east, Walter Fiedler, who oversaw the zoo from 1967 to 1987, quadrupled the zoo’s original acreage to 12 hectares. Other significant events were the establishment of a children’s zoo in 1969 and the development of a zoo education department in 1976, one of the first in Europe.

Criticism of outdated animal husbandry peaked in the late 1980s. Discussions over the zoo’s dissolution or relocation to another neighborhood of Vienna came to an end in 1991. The zoo was then separated from federal government management as Schönbrunner Tiergarten-Ges.m.b.H., but the Republic of Austria remained the only stakeholder. Helmut Pechlaner, a veterinarian and former head of the Alpenzoo Innsbruck, was named managing director.

Helmut Pechlaner was able to modernize and enlarge several of the enclosures with the help of the Republic of Austria, various benefactors and sponsors, and additional entry costs. The first building project completed in 1992 was the little monkey house with two’monkey islands’ in the baroque pond as an outdoor enclosure for ring-tailed lemurs and gibbons. The zoo was expanded to the south by including a piece of the Vienna Woods. The Tirolerhof (Tyrolean Farmyard), a new elephant park, a contemporary big cat enclosure, a massive panda enclosure, an insectarium, and one of Europe’s largest rhino enclosures were built. The two Indian rhinos that came in 2006 were gifts from Nepal’s erstwhile royal family. The animals had been picked up as orphans and could not be reintroduced into the wild.

Schönbrunn Palace, Zoo, and Palace Park were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. The same year, Gottfried Kumpf unveiled his first major bronze sculpture, a lion. More bronze statues, which are still popular picture subjects today, were added during the next few decades. The Rainforest House opened in 2002 to commemorate the zoo’s 250th anniversary, the same year that the first koalas came at Schönbrunn and the panoramic railway experience debuted.

Dagmar Schratter replaced Helmut Pechlaner as the zoo’s sole managing director on January 1, 2007, and held the role until the end of 2019. Her tenure was notable for five awards recognizing the zoo as the finest in Europe, five giant panda babies, and the record year of 2008, when the zoo had 2.6 million visitors. Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck, who formerly worked at Hamburg’s Tierpark Hagenbeck (Hagenbeck Zoo), was named as her successor in the autumn of 2019.He took over in January 2020.

Vienna, Austria