Visit Duisburg Zoo, Duisburg Zoo Nature, Duisburg Zoo animals Travel Videos HD, World Travel Guide http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=World1Tube The Duisburg Zoo, founded on May 12, 1934, is one of the largest zoological gardens in Germany. It is especially well known for its dolphinarium and, since 1994, for breeding koalas. Far less well known are the breeding successes in other areas, for example, with fossas (civits from Madagascar) and Red River hogs. The zoo is located in the northern part of the Duisburg urban forest on the border with Mülheim on the Ruhr. Federal highway A 3 divides the zoo into western and an eastern parts, which are joined by a leafy country bridge. The highway is scarcely noticeable to the visitors. Enclosures Dolphinarium ============ The Dolphinarium is inhabited by nine bottle-nosed dolphins Ivo, Pepina, Delphi, Daisy, Dolly, Donna, Diego, Darwin and Dörte, which live in a pool containing about 3 million liters of seawater. It is not cleaned chemically, but with special equipment using air. It is the largest dolphinarium in Germany. Depending on the season, two or three performances take place every day in the large arena. During the week, the dolphinarium is free-of-charge for visitors between performances (but not on Sundays or bank holidays). It regularly offers special treats, such as "An Evening with the Dolphins" or "Zookeeper for a Day" and weddings or children's birthday parties can be celebrated there. Dolphins have been born and bred in Duisburg several times: Duphi (1988; since died), Delphi (1992), Daisy (1996), Duke (2001; since died) and Dolly (2007, the daughter of Delphi). However, on several occasions the offspring did not reach maturity. In September 2007, Donna, the daughter of Pepina, was born, and she has been on show to visitors since 27 February 2008. Rio Negro ============= The Rio Negro was opened in 2005, and is situated in the Tropical House. In a large pool lives the Amazon dolphin Baby. The pool is constructed to look almost natural, and is separated from the viewing area by a curved, meter-high glass plate. The house is decked out naturally with wooden flooring, much foliage, and uncaged animals. Previously, another dolphin Apure also lived here; at the time of his death in 2006, he was the oldest known Amazon dolphin in the world, being at least 42 years old. The pool is not intended to be exclusively used for the surviving Amazon dolphin - the plans are that it will be used in the future by manatees, also. Koala House In the Koala House, glass-fronted area houses these small Australian animals. The koalas are only separated from the visitors by this glass plate. Additionally, general information on koalas and Australia, as well as the story of how the koalas came to be in the zoo, is available. A long-term exhibition of pictures by nature photographer Ingo Öland is also on view, showing the landscape of Australia and its animals in 22 large-format pictures. Fossa Enclosure ================= The Fossa Enclosure is laid out to imitate the natural habitat of the fossa, with much foliage and several small pools. The breeding program is the largest worldwide, and since 1994, the zoo has coordinated the European preservation program for this species. The enclosure was financed and donated by the Association of Duisburg Zoo Friends (Verein der Duisburger Zoofreunde) in 2000. Equatorium ============= The Equatorium is the largest section of Duisburg Zoo. It derives its name for housing animals usually found in the rainforests of the equatorial regions, and primarily houses primates. A few years ago, the installation was redesigned and renovated piece-by-piece. In 2002, the Gorilla-Bush, was opened, a large open enclosure for lowland gorillas and De Brazza's monkeys. In the autumn of 2005, the new East entrance opened, behind which one can view the mountain loris in a 'walk-through' enclosure. Visitors can feed these animals daily. Next to the loris enclosure, colobus monkeys also inhabit a natural-looking enclosure donated by Thyssen. Other animals in this section include orangutans, macaques, gibbons, sloths, and pygmy hippos. Outdoor Tortoise Enclosure ====================== In 2006, the Outdoor Tortoise Enclosure was laid out. It is meant to imitate the animals' natural habitat, with many stony burrows for the tortoises to retreat into and foliage in the enclosure for the tortoises to consume. Within the enclosure, there is also a small stream and 'warming shelters': Plexiglass containers into which the tortoises can go to warm themselves up. Previously, the tortoises were housed in the same building as the aquarium, where they had a large enclosure strewn with sand and into which warmimg lamps were placed. Ruhrpott-Schnauzen =================== Everyday life at the Duisburg Zoo can be followed daily on ZDF. This TV channel has broadcast the documentary series Ruhrpott-Schnauzen since June 2006.

• published: 24 Sep 2014
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