Zoom Erlebnis Gelsenkirchen - July 2008

Nice photo. This looks a good enclosure, how many hippo's do they have here?

They do have 5 hippos there. 1,1 old ones and 0,3 younger.

OK danke, that is a good sized herd there, I hope to visit there one day soon.
My last visit to Germany which was for 3 days I did Koln, Wuppertal and Duisburg zoo's but didn't have time for Zoom as it's harder to get to from Koln, but next time I will go there for sure.

You should go to Krefeld instead of Gelsenkirchen, the Zoom-Erlebniswelt hasn't so many things to offer, it's more like DisneyWorld just with animals.

Perhaps, but it really does appear to be quite a nice hippo exhibit

http://www.zoochat.com/144/zoom-hippo-exhibit-112356/

(maybe a bit heavy on the fake mudbanks, but I'll bet they account in part for why it is so green)

Eagle.

Since these comments were made I have visited Krefeld and Zoom twice, and I love both zoo's.
I'll be happy to know when the gorilla garden is finished at Krefeld so I can visit.
As for Zoom, I know some people are not so keen on it, but honestly I really do like it. It's laid out so well and has spacious enclosures, the only enclosures I can fault (by being too small) are for the lynx and the mini polar bear (sorry I dont know the proper name for this species), also the out door area for the hippo's isn't too big, but as i never been in the summer I dont know if they make use of it anyway.
I thought the boat ride isn't that good either as it takes a long time to go round and you see very little in the way of animals!
Other than that it really is a great place and I would certainly return on my next visit to the area (along with Koln, Duisburg and Krefeld).
By the way did you know Zoom now has a pair of Binturong? I was lucky enough to be there on the very first day they were let out into there new home!

I also visited Gaiapark last week too, another nice zoo to visit.

There's more info on 'Antonia' in this thread: http://www.zoochat.com/144/polar-bear-dwarf-antonia-zoom-11-a-81804/


She isn't a different species, but has growth hormone deficiency (as can occur in humans) causing her not to grow to the usual size.


I've been to Gelsenkirchen both in the later days of Ruhr-Zoo and as ZOOM (albeit with only two of the three areas open). There is a bit too much fake rock in the new incarnation for my tastes, but there are some very good exhibits (the bear exhibits are generally very good, and I love the skunk school bus viewing!).

Thanks for the dwarf bear info I had no idea, but it explains why she doesn't have a mate as I'd guess there isn't a surplus of dwarf males running around.

With regard to the fake rock, yes there is alot of it, but what could they put in its place? Zoom seems to have got away with not making it look too horrible, but surely natural products would just be ripped apart by the animals, and I'd think that real rock would be out of the question unless it was already naturally occuring there.