Germany: Persian Salt Desert at Hamburg’s Tierpark Hagenbeck Now Brimming with Life
© © Götz Berlik
Despite the uncooperative weather late this past June, staff and visitors at Hamburg, Germany’s Hagenbeck Tierpark put a brave face on the rain and cold weather at the end of this past June to open the new “Persische Salzwüste” (‘Persian Salt Desert’) at the animal park. The inhabitants of the new, approximately 2,000 square meter enclosure consist of five mares and a newborn stud from the Asian donkey breed known as “onager”. None of the new residents seemed to mind the inclement weather at all. Zookeeper Benjamin Krüger explained, “These animals were all born in Hamburg and they’re well adapted to the weather here”. They explored their new terrain, which features a large boulder in the center, a dry riverbed to rest in and a rock ledge underneath which the keepers had deposited their feed. As is the established tradition at this park, with a pronounced emphasis on its animals’ natural environments always at the forefront, the onager enclosure was renovated in recent months. In their original home in Persia’s salt deserts and dry riverbeds, these animals are facing extinction despite their incredible speed. They have been successfully kept and bred at Hagenbeck since 1954. (eap)
