welcoming bird: the heron.
in early march i had one week of vacation and my parents were on visit that week. we decided to drive to stuttgart to visit the zoo there ( i had visited it once before, already, which was in summer, and i really did like it back then). it's called wilhelma because the park and its moorish buildings were commissioned by the swabian king wilhelm I. in case you are wondering why the buildings were executed in the moorish style, there was a time back then when everything oriental was the non plus ultra amongst royal families and high society. since it was all the rage, the king decided to have it's own alhambra in stuttgart and these days people call the zoo the 'alhambra on the river neckar'. and indeed it is what makes this zoo very special! i know, cultural appropriation bears a two-sided sword and there is something to be said about the white man wanting to possess all that actually belongs to other cultures, but one can't deny that it's an incredible eye-catcher, especially for a zoo. the original conception of the whole area was one of spending a leisure day surrounded by beautiful gardens & little retreats. the zoo idea only came about after world war II, which is why the second architectural element of the zoo is a very modern one, with compounds and buildings in a brutalist setting.
the zoo wilhelma is very well-known for its big ape house with integrated kindergarten, which was a concept that was developed in the 70ies and made way for ground-breaking changes in the keeping of these remarkable animals. to this day the way they keep the great apes is exemplary in the zoo world. of course i'd prefer to see them in the open and wild, and again, there is also much to say about zoos in general, but i think that in modern times, many zoos are trying to educate about almost extinct and and endangered species more than just to entertain the masses. i think most of the zoo keepers are trying their best to accommodate their fosterlings in an appropriate way and to treat them as best as they are able to. without zoos we probably wouldn't have the mindset we have nowadays, to try to save the flora & fauna of this world, to save animals and not let them go extinct.
of course this work is difficult and unforgiving at times, especially since so many things are still inadequate and awful, with us humans being the main danger to all of nature. but i feel everything that helps spreading awareness of endangered life cycles and livelihoods is important. we need to show people how precious plants & animals are and that in order to preserve them, we need a lot more action. and unfortunately people only get aware of deficits if they experience things personally and feel the effects in full force.
okay, i think i talked enough about this topic ( even though you can never talk 'enough' about it ), let's dive into the pictures.
there's this super old tree ( that i don't know the name of :P ) near the entry of the zoo and its lowest branches grew into the soil over time. it's actually pretty majestic to witness, as if not only the roots are tightened to mother earth, but also the tree's arms reach out for it again.
californian sea lions have a home in the zoo, too. i had a hard time taking good photos of them, as they were always darting around in the water, never swimming still for one minute, haha. i don't mind, though, it's so therapeutic to see them gliding through the water.
damascene hall with the long pond in front of it and some parts of the sea lion compound.
northern gannets have their home outside the aquarium building.
compound of the northern gannets. there are several more birds living here, but only some ducks were around when we visited, the building is from 1967, heyday of brutalism architecture, and as you can see it's pretty exemplary for that style as well. i loved the honeycomb islands in the pond.
the wilhelma is home to a huge heron colony as well, there were lots of them flying around and sitting in the trees. never seen so many herons in one place!
beautiful front of the aquarium building with another heron at the top :)
close-up.
inside the aquarium we got to see rays making silly faces at us :)
and prickly sea urchins showing us their possibly best side. mouth pursed and little cupping vessels tightly attached to the glass walls. incredible that there's so much strength in these tiny tentacles. look at the long ones! ( you probably need to enlarge the photo ).
a creepy alligator gar possibly imagining how to fit me into his muzzle, haha.
jellyfish fascinate me immensely, and even though these pictures are almost identical, i don't want to omit any of those, haha. just looking at it makes me fall into some kind of trance. these are moon jellyfish, by the way. love the english translation much more than the german, which is ohrenqualle, and means ear jellyfish.
i really liked the dark interiors of the aquarium <3 p="">
inside the aquarium's building you can also find various reptiles. such as this basilisk rattlesnake.
great terrarium design! you can even peek a snake as well.
a very cute sungazer, also known as giant girdled lizard.
this bearded dragon was in the middle of eating salad leaves.
or is it just a leftover leaf?
i swear, i have this strange infatuation with lizards of any kind. something about their laziness quite catches me haha. i think the fair ones are still bearded dragons, but the other one i'm unsure. maybe an australian water dragon?
time to look at some caimans & crocodiles.
say hello to this beautiful species of a saltwater crocodile. he was massive and definitely impressive. look at those ivories.
madagascar gecko climbing up, up, up.
i loved its vibrant green colour. those skin details <3 p="">
more terrarium interiors.
skin detail of a royal python.
there she is.
a colourful royal gramma hurrying away.
spotted garden eels hiding inside the sand watching all passersby ( and possible prey ).
after quite some time inside the aquarium we emerged into daylight again and continued our way through the zoo, towards the moorish cottage. the gardens are so beautiful, with big water lily ponds everywhere. when i visited once in summer the lushness of the trees and flowers and the plants everywhere was mind-blowing. the magic of summer wasn't at our disposal unfortunately, but might be reason enough to return again in the future? i have a love-hate relationship with stuttgart, which leans more into the disliking sphere of the spectrum, but i'm not willing to give up on it yet.
oriental colonnades.
one of the water lily ponds. no water lilies in sight yet.
gazebo architecture.
the main building of the moorish ensemble is the 'cottage'. it was planned as a bathhouse with integrated greenhouses, but the bathing function didn't survive. it's actually home to nocturnal animals now, but when we visited we didn't have access at all due to refurbishments taking place. the greenhouses were still accessible and a dream come true.
a view into the gardens.
one of the entries to the greenhouses. i just love these buildings <3 dreamy.="" p="" so="">
we didn't enter it yet, we first wanted to visit some apes, but can you please appreciate the architecture? i want to move inside and never return.
geladas have the most impressing fur coat, right?
japanese macaques' delousing treatment. looks lovely and romantic :D
gorilla sculpture at a playground.
these wood sticks were part of the new big ape compound. when there was wind they made quite beautiful sounds, a soft clickety-clack.
the main entry for the big ape house. gorillas & bonobos are living in this house. what is also new with this accomodation is an extensive exterior area where the apes can move around a lot more. no tiny compounds anymore, where they can never get out of each other's way if they need a moment or two for themselves. the only thing i kinda disliked about the new house were the inside spaces. while the areas for us human visitors were designed with lots of plants, the animal compounds are pretty bare, consisting mostly of concrete and metal bars. there was lots of fluffy hay scattered all over the place, though and they also had plenty of activity options, which made up for the minimalism of the interior design. of course they have the exterior compounds as well, which are equipped with lots of nature. unfortunately, early march in germany isn't exactly the best time for big apes to roam outside, so we only had the chance to experience them inside.
the whole big ape family is welcoming you via a display in the entry area. in general, i really did like the architecture of the house, the concrete x glass combination made my little heart go pitter-patter :D
baby bonobo and probably its mother. it's such a delight to see them little bonobo kids playing games with other bonobos, dangling from the roofs & lianas, being all cheeky and playful! i could watch them all forever. it is incredible how diverse they are and how they differ from each other, not only in looks but also with their tempers. each and everyone has their own personality. in such moments i realize how much more ideal it would be if they could live out in the wild without human beings interfering with their natural habitats and habits... it is awful that the human species continues to destroy their actual homes and endangers the survival of their species.
the visitor hall.
taking photos of the big apes proved to be difficult, i didn't take a lot of pictures because the light wasn't exactly ideal and the apes also moved around a lot. which is perfectly fine, but as i like to take pictures without flash, most of my shots turned out blurry. the gorillas were equally hard to photograph, as they mostly faced us with their backs turned towards us, haha. oh, well... i can't blame them, though, sometimes it's just better to not look at those strange animals outside of the glass gawking at you with their hoggish eyes.
this is kibo's muscular back. he refused to turn around and look at us, almost looked defiant in this pose, haha. kibo is the silverback of the gorilla group, the harem's guard so to speak. he was really, truly impressive.
last shot of the ape house's interior.
we paid the meerkats a visit! i have already too many meerkat photos as i'm deeply infatuated with these cute animals and have a tiny obsession with them, so i chose to depict my most favourite photo of the 50 ( exaggerated ) other ones i took :P
the giraffe's house i liked as well. i just love the combination of wood, concrete and lots of plants. i had to detect, though, that i didn't shoot any giraffe pictures! you can only see them in this picture far in the back behind the plants. ugh, i am truly sorry. i love giraffes, they are such soft-eyed animals and so friendly. i'm guessing i was too busy aah-ing and ooh-ing at them instead of taking proper pictures.
inside the giraffe's house was also a rock monitor, an incredible primal reptile.
look at those clawssssss.
the belvedere. you have quite a good view over stuttgart from here, but the weather was pretty grey and you couldn't see much. by the way, stuttgart is one of the most polluted cities in germany ( probably THE most polluted one - which always amazes me, i would've guessed that bigger cities like frankfurt, berlin, hamburg or cologne are more affected ). just a random fact for all you random fact lovers out there.
we then visited some animals who live in colder climates, such as this mountain goat.
polar bear corinna, grande dame of the wilhelma zoo. she's the last remaining polar bear in the zoo. there were recent reports that the polar bear compound is out-of-date and too small for such an active animal like a polar bear and that zoos need to reconsider if the keeping of polar bears is justifiable at all. corinna is very old, 26 years old, to be exact, which is remarkable for a polar bear anyway, and she sometimes shows signs of a slight behavioural disorder. some voices said that maybe she should be relocated to a bigger compound in a different zoo, but senior bears are actually too fragile to send them on bigger journeys and it is difficult to integrate them into new surroundings or groups again ( which is obvious anyway, since they are actually loners to begin with ). to rebuild the ice bear compound would also be too expensive, as not only polar bears are integrated in the complex, but also other animals and additionally the complex is heavily integrated into a hillside, which complicates the whole rebuilding matter. as of now it seems, that corinna will be the last polar bear in stuttgart until she dies, which would end an era of ice bear keeping at the wilhelma.
by the way, i couldn't make out any strange behaviours while we were there, she was a really chill and relaxed lady, to be honest. but again... a polar bear in its natural habitat is probably so much nicer to witness than in a zoo... and the thought arises again... it is not the animal that causes it's own demise, it's us humans who take away their livelihoods. the older i get i realize that one is part of that as well, and i feel quite guilty because of it. there is just so much wrong with OUR existence as well and how humans created their own grave just by developing 'new technologies' over the centuries that turn out to be deeply dangerous for all existences out there. and to see that politicians & so-called leaders of the world aren't doing any drastic changes or igniting improvement, and even opt out of environment protection treaties ( hello trump-erica ), it just is devastating. i really would like to drive an eco-friendly car for example, but the car industry didn't yet manage to develop an affordable alternative to gas & oil-driven cars and even electric vehicles aren't persistent enough to last more than a few hours. plus, there isn't a widespread network of charging stations in germany, which would make it easier to charge your car's batteries, which in my opinion should be crucial for enforcing electric vehicle usement in our society. and there's the additional problem with car industries losing one of their biggest monetary draft horses, the petrol/gasoline engine. let's not forget the gas/oil industry, either, who rakes in money in masses with these resources. for different solutions to grasp and to get a wider recognition, there needs to be a massive shift away from the old industries. it's a shame, really, that electric cars are still so expensive, even though the technologies exist to make it a world-wide phenomenon. ah, of course electricity isn't innocent either, there comes a whole new dimension of problems into play when you think about how electricity gets generated.
i could rant about this topic all day through, but since this post is about my zoo visit in stuttgart, i cut it out now and continue. this is already a massive post, so onwards, to the final segment!
shortly after corinna jumped into the water and we said good-bye.
laughing kookaburras are always strangely fascinating to me.
we finally made our way through the greenhouses. lots of interesting plant things going on everywhere. these prickly bushes were aesthetically very pleasing to me.
in general do i love plants that have interesting leaf structures & colorations.
view into the water lily pond garden.
foggy greenhouse interior.
lots of tropical ferns inside this one.
and lots of tree ferns in the cold fern house! i'd really like to visit a real tree fern forest one day, it must be beautiful to leisurely walk underneath their feathery crowns.
strange wood textures.
i loved taking photos in here <3 p="">
so magical.
outside of the fern glasshouses.
we stopped at another brutalist building with tiny apes and other little animals living inside.
like this little fella here: a pygmy marmoset.
we went inside another greenhouse, the amazonia house.
where we found some flying foxes casually hanging around their fruit bars.
i do appreciate these megabats immensely. i love bat creatures in general and would like to be reborn as one, please.
our last stop was at the penguin compound. several couples were hiding in their little nests, sitting on little eggs. some of the parental figures oftentimes guarded the nesting hut so intensely that they fell asleep and looked dangerously close to falling off their protected homes ;P
duh, mind your own business, human!
penguins are adorable birds, always a little lumbering. have another sleeping one and with that i also reached the end of my post.
there is just one thing to mention: when we wanted to return to wiesbaden and were on our way out of stuttgart we were involved in a little car accident. which was basically the most negative thing of the day and deepened my mistrust about stuttgart, haha. we had to end our time at the police station in stuttgart, which of course was not a very great finale. luckily the accident wasn't too grave, no one was injured and only the car had a few more dents than before. my father lost all his driving confidence that day and the days after that and appointed me as the new family chauffeur :P i happily obliged and hopefully did my duties to everyone's satisfaction.
do you have a love/hate relationship with a city? and what is your stance on zoo culture or environmental issues? i'm really curious to read your opinions and whether you actually managed to read this far ;P
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