The rats discover the garden
Grand opening
The time has come: the extension of the Norway rat enclosure with outdoor area and swimming pond is complete. On Saturday, Zurich Old Town Councillor Richard Wolff and Karin Hindenlang Clerc, Managing Director of the Zurich Wilderness Park Foundation, officially opened the new attraction for people and animals in Langenberg.
With the new rat garden, we enable visitors to encounter a widespread yet little-known animal that feeds on our waste in the "wild". If rats turn up unexpectedly, the "yuck" is usually not far away. Why is that?
The Norway rat is one of the most successful animal species in Switzerland and is widespread. This is precisely why it fits perfectly into the Langenberg, where only wild animals that are native to Switzerland or were once native to Switzerland are kept. This promotes the relationship between humans and animals that live here or could live here again. Until now, the rats have lived well hidden in the Müsli-Hüsli next to the dormice and house mice - the latter are the clear crowd-pullers here.
In the new outdoor enclosure, we enable people and animals to meet at eye level. Because the animals like to swim, the animal keepers hang the food in a basket above the pond - appropriate for the animals and exciting to watch for the guests. So instead of disgust, we hope for a "Yay" at the next unexpected encounter with the animals. After all, rats are not only clever, but also social and deserve our attention.
