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News from Sihlwald and Langenberg
Annual Report 2022 of the Zurich Wilderness Park Foundation
The most important events at a glance
Zurich Wilderness Park is and remains a popular excursion destination: a total of 658,000 visits were recorded in Sihlwald and Langenberg Zoo in 2022.
After the difficult pandemic years, normality returned to Zurich Wildlife Park in 2022; there were no more closures or other restrictions. A total of 658,000 visits were recorded at Tierpark Langenberg and Sihlwald.
The young wolves have left the Langenberg
In spring 2022, the birth of four young wolves at Zurich Wilderness Park caused great joy. Now the cubs have found a new home in Winterthur and Innsbruck.
At the age of one to two years, young wolves usually leave their pack and look for their own territory. This week, the four cubs born in May 2022 at Langenberg Zoo left Zurich Wildlife Park. One male was taken to Bruderhaus Wildlife Park in Winterthur, where he will form a new pack with a young female from Bern Zoo. The three other young animals are in the quarantine station at Zurich Zoo for three to four weeks, after which they will be taken to the Alpine Zoo in Innsbruck.
"Wilderness fascinates"
New photo exhibition at the Nature Museum
On Sunday, March 26, the visitor center of the Zurich Wilderness Park in Sihlwald will reopen its doors. A new special exhibition at the Nature Museum shows the fascinating beauty of the wilderness.
Untouched forests, majestic mountains, pristine river landscapes or the hedgehog in your own garden: Wilderness is fascinating. The Nature Museum in Sihlwald is dedicating a special exhibition to it this year. It shows the most beautiful pictures from the national photo competition "Wilderness - more space for nature!" organized by Pro Natura and pictures from the Sihlwald Nature Adventure Park.
Yes to the Parco Val Calanca
A new park for Switzerland!
The voters of the four park municipalities of Rossa, Calanca, Santa Maria and Buseno approved the Val Calanca Park Charter on January 29. Congratulations! The Regional Nature Park can now submit its dossier to the Federal Office for the Environment FOEN. The FOEN will check whether all the conditions have been met and can award the "Park of National Importance" label. The Zurich Wilderness Park is delighted to be a new member of the Swiss parks network. www.parks.swiss
New pair of foxes at Langenberg Zoo
With a bit of luck, foxes can be spotted again at Langenberg Zoo.
The Zurich Wilderness Park received a new female fox at the end of October and a male fox at the beginning of December. The two were recently brought together in the fox enclosure.
A spiky Christmas menu for the moose in Langenberg
Moose feed almost exclusively on conifers for months in winter. The animals eat a lot - several trees a day. Unsold Christmas trees from the region are therefore welcome. A well-established win-win situation is once again providing much joy for humans and animals this year.
"Our moose switch their diet from deciduous to coniferous trees at the end of October. Other wild animals in the Langenberg also occasionally eat conifers during the cold season - the Przewalski's horses, deer, bison and ibex like the prickly surprises," explains Martin Kilchenmann, Head of Animals at the Zurich Wilderness Park.
The ibex are in rut
The male ibexes are currently "pleading" for the favor of the females with a special posture.
The males tilt their heads back and raise their tails. The animals stick out their tongues to smell the female's scent hormones. Experience the mating season as a special animal spectacle!
Winter season - partly reduced opening hours!
Sihlwald: Please note that during the winter season in Sihlwald, the restaurant, the nature museum and the visitor center are closed until 25 March. However, the area with playground, fire pits, aquarium and otter enclosure will remain freely accessible, as will the hiking trails in Sihlwald.
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?
Insects in the forest - diverse, amazing and indispensable
Insects" wilderness day on September 25
Up to 60,000 insect species live in Switzerland. However, only half of these have been researched. The "Insects" wilderness day offers visitors to the Zurich Wilderness Park the opportunity to find out more about these small creatures.
Time and place: Sihlwald, Sunday, September 25 from 1.30 to 4.30 pm.
Alpine longhorned bees, long-horned beetles and spherical beetles - Beat Wermelinger, insect researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), knows them all. On September 25, he will take interested visitors on a journey into the world of forest insects. At 2pm and 3pm, he will be giving a talk entitled "Insects in the forest - diverse, amazing and indispensable" at the Zurich Wilderness Park Visitor Center.
