On our 100 hectare big area approximately 400 animals out of 15 different European species
have found their home. Amongst those red deer, fallow deer, wisent, wolf, eagle owl,
moufflon, mountain goat, boar, miniature horse / horse, rabbit, sheep, little owl and ferret.
In the entrance area our little visitors may also pet the animals, not only watch them.
Mountain goat
Goats are relatively robust animals.
The males are a lot heavier than the females.
Both genders have horns. The female ones are short
and only slightly bent; the horns of the males are bent backwards and strong. All over the world there are approximately 450 million animals.
In former times they have been called
„poor man’s cow“.
They are part of our petting zoo.
Fallow deer
The fallow deer is domiciled in Central & Southeast Europe.
Fallow deer are smaller and lighter than red deer. They also are different because of their shovel-shaped antlers. They appear in different shades of their coats such as chestnut coat with white mottles, menil, white and melanistic. The fallow deer is very similar to the reed deer; however, they
are less shy and careful. As far as velocity and agility is concerned the fallow deer ranges on the same level than the red deer. Fugitive fallow deer show a strange way of jumping – they „hop“ simultaneously with all four legs. Pairing time starts in the beginning of October.
The bucks make „burping“ sounds. Mid June until mid July the females give birth to their fawns after a gestation time of 32 weeks. The fawns have a spotted coat when they are born which enables them to be well camouflaged in the brushwood.
Ferrets
The ferret’s ancestor is the steppe polecat.
The male animal may be as long as 60 cm,
20 cm of which make the tail. The females (vixen)
become up to 50 cm long with a shorter tail.
Ferrets are obligate carnivores and
feed of small animals, eggs and rabbits.
Upon danger their tail ruffles up like a „bottle brush“
and the ferret hisses a warning.
Rabbits & guinea pigs
... can be found in our park in manifold colors
and species in the petting zoo area ...
German heath (sheep)
German heath are a species
of rather frugal sheep.
Both genders have horns.
The lambs are black upon birth
and turn into their parents’ colors
within the second year.
Miniature horse / Horse
The wildlife park’s miniature horses
range among the smallest horses in the world.
Horses:
The Black Forest chestnut belongs to the heavy draught horses. They are labor horses bred especially for working in the forest.
The Haflinger horse is a mountain horse nowadays used as robust horse for leisure riding. It officially belongs to the category of pony species.
Moufflon
The moufflon is the only wild sheep in Europe.
Their original home is at Corsica and Sardinia.
The moufflon is the ancestor of modern domestic
sheep breeds.
Moufflons may be up to 130 cm long and up to 90 cm high.
The males weigh approximately 50 kg, the females
approximately 35 kg. The males are horned. The horn is
curved in almost one full revolution. The age of the animal
can be detected by their horns.
Red deer
: Red deer is the largest loose species of deer
in Germany. Red deer live in packs led by a female
leader (up to approx. 120 kg).
The male animals (up to approx. 250 kg) carry impressive antlers which they use to impress or as a weapon. Every year around February/March the male animals cast their antlers. Underneath the velvet new antlers grew in only 120 days. The antlers are completed by mid July and start to itch. Now the deer sweep their antlers which means the velvet is being scrubbed off at trees or bushes.
In August the antlers are blank.
When the first full moon initiates autumn and the nights are getting cooler, the most impressive show starts: Rutting season – the roaring and calling of the male deer. Strong deer court for the female’s attention. The impressive fights most of the time take place between equally strong rivals. Rutting season takes place from approximately mid September until approximately mid October, depending on the weather conditions. The females give birth to mostly one, seldom also two calves after a gestation time of 34 weeks. The calves are born with spotted coats and therefore are perfectly camouflaged in the brushwood or high grass
.
Little owl
The little owl is a small, short-tailed species of owl from the family of real owls.
The distribution area of the little owl extends over Eurasia and North Africa. It is a characteristic inhabitant of the tree-steppe with sparse or low vegetation and prefers to hunt on the ground.
Once chosen, he usually occupies a territory for several years and sometimes even for life.
The little owl reaches a body size of 21 to 23 cm. The wingspan is about 53 to 58 cm.
Feather ears are missing and the low forehead makes the little owl look flat-headed.
Eagle owl
The eagle owl is domiciled in Europe, Eurasia and
North Africa. The eagle owl is the biggest European
owl species. It reaches a size of 63 – 72 cm and
weighs up to approximately 2.5 kg. Its wingspan ranges
up to 170 cm. The female animals, however, are bigger
than the male ones.
The plumage is auburn on top
with dark spots.
At the bottom it is lighter. The plumage
color serves the eagle owl perfectly for its camouflage
so that it is almost invisible during the daytime at his
recreation zones. The feathers are very tender and soft.
Due to their frayed brim the flight sounds are being
reduced immensely, enabling the eagle owl and
almost noiseless flight.
One specialty of the owls is their „turn-over claw“. One claw may as well be turned to the front as well as backwards. Owls consist of 14 cervical. Therefore they are able to turn their heads up to 270° into the horizontal as well as into the vertical direction. The owl’s main sense is the hearing. The ears are hidden alongside the facial disc. The openings of the ears are asymmetric. This enables the owl a particularly perfect acoustic detection. The big, round, orange gleaming eyes are positioned firmly in the socket. The front position allows stereoscopic vision of the owl.
Boar
The boar (wild boars) is domiciled in all our forests. Nowadays they appear wherever the climatic conditions are appropriate offering a landscape with open fields and forests. In some regions the boar has multiplied so much that severe crop and field damages occur.
Full-grown tuskers (male animals) weigh up to 200 kg, the wild sows (female animals) weigh up to 130 kg. Boars have a characteristic fur that consists of stiff bristles. Boars do not have perspiratory glands. They regulate their bodily temperature by wallow in wet, cooling mud.
Boars are omnivores. They have very sensitive senses. Their fine nose is remarkable. The wild sows live together in sounders with their young boars and the offspring of the year before. The sounder is led by a leading wild sow.
Boars have a long reproduction period which begins in November and lasts into February. During that time the tuskers
have rivalries, fighting with each other using their enormous tusks.
Gestation time lasts almost 4 months. The piglets are born fully developed. They recognize their mother because of
her scent. When hungry, the young boars follow their mother erupting squeaking sounds until the sow lays down.
Every piglet has its own dug.
Wisent
The wisent is the last European wild cattle.
In the 1920s the last loose wisent has been killed
in Poland by a poacher. We owe the saving of the
biggest animal in Europe to zoos and wildlife parks.
After ensuring their preservation by controlled breeding
in bawns, a small herd of wisents could have been
released in Poland. Meanwhile the population has
grown to approximately 300 animals.
The adult male animal weighs up to one ton and is
up to 2 m high. The cows weigh approx. 500 to 600 kg.
A typical attribute of the wisent is its humpback.
The main rutting season takes place during the months of August until October. Gestation time takes 9 months.
Upon birth calves weigh approximately 30 – 40 kg.
The fur consists of a thick, grayish-brown woolen hair. During the molting time the thick undercoat of the winter fur comes off in thick felt bundles until those are being rubbed off at bushes or trees.
Wisents can achieve an age of up to 25 years. A wisent needs approximately 15 kg feed every day.
Wolf
No other mammal has been as widespread
as the wolf. Due to hunting wolves down for
centuries they developed an immense shy with
respect to man. In the middle of the 19th century
the last populations of wolves have been extinct
in our areas. Since 1998 there are loose wolves
again on a military compound in the Muskau
heath land in Saxony.
The wolf is a predator and resembling a big dog
in its outward appearance. The long legs allow
moving quickly in long hikes also in deep snow.
Its sense of smell is very delicate. The fangs of a wolf are like scissors. Particularly well developed are the tusks to
grab and hold the prey and the carnassials are used to mince the feed. A wolf needs approximately 3 kg of feed per day.
Wolves live in packs that are very similar to human families. The leaders are the alpha male and the alpha female. The hierarchy within the pack secures the peaceful coexistence of the wolf family.
The wolf’s body language is very distinctive with strongly ritualized gestures of dominance and obedience in order to avoid serious fights “within the family” for most parts. Wolves also communicate with each other by different sounds. They whine, woof, bark, growl, cry and howl.