Zoo Landau in der Pfalz is a

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...

Landau in der Pfalz Landau (), officially Landau in der Pfalz (, ), is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990), a long ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It was founded in 1904. The governing body is the municipality of the city of

(Landau/ Palatinate/Germany). The zoo is situated in the city center, along the historic remains of a French fort. The average yearly number of paying visitors is between 155,000 and 170,000. The zoo is home to about 600 animals representing 110 species of

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

reptile Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...

amphibian Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

, and

invertebrate Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...

s. The current total number of employees is 20. Zoo Landau is a member of the

European Association of Zoos and Aquaria The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) is an organisation for the European zoo and aquarium community that links over 340 member organisations in 41 countries. EAZA membership is open to all zoos and aquaria across Europe that compl ...

(EAZA) and the

World Association of Zoos and Aquariums The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) is the "umbrella" organization for the world zoo and aquarium community. Its mission is to provide leadership and support for zoos, aquariums, and partner organizations of the world in animal ...

(WAZA). The zoo's mission is the implementation of the objectives of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums conservation strategy with a strong dedication to education, in-situ conservation and research. Among the rare and

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

which are kept in the zoo are Philippine spotted deer,

white-naped mangabey The white-naped mangabey (''Cercocebus lunulatus'') is a species of Old World monkey in the subfamily Cercopithecinae. The species is found in the forest of Burkina Faso, Ghana and Ivory Coast. The species population has been declining due to de ...

Northeast African cheetah The Northeast African cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus soemmeringii'') is a cheetah subspecies occurring in Northeast Africa. Contemporary records are known in South Sudan, Uganda, and Ethiopia, but population status in Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Ke ...

and Madagascar side-necked turtles.

Conservation

The international studbook for the Philippine spotted deer ('' Cervus alfredi'') is coordinated by Zoo Landau. The zoo supports international conservation projects in Ghana, the Philippines, Djibouti, Madagascars and Chile, and also cooperates with local and regional conservation organizations to promote the conservation of native biodiversity.

Zoo School

A priority at Landau Zoo is the educational work of the Arten- und Tierschutzschule Landau (School for the protection of species and animals, Landau), called Zoo School, headed by Dr Gudrun Hollstein. The school, which was founded in 1992, is run in collaboration with the institut for pedagogic and adolescent education of the University of Koblenz-Landau, department Landau. More than 15,000 children attend the school each year. Zoo School stresses learning through playing, acting and experiencing topics like the protection of the environment, species and animals. It is the first school in Germany to employ up to 40 students of different teacher professions and Master students of educational science, to run the classes independently and according to an up-to-date way of teaching. The students are trained carefully in special seminars for their educational work at Zoo School, where they find a large field of practical work in their future profession. They may therefore enrich their professional, personal and social competences. Since a new building was opened in September 2005, new topics and methods are included in the every day teaching about the protection of the environment. Zoo School Landau was awarded for its innovative concept 2005 by the City of Landau. The School is one of the winners of the national competition "365 Orte im Land der Ideen" (365 places in the land of ideas). It was also awarded by UNESCO as official UN decade project 2007/8 for education for sustainability.

Notes

External links

* (in German)
Zoo school Laundau website
(in German) Zoos in Germany Tourist attractions in Rhineland-Palatinate Buildings and structures in Rhineland-Palatinate Culture of the Palatinate (region) Landau 1904 establishments in Germany Educational organizations established in 1904 Zoos established in the 1900s {{RhinelandPalatinate-geo-stub