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WELCOME
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A beautiful and unique experience for kids
“Such a thing like the Alpine Zoo can’t be found elsewhere in the world,”
says Martys proudly with a huge smile on his face. “We are a theme zoo wi-
th the biggest collection of alpine animals worldwide.” 150 animal species
and 2500 animals from the whole alpine area reside here. 300,000 peop-
le visit the Alpine Zoo every year. When I was a kid I always came here be-
fore Christmas Eve and I even celebrated my birthday here once.
Beary adventurous
The ranking of the favourite animals is clear: “Everyone loves the be-
ar couple Ander and Martina. The otters are the playful ones, then the
impressive wolves, next ones are the Golden Eagles, our Bearded Vul-
tures and of course our amazing ibexes,” raves Martys. He doesn’t have
a favourite animal because as a zoologist or psychologist all animals
are interesting to him and he feels responsible for every single animal.
“Nevertheless, I have always had an extra special interest in wolves, as
they have such a strong character and a very individual behaviour that
can also be observed well. I also really like the Hermit Ibis, it is an en-
dangered bird species that looks quite funny.”
“Tyrol” lives in Japan
The Alpine Zoo has been connected to Omachi, a city in Japan,
through a friendship agreement since 1985. This also explains the let-
ter on the desk. “As a sign of our friendship we gave the alpine mu-
seum there that also includes a zoo some animals as a gift. A young
otter female was brought into the aquarium in Fukushima that sad-
ly was destroyed by the tsunami. Miraculously she survived and gave
birth to some otter babies.” Since then, her name is Tyrol and so she
advertises in Japan. Martys and the mayor of Omachi have been ‘pen
pals’ for a long time already.
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©T.BAUSE (4)