Make room for the king!
The Asiatic lions KUMAR and ZARINA are to get more space. Concrete plans for the expansion are now in place. With the fundraising campaign "Make room for the king!", Dr. Ina Hartwig, Head of Department for Culture and Science, the zoo and Löwen Frankfurt Eishockey Betriebs GmbH are jointly asking for support for the project.
To enlarge the outdoor enclosure of the Asiatic lions, the moat is to be drained. "This will allow the area of the enclosure to be doubled to 930 square metres. A ten-metre wide and five-metre deep dry moat is planned, which will be diversified with sandy areas and lush planting. This will create a stimulating habitat on several levels," explains Zoo Director Professor Dr. Manfred Niekisch. Dr. Manfred Niekisch.
Dr. Ina Hartwig, Head of the Department of Culture and Science, is particularly pleased that there will also be positive effects for zoo visitors: "In the course of the conversion, the visitor area will also be redesigned. Without the wide moat, exciting insights into the lions' territory are possible and the animals can be experienced even more directly."
Plans by landscape architect Ariane Röntz for the remodeling work on the outdoor area are already available. "Ms. Röntz was already involved in the construction of the Ukumari Land and is currently involved with the new penguin facility project. So the plans promise a redesign of the lion enclosure that visually matches the other new buildings - zoo design all of a piece," Niekisch said.
The new husbandry guidelines for big cats also stipulate that the outdoor enclosure can be separated into two enclosed areas if necessary. This stipulation will also be taken into account during the renovation, fulfilling an important requirement for breeding the highly endangered species.
The cost of the enclosure expansion is an estimated 1.3 million euros. The zoo has therefore initiated the fundraising campaign "Make room for the king".
2012 and 2013 there was already a fundraising campaign in cooperation with the Löwen Frankfurt Eishockey Betriebs GmbH. At that time, more than 22,000 euros were raised, which went towards the planning of the facility. "The support of the zoo and other cultural institutions by citizens has a long tradition in Frankfurt - we can be proud of this. On behalf of the zoo and the Ice Hockey Lions, I would also like to express my sincere thanks to everyone who has supported the project so far," said Hartwig.
The expansion of the lions' outdoor enclosure, however, had to be put on hold for now because of the construction of the new penguin enclosure. "For our Asiatic lions, we have long wanted more space in the outdoor enclosure," Niekisch said, "but two large construction sites at the same time would be a burden on our visitors, if nothing else, so unfortunately the lion project had to wait for now. But now the completion of the penguin project is foreseeable and we can press ahead with the conversion of the lion enclosure at full speed." The lion project was brought a significant step forward by the Frankfurt Zoo Foundation, whose patron is Dr. Ina Hartwig. The foundation provided a sum of 75,000 euros for the planning and reconstruction of the enclosure, thus creating the foundation for drawing up the plans.
The zoo was also able to rely on the support of Löwen Frankfurt Eishockey Betriebs GmbH once again: "As neighbors of the Zoo Lions, we feel at home on the ice. ZARINA and KUMAR, on the other hand, have more of a problem with it: they are not allowed outside when the moat is frozen over. That's why the moat has to be removed, and as quickly as possible, so that they can find the best possible living conditions at Frankfurt Zoo. The lion is our heraldic animal, so it is a matter of the heart for us to support the project. Among other things, we have already been able to win one of our partners as a sponsor of KUMAR", says Stefan Krämer, Managing Partner of Löwen Frankfurt Eishockey Betriebs GmbH.
Hartwig and Niekisch agree: "The plans promise a win-win for everyone: more space and more variety for the animals and nicer insights for the visitors. We hope to continue to find a lot of support for our project so that our two lions will soon have a more beautiful realm. Especially as there may soon have to be room for more lions at the facility, because KUMAR and ZARINA get along very well."
This is how you can help ZARINA and KUMAR:
Donation account
Zoo Frankfurt I Postbank Frankfurt
BIC: PBNKDEFF I IBAN: DE24 5001 0060 0078 3286 07
Cue "donation lion enclosure"
Charity-SMS
Send a charity SMS worth 5 <x>ampersand</x>euros; to 81190 with the keyword "lions", the amount will be automatically debited from your account by your phone provider. (Less a handling fee of 0,17 <x>ampersand</x>euro; per SMS)
donation box
Or just feed the donation box in the cat jungle
