Greetings from Wilhelma
Jul 25th, 2009 | By mervi | Category: Featured articles25.7.2009 von Ludmila (Auf Deutsch, in English)
Wir sind am 22.07.09 um 9 Uhr in Stuttgart gelandet. Zuerst sind wir zum Hauptbahnhof gefahren und sind danach die Königstraße entlang gelaufen. Hier sind viele Geschäfte und Cafes zu finden. Wir haben uns den Schlossplatz angeschaut und mehrere Fotos geschossen. Danach haben wir einige Zeit in der Buchhandlung „Wittwer” verbracht. Dieser Laden ist sehr empfehlenswert für alle Leseratten. Ich habe mich mit Velvet getroffen und mit ihr eine sehr schöne Zeit mit Gesprächen über unsere Haustiere beim Kaffeetrinken verbracht.
Danach sind wir in den Zoo gefahren. Die Wilhelma ist ein zoologisch-botanischer Garten. Das Gelände ist sehr weitläufig und wunderschön bepflanzt. Ich war von den bunten Blumen und blühenden Sträuchern überwältigt. Trotzdem verlor ich mein Ziel (Corinna und Anton) nicht aus den Augen. Wir haben die Bären problemlos gefunden und fast eine Stunde bei ihnen verbracht.
Corinna wartete auf das Essen. Sie streckte die Nase nach oben und schnupperte. Leider war es mit dem Essen nicht weit her. Die Bären bekamen nur Salat, ansonsten hatten sie einen Fastentag (stand auf einem Schild am Eisbärengehege geschrieben). Corinna sieht gut ernährt aus und ihr Fell ist weiss und dick. Anton ist sehr groß und sehr kräftig. Er war ewig lange mit einer blauen Tonne beschäftigt. Anton drückte die Tonne unter das Wasser und wippte darauf, er schob die Tonne an der Scheibe lang zu den Steinen und hier fing die harte Arbeit an. Er schaffte es nicht in die Tonne reinzubeissen, deswegen musste er mit einer Vorderpfote die Tonne heben, mit dem Kopf festhalten und nach oben schieben. Das gelang ihm. Danach sprang er mit beiden Vorderpfoten auf die Tonne drauf, wie Knut das auch mit unterschiedlichen Sachen macht.
Am Ende hob Anton die Tonne mit seinen beiden Pfoten hoch und schmiss sie im hohen Bogen ins Wasser um dann gleich hinterher zu springen und das Spiel von vorn anzufangen. Einmal hob er die Tonne neben der Scheibe hoch, es sah so aus als ob er sie zu den Zuschauern rüber werfen wollte. Die Scheibe ist ungefähr 2m hoch, es war nicht möglich. Zwischendurch schwamm Anton zu einem kleinen Fenster an der Seitenmauer, hinter dem viele Kinder standen. Es ist schwer zu sagen, was er wollte. Er sah die Kinder an, sprang von der Seite an die Scheibe, tauchte runter und dann kuschelte er mit dem Kopf an dem Glas. Einmal schob er die Tonne zum Fenster als ob er sie den Kindern zeigen wollte. Ich hätte noch stundenlang zuschauen können, aber wir hatten wenig Zeit und gingen weiter.
Sehr beeindruckend fand ich die Mammutbäume. Dieser Abschnitt sieht wie ein Märchenwald aus. Ich hoffe, dass wir irgendwann die Wilhelma wieder besuchen werden und dann mehr Zeit mitbringen.
In English with more photos
We landed in Stuttgart at 9 am on July 22nd. We first rode to the central station and then walked on
Königstraße”. There were many shops and cafes there. We saw the Schlossplatzand took some pictures. After that we went to the bookstore “Wittwer”. This bookstore can special be recommended to bookworms. I met Velvet and we spent some great time talking about our pets and drinking coffee.
Our next stop was the zoo. Wilhelma is a zoo and botanic garden. It is rather big and has beautiful plants all along the trail. I was amazed by the colorful plants and beautiful bushes. However, I didn’t forget my goal of visiting Anton and Corinna. The bears were easy to find and we spent almost an hour watching them. Corinna was waiting for food. She was sniffing the air with her nose up to the sky. Unfortunately, there was no feeding that day. All the bears got was some salad. Corinna looks well fed and has white and thick fur. Anton is really large and really strong. He was taking care of a blue ton. He pushed the ton under water and jumped around on it. He also pushed the ton along the glass window toward the stones where he started working it up the stones. However, he couldn’t get a good grip of the ton with his teeth so he had to lift the ton with his front paws, hold it with his head, and push it upwards. It worked out. Anton jumped onto the ton just as Knut does with some of his toys.
In the end Anton lifted the ton again, threw it in the water, and jumped after it to start the game all over again. One time Anton lifted the ton right next to the glass window so it looked as if he wanted to throw the ton to the onlookers on the other side. The window is about 2m tall, though, so it didn’t work out. Inbetween Anton swam to the smaller window where children stood. It wasn’t clear what exactly he wanted. He looked at the kids, sprang from the side to the window and started cuddling with the glass. He even took the ton to that window once as if to show it to the kids. We could have watched for hours but we didn’t have the time.
I was deeply impressed by the redwood trees we saw. This part of the zoo looked like an enchanted forest. I hope we’ll be able to return to Wilhelma someday with more time on hand.
Dear Ludmila! Thank you so much for this wonderful report. Wilhelma looks very beautiful – I hope I can visit the zoo one day. I loved the Anton Show – he really gave his best performance for you!
Hugs from Mervi
Ludmila, Thanks for the great report and pictures! Isn’t it amazing how many bears we know?!
xo k-j
Dear Ludmila-
what a nice report you wrote for us. The pics are marvellous. You must have enjoyed your time in Wilhelma and with Anton&Corinna. Isn’t it great how Corinna is playing with the blue can?. Thank you so much for sharing your impressions with us. Have a nice weekend
BH caren
Liebe Ludmilla
vielen dank für diesen schönen und anschaulichen bericht aus der Wilhelma nebst Fotos.
Die Wilhelma scheint ein kleines Paradies zu sein.
LG
Bea
Ludmila-
What an enlightening report and such fantastic photographs! Thank you so much for sharing with us. This appears to be a beautiful zoo and I love the serene presence of redwood trees. Is this the first time we have had a first hand report on Wilhelma? No wonder Wilbar is so well-adjusted – look at his background.
I see you had big fella Anton showing off to impress you – you lucky lady! He must have known you were representing KWM. I think he is supposed to be one of the bigger male polar bears in Germany. He’s a male hottie isn’t he ? But word in the zoo circuit is that he’s not the brightest star in the galaxy – but remember you didn’t hear it from me. I guess when you look so handsome, there isn’t much need to be a great thinker! You go Anton!
But seriously – that Anton is one serious dude with that barrel in his paws – remind me not joke about him again! Great report Ludmila!!
Dear Ludmila – You have a great time in Wilhelma, a beautiful place. Thank you for nice report and fantastic pictures.
Dear Ludmilla, thank you for beautiful photos and your interesting report! I enjoyed reading it, and I am glad to be assured that Corinna is doing so well. She has Anton!
Hugs from Leaf
Dear Ludmila, finally time to read your report and to watch your photos. And yes, according to me, Corinna has always been one of the most pretty polar bear ladies (number two is Victoria – Sorry Ladies of Berlin). And Anton is quite “een brok” as we say in Dutch. At this moment, nobody will say that once they had to take over the care for him as very young cub due to health problems (he is partially handraised). Based on what I read from other reports, it seems that he is having a rather gentle mood, so I am not so surprised that he is showing his big blue can to his visitors.
Dear Ludmila,
Thank you for your interesting report and great photos. It is good to hear Corinna is playing and doing well. I agree with Patricia, she is a most beautiful lady bear. And Anton is quite a hunk of papa bear! Wilbar must be very proud of his parents…
Bear hugs, Sarsam
Good morning!
Thank you Ludmilla for report and photos! I watched your photos with great pleasure. Don’t know if I mentioned it, but Anton is my top-of-the-list polar bear. That huge and around twenty year old bear really has a strong teddy bear attitude that makes him irresistable. I’ve said it before – one day I’m gona sew a button in his ear and take him home to sit on my sofa….
. But it seems she softened a lot while raising a kid.
Btw I too have heared (or read?) somewhere that Anton really is a gentle giant. Corinna is the one with the trousers on
Certainly Wilhelma is a special place. That mixture of botanic garden and zoo is unique in Germany. They have over hundred year old magnolia bushes (or should I say trees?) in an cirular garden. And right now I think there is a show of fuchsia – you can’t imagine how many different kinds and colors of fuchsia blossoms there are in the world!
On the other hand Wilhelma is very limited in space. Therefore many enclosures are not as big as they should be – the polar bear’s included. When it was built it was up-to-date of course but now it has to be rated rather small. They try to improve of course but that needs a lot of money. Nevertheless Wilhelma is very successfull in the breeding of some rare species, p.e. the okapi (Zoo Berlin’s Stomp is born in Stuttgart) and the apes (beside the kindergarten for orphaned babies right now in the gorilla horde you can see Grandma Mimi with son and her adult daughter Mutasi with daughter Shira and this year’s babygirl Mawensi.
Grüssles Velvet