Knie's Kinderzoo
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| Date opened | 1962 |
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| Location | Rapperswil, Switzerland |
| Coordinates | 47°13′26.69″N 8°49′19.16″E / 47.2240806°N 8.8219889°ECoordinates: 47°13′26.69″N 8°49′19.16″E / 47.2240806°N 8.8219889°E |
| No. of animals | ~400 |
| No. of species | 44 |
| Website | www |
Knie's Kinderzoo (German: Knies Kinderzoo) is a zoo aimed for children. It is located in the Swiss municipality of Rapperswil.
Aimed for children, the zoo is located at Oberseestrasse nearby Seedamm respectively Rapperswil railway station on upper Lake Zürich. Ending winter season, Kinderzoo opens daily from 9 am to 6 pm between the first Saturday in March and October 31, including Sundays and public holidays.
Knie's Kinderzoo was built by the architect Wolfgang Behles and was inaugurated on 10 June 1962 by the brothers Fredy and Rolf Knie senior, representing the fifth generation of the Knie's Circus family. On 15 February 1963 the first birth of an Asian elephant in Switzerland was announced: Sahib-Fridolin was the son of the elephants Ceylon and Siam. The baby elephant is reared by elephant expert and animal trainer Josef Hack with the bottle because Ceylon had no milk and died three months after giving birth. The dolphins Sindbad and Skipper became a further attraction on 19 June 1965; they were the first trained dolphins from Florida ever to be shown in an inland European country. On 4 August birth of the second Asian elephant Madura, a female, was celebrated. Her mother was Java. Madura's father Siam is considered as the most successful breeding bull in captivity: Father of 2 Asian elephants in Rapperswil and 12 elephants in Paris, where he was admired in the Natural History Museum in 2000. On 25 July 1970 the first permanent dolphinarium featuring an 800,000-litre pool opened at Knie’s Kinderzoo – it was closed for animal protection reasons in 199x. 1976 became the record year in the zoo's history, totalling 399,331 visitors - 7,8 millions by 1987. In 1991 the fur seals swimming pool with an underwater observation window opened, as well as the playground pirate ship. On 24 March 1993 Diva, a Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi, gave birth of her son Baluku who became the first Giraffa born in the zoo.
In 2000 the renewed elephant facility with bath, waterfall, clay wallows, scratching posts, and an equestrian center for visitors was opened. That same year, the zoo launched its website. Besides, the new ship for children was opened. 2001 saw the launch of the zoo slogan, literally animals up close. In the jubilee year 2002 Parrot flight demonstrations became an additional attraction in the Otarium, as well as the camel riding along with elephant and pony rides, and the grounds newly created sites Katta Island and Hyacinth Macaw opened. On 9 April, the newborn giraffe bull of mother Luana and father Kimali was christend Rivaldo by Ursus & Nadeschkin. 2003 saw the inauguration of an adventure playground with a hatchery for ducks and chickens (1,000 square metres (11,000 sq ft)), and a plant for guinea pigs and rabbits. Diva, the ancestress of the zoo's Rothschild giraffe breed, and Miniak, one of the oldest elephant in captivity, died at the age of 22, respectively 52. The facility for Suricata suricatta and Cynictis penicillata was opened in 2005, and at the so-called Steinwal, the landmark of the zoo, a cinema was opened. On 1 July 2006, the zoo's second largest project: the Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi was built adjacent to the current enclosure according to the latest research results, including wide outdoor facilities on an area of more than 2,500 square metres (26,910 sq ft). The cooperation with Ocean Care to protect the Mediterranean monk seals was also renewed. On 6 March 2008 one of the largest plants in Europe for Camelus ferus in Mongolian style was opened on 3,500 square metres (37,674 sq ft). The two elephants houses were newly built and offer over 800 square metres (8,611 sq ft), and ten individual boxes 34 square metres (366 sq ft), scratching walls/ posts, solarium and feet mild specialty flooring. In 2009 and 2010, the catering establishments have been upgraded with a new infrastructure, and the terrace on the Flamingo pond. As of 2009, the zoo had 303 specimens of 51 species.
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