Opening of the deer barn at Chemnitz Zoo
Invitation to the photo session: 27 November, 11 a.m.
The facility will be symbolically handed over to the zoo in the presence of Mayor Miko Runkel on Friday, 27 November 2015 at 11 am. The meeting point is at the deer enclosure.
The new home has been built for the two rare, endangered species of deer kept at Chemnitz Zoo - the Mesopotamian fallow deer and the Prince Alfred deer. The animal residents moved in a few days ago to familiarise themselves with the facility. During the construction period, the residents were moved, the Mesopotamian fallow deer to the game enclosure and the Prince Alfred deer within the zoo, to the zebra house.
The two Mesopotamian fallow deer and two Prince Alfred deer were joined this week by a young Mesopotamian fallow deer cow from Tierpark Berlin. Chemnitz Zoo participates in stud books and supports conservation projects together with its sponsoring organisation.
The old deer pen was over 40 years old and very dilapidated, so renovation was out of the question. The ground-breaking ceremony for the new barn took place on 16 March 2015 and involved eight construction companies, two planning offices, an architectural office, the city administration's building management department and the zoo.
The new building has improved the housing conditions. The outdoor enclosure for the Mesopotamian fallow deer was enlarged to 1451 square metres so that three animals can now be kept. The outdoor enclosure for the Prince Alfred deer is 645 square metres. The enclosure is designed so that other deer species can also be kept. A new feature is a fenced enclosure.
The working conditions for the animal keepers and the vet have also been improved. In addition, operating costs have been reduced thanks to improved heating technology and insulation.
The costs for the new building totalled around 345,000 euros. The majority of the funding came from donations (around 270,000 euros) from the Tierparkförderverein and Sparkasse Chemnitz, as well as from municipal funds.