Zurich Zoo in Switzerland


Zurich Zoo
The logotype for the elephant house in Zuerich Zoo.
The logotype for the elephant house in Zuerich Zoo.

Typezoo

OwnerTiergarten-Gesellschaft Zürich
Place Zurich
Country Switzerland
Website Website

Directors 2020-now: Severin Dressen (director)
1991-2020: Alex Rübel (director)
1974-1991: Peter Weilenmann (director)
1954-1973: Heini Hediger (director)

Key People

Veterinarians 2003-2010: Hanspeter Steinmetz (veterinarian)

Elephant department

Elephant managementProtected Contact, since

Head keepers
of elephants
-1947: Hans Rietmann
(elephant head-keeper)
-: Ruedi Tanner
(elephant head-keeper)

Elephant keepers 1985-2004: Georges Frei (elephant keeper)
Record history
History of updates2025-03-17:

Latest document update2025-03-17 16:45:42
Google map
Description

Zurich Zoo, in Zurich, Switzerland

Zurich Zoo elephants are managed in Protected Contact, since

.

Living elephants

At the Zurich Zoo lives 5 elephants with records in this database: (detail list)
  1. Chandra born 2002-05-14
  2. Farha born 2005-05-03
  3. Indi born 1986-02-28
  4. Panang born 1989-02-13
  5. Thai born 2004-11-26

Casualties

2 casualties
  1. 1944-11: visitor Bertha Walt fatal attack by Chang II. Then on a stormy November morning three years ago, zoo keepers saw blood on the floor of the pit. In Chang's straw bed they found a bloodied human hand and toe. The horrified keepers and police learned the unbelievable truth. Chang had devoured a young woman; he had swallowed her clothes, her hat, and even her large handbag. † Bertha Walt Died 1944-11
  2. 1947-12-24: elephant keeper Hans Rietmann fatal attack by Chang II. Hans Rietmann had no fear. On Christmas Eve, he entered the pit by himself. When he tried to fasten the chains around the elephant's hind legs, Chang turned and swept him up in his Trunk. † Hans Rietmann Died 1947-12-24, Zürich Zoo. Later that night, the trumpeting din of elephants Fighting aroused the sleeping zoo. The zoo director rushed to Chang's pit, found him attacking Mandjullah. On the floor he found Rietmann's dead body. This time there was no one to plead for Chang. At dawn the keepers' rifles cracked four times. Chang, the elephant with imagination, was dead.

Comments / pictures
Facility

The old elephant house was built 1971. It had an outdoor enclosure about 860 m2, and a public viewing area, also including facilities for Rock Hyrax. The bull enclosure was built 1981. There was an indoor area 50 m2 and an outdoor area covering 72 m2.


The new 57-million-franc ($63.5-million) facility, "Kaeng Krachan elephant park", an 11,000-square-metre park six times the space of the previous enclosure, with six water basins , was finished in 2014.



1998
The cows are worked in Free Contact, while the bull Maxi, trained by Ruedi Tanner in Free Contact, is since many years worked in Protected Contact.

Since 1994 there is an untethering housing, after a movable barrier was invented. This barrier allows the staff to let the elephants free in the house, so that the elephants can not fall into the Moat.

During the day when elephantkeepers are present the barrier is down and the visitors can have a free view of the elephants. When theres a baby elephant the barrier is raised daytime to a halfposition, so the calf is protected and the visitors are not to much disturbed by the barrier. The cows are only chained indoors, while washing. The bull is never tethered.


In the morning the elephants are fed 5 kg bran, with warm water, vitamines and salt.

After washing the elephants in the morning, they are free to bath in the inner pool.

During the day they are fed branches as much as possible. In the evening each elephant becomes 25 kg of hay and some straw, 5 kg bred and about 20 kg of carrots or beets, and three times a week some apple and some vegetables.

Every afternoon, when the bull is not in Musth, he is kept together with the cows in the outdoor enclosure.
When the temperature allows, we feed the cows their eveningmeal in the house and let the outdoors open, so they can go in and out during the evening and in the night. In spring and autumn when its gets colder, the cows has the door closed, and so the bull can use the cows outdoor enclosure in the evening and night.

Information and photographs provided 29 September 98 by Georges Frei, elephant keeper in Zürich Zoo. Georges has made a webpage about the elephants at: http://www.upali.ch



References for records about Zurich Zoo

Recommended Citation

Koehl, Dan (2025). Zurich Zoo, Elephant Encyclopedia. Available online at https://www.elephant.se/location2.php?location_id=34. (archived at the Wayback machine)

Sources used for this article is among others:


Litterature about Zurich Zoo

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Zurich Zoo on elephant-news.com

Zurich Zoo is mentioned on Elephant News:

DateLinks which opens in new window
2016-04-21Zurich firemen use crane to haul old elephant to her feet - Elephant News
Elefantenpark zoo zürich - Elephant News
Elephant baby farha born in zuerich zoo - Elephant News


Search more with Google for Zurich ZooThe link will automatically include Zurich Zoo and open a new browser window.


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