Animal world The Basel Zolli creates more space for tropical and savannah enclosures
The Basel Zoo has big expansion plans: by 2049, new themed facilities and enclosures for the tropical and savannah habitats are to be built on the current parking lot in the north and on the so-called "Schutzmatte" on Binningen soil in the south, as the zoo announced on Wednesday.
25.09.2024, 12:11
25.09.2024, 14:50
SDA
In the south, the zoo has around 15,000 square meters of space available on the site, which it already owns under building rights and uses as a non-public alternative area. In the north, there are around 6000 square meters on the current parking lot. Compared to the current accessible area of 110,000 square meters, this would represent an expansion of around 20 percent, as Zoo Director Olivier Pagan said at a media conference.
The zoo will remain a facility for exotic animals, Pagan continued. In the north, the test planning envisages domed buildings in which flora and, above all, fauna from the tropics, such as cows, corals and crocodiles, are to be presented. And in the south, facilities are planned for the African savannah habitat.
The expansion in the south in particular will also entail some changes to the current zoo area. The giraffes, hippos, zebras, spectacled penguins and sea bears, among others, will one day have a new home on Binningen soil.
Large aviary on the "Sautergarten"
According to the test planning, a large aviary is to be built on the current part of the site south of the Elsässerbahn bridge, known as the "Sautergarten", which will provide space for large birds, among other things. Visitors will be able to access the aviary directly via the current underpass through the Elsässerbahn railroad line and finally reach the new southern area via a path under the Dorenbach viaduct, according to the media conference.
Furthermore, malay bears will one day occupy the listed sea lion rock, thus fulfilling Zolli's wish to be able to present bears again. The sea lions will therefore have to move.
The children's zoo will move into the newly renovated antelope house, which is no longer suitable for species-appropriate accommodation. This will free up space on the current Children's Zoo site for a forest area, where the pygmy hippos, among others, will find a new home.
Nine million investment per year
The expansion and renovations - which also include a new parking garage with 286 spaces - will cost the zoo an average of nine million Swiss francs per year, according to project manager Heidi Rodel. Pagan added that the zoo would raise all of this money itself.
Because the zoo will be expanding to Binningen, the local council there will also have a say. The municipality is backing the expansion plans, said municipal president Caroline Rietschi at the media conference - without wanting to anticipate a possible vote by the residents' council or even the electorate. She is particularly pleased that a freely accessible piece of parkland and a public restaurant will be created on Binningen soil.
The architects Bolthauser Architekten and Schifferle Landschaftsarchitekten were selected in a competition to develop the master plan. The first concrete steps are to be taken this year with the ground-breaking ceremony for the new parking garage at Erdbeergraben and the extension of the administration building.
