On 16 October, the Eßlinger Zeitung reported on the event with Wilhelma director Thomas Kölpin at our Econvent. Here is the full article:
Some people still think that animals are captured in the wild and locked up for zoos. That has long ceased to be the case; quite the opposite: zoos release endangered species into the wild and ensure their preservation. Wilhelma director Thomas Kölpin shared these and many other fascinating insights at the Econvent. In front of around 30 listeners, he answered questions from Alexander Maier and expressed his wish for zoos to be “modern species conservation centres”.
Did Thomas Kölpin always want to be a zoo director? No, his original dream was to be an animal researcher. As a child he first kept guinea pigs; his parents were less keen on the idea of bird-eating spiders for a primary school pupil. Kölpin wrote his diploma thesis and doctoral thesis on snakes. The classic career path to becoming a zoo director no longer exists, he said: some were architects beforehand or made films. A zoo director has to be good not only with animals but also with people – with staff, politicians and visitors.
Kölpin’s official residence is right in the middle of the Wilhelma. “I do my rounds in the morning,” says the head of 320 employees and a budget of 23 million euros. At the Wilhelma, Kölpin has “his own” animals for which he is responsible and which he looks after himself. Following his love of large animals, these are elephants, rhinos and tapirs. “At the moment I’m training my three daughters.” His animals at home are somewhat smaller: snakes and spiders.
His job does not leave the zoo director even on holiday; his mobile rings there too, and there are zoo visits on the agenda. But he looks further afield: Kölpin also visits the natural habitats of animals, such as elephants in India. These habitats serve as models when planning new enclosures. “There always has to be something new,” says the zoo director, with an eye on the many competitors among leisure activities. At weekends he sometimes glances over at the multi-storey car park to see whether it is well occupied. But nobody should be put off by a radio report that it is full; there is still plenty of room in the Wilhelma. The visitor record is 22,500, set once at Halloween.
A zoo’s master plan can easily span 30 years. The new enclosure for the snow leopards went faster: the idea dates from 2014 and it was finished four years later. The aim is to show the animals in a natural environment, but every zoo still has old enclosures. On the one hand, the Wilhelma wants to show biodiversity; after Berlin, it is the zoo with the most species in Europe. On the other hand, it also gives animals away for reasons of space, as was the case with the hippos. Every species can be kept in a zoo, says Kölpin. “I need a good social structure, not 100 square kilometres.”
Children, too, should see that predators eat other animals. Such feedings are announced in advance and do not cause an outcry. There is a paradigm shift away from an “ideal world” towards environmental education. For some city dwellers, the zoo is their only encounter with nature. In modern animal husbandry, however, there is less contact with people; the elephants should live in family groups as in India. “Then there are no more elephants for stroking.”
Does a zookeeper live dangerously? No, but: “It becomes dangerous when they make mistakes; that happens in other professions too.” An encounter with elephants can be dangerous. What is a pat with the trunk from elephant to elephant can be fatal for a keeper. Does this personalisation of animals, with names, have to happen? “We need these identification animals as ambassadors; that is the only way to create emotions. If I link a polar bear cub with climate change, I may get a change in behaviour.”
The zoo director openly admits that the reputation of the Wilhelma’s catering had suffered: “It was clear that something had to be done.” One aim with the new operator is greater sustainability, for example through regional purchasing. “We have to set an example as a whole.”
Mammals are no longer brought into zoos from the wild, Kölpin stressed. Only fish are still caught in the wild. When it comes to breeding, things vary greatly: spiders are extremely choosy about their partners, while for chimpanzees it is no problem. Orangutans can be shown videos of how it works with humans, and they learn from them. Current reintroduction projects include griffon vultures for Bulgaria and soon Italy, and ferruginous ducks for the Steinhuder Meer, all in international coordination and with subsequent evaluation.
What about recruiting staff? There are a great many applications for zookeepers; because of the need for realistic expectations, an internship beforehand is compulsory. Craftspeople and technicians are hard to find because they are better paid elsewhere. Vets are not a problem, but they are almost always women. “In training there is just one man for every 600 women. Why that is, is a mystery to us.”
First published in the Eßlinger Zeitung on 16 October 2018 by the author Peter Dietrich