A male Condor, only eight weeks old

With 675 species, it is difficult to present only a few favourites – every species is unique and worth seeing! But if you are looking for a few hints during your tour, you should definitely visit the world’s first breeding successes of endangered species. We have been the leaders in the world over 25 times in the breeding of an endangered species outside its natural habitat and have contributed to its preservation in this way.

The team of Weltvogelpark Walsrode have been especially successful with the highly endangered Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus). Since 1988 we are celebrating regular breeding achievements. These achievements are not very common in Zoological facilities. By the way, the Condor siblings Lucie, Macho and Carlos can also be admired in our flight show.

The Shoebill has a big fan community

Another species with a big fan community is the Shoebill couple (Balaeniceps rex) “Abu Markub” – “Father of the Shoe” – as this stork species is called in Arabic due to its massive shoe-shaped bill. Since 2001, the two impressive individuals hasbeen living in an open air facility with a huge water basin and vegetation adapted to their natural habitat evoking their home country in the wetlands of tropical Africa.

The Single-Wattled Cassowary

The Single-Wattled Cassowary (Casuarius unappendiculatus rufotinctus) is definitely worth a visit. The bright colours on his head and neck as well as his size, strong legs and feet are impressive. Just as imposing and extremely dangerous is the dagger-like “deadly claw” that this ratite bird weighing up to 60 kilos uses to actively defend his territory, eggs and young. Not only our animal keepers have to pay attention to protect their own health, also the male has to watch out for the physically superior female outside the mating season. Attacks only are used for protection, however, since cassowaries are mainly fruit eaters. By visiting our cassowary couple in neighbouring enclosures you can compare the obvious size difference between the male and the female by yourself!

The Knobbed Hornbill

The Knobbed Hornbill (Aceros cassidix) can be recognized by its impressive bill and striking head colour. Not only its outer appearance but also its behaviour is interesting: After mating, the male will “cement” its female into a hollow tree trunk where she will lay her eggs and bring up the young hornbills protected from enemies. During this time, the male will feed its family through a narrow and longish gap, thus the form of its bill. Various species can be seen in the Pheasantry and in the Tropical Forest Hall.