September 27th to 30th 2006 After an early career in zoo keeping I still have an interest in zoos and on my travels always call in at any wildlife collection in the hope of pictures. If I get just one subject per visit I am happy. Some modern zoos have wonderful exhibits with very natural settings. One exceptional example is at the visitor centre of the Bayerischer Wald National Park in Bavaria, Eastern Germany. It is not really a zoo, but a collection of native wildlife to the area in very large, natural enclosures which are spaced out along a 7 Km circular walk through the forest.
Wild boar There are several places to park around the circuit, but I chose the main car park at the visitor centre about 1 km north of the village of Neuschonau. It is a fee paying car park, with a maximum charge of 5 Euros a day. The other car parks are cheaper. There is no entrance fee to the collection and it is open 24 hours a day. Accommodation was widely available locally, but I was staying in my caravan on a site about 15 minutes away. The whole area is heavy wooded, which creates problems photographically on sunny days. Cloudy bright days are needed, when the light is more even under the trees.
Wolf I spent 4 days there and photographed capercaillie, black grouse, hazel grouse, honey buzzard, hobby, beaver, wolf and wild boar. The wild boar enclosure was huge and you walk through it. They became my main target, but it is possible to spend hours in there without seeing any boar, it is so large. When they do appear they come very close. The wolf enclosure is also large and natural. I was told they feed them at midday on Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays and this is when they are most active. There is a very large viewing area where you are level with the wolves without looking through bars.
Beaver The beaver enclosure was also excellent photographically, but I only saw a beaver once, about 30 minutes before dark.
Black grouse The three grouse species are in quite large aviaries, which are quite natural. You view the birds through wires that come down from the roof, but the wires are flexible and can be pushed widely apart to allow even large lenses to pass through. The same is true of the birds of prey, although the fencing in the background was usually a problem here.
Capercaillie There are other species to photograph as well. Brown bears, pine martin, lynx, wildcat, otters, red deer and bison amongst others. Many of these I did not even see however, let alone photograph. The enclosures are too large and natural and I suspect some of them do not show until after dark. Probably the ideal time to visit would be in the winter with heavy snow on the ground. The light would be more even and the settings more dramatic. Snow is frequent in this part of the world in the winter. I have pencilled it in to my diary for 2007. The closest airport is Munich, about 2 hours away and I shall fly next time and rent a car. If you want to visit as part of an organised group Vic Sharratt is leading trips to the centre. See his website at http://www.vicsharrattcamerasafaris.com/html/bavaria.html
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