Austrian Wildlife Reserves:
Game Parks & Deer Enclosures in Austria
This article is an addition to a previous one in which I have talked about
proper zoos in Austria. The following paragraphs highlight some of
Austria’s wildlife and game parks. They are usually not zoos in the conventional sense of the word, but have developed from the
habit of keeping deer or other wild animals in enclosures. Therefore, several ones are associated with castles or palaces. Note that “Wildpark” doesn’t really mean “wildlife park”, but rather “game park” or “game reserve”. The descriptions move from West to East, as always on TourMyCountry.com.
Vorarlberg’s capital Bregenz has a wildlife park with alpine deer, chamois and ibex – and a similar park in
Feldkirch. Tyrolean wildlife parks include one in
Telfs, which is a pretty extensive one with deer only. Other ones can be found in
Achenkirch, in Fulpmes and in Aurach near
Kitzbühel. The latter one includes Tibetan yak. In
Kirchberg and Assling, you can find wildlife parks of the conventional kind, meaning: Alpine animals, mostly deer.
Moving eastwards and back into Salzburg, you can go to the former hunting chateaux now hotel “Jagdhof Fuschl” by the shores of
Lake Fuschlsee – one of the prettiest lakes of the
Salzkammergut. Here you find a small wildlife park, similar to the one in nearby
Strobl by Lake Wolfgangsee.
Do, a Deer: Enclosures and wild deer in Austria
To admire deer in the wild, go to Hintersee – here, a stage was built for tourists to gather around a feeding site during the winter. Wildlife rangers feed the local deer, which has turned into quite an attraction an draws tourists from all over the place. In southern Salzburg, a wildlife park in
Fusch an der Glocknerstraße presents a large array of mostly, but not only Austrian wildlife.
Upper Austrian wildlife parks include one in Hochkreut near
Lake Attersee, Freiberg near Schärding,
Altenfelden north-east of Linz; the best-known, however, is the wildlife park of
Cumberland (yes, Cumberland) in the picturesque Salzkammergut valley of
Almtal. It was made famous through the working of Konrad Lorenz, one of the founding fathers of modern behavioural biology.
Moving on to Lower Austria and still hungry for wildlife, check out the small town of
Haag and its wildlife park. There is also a safari-park in Gänserndorf, which is popular with chubby Viennese who want to present some fake wilderness to their
(usually similarly chubby) offspring. More rewarding, however, will be a visit to
Carinthia in terms of fauna-exposure: Carinthia’s capital Klagenfurt has a small reptile zoo associated with the
“Minimundus” theme park.
Private Zoos & Game Enclosures
There is another zoo/wildlife park in Maierniggalm southwest of Klagenfurt; a park in
Feld am See; the “Diana Wildpark Malta” north of
Spittal an der Drau; the grounds of the hunting chateaux
Jägerhof Schloss Mageregg north of Klagenfurt – and the private zoo of
Rosegg south of Velden.
Styria has – to my knowledge – only the private zoo of
Herberstein that I have mentioned above. In the
Burgenland, you will not only a hot-spot of bird watching (the
National Park Neusiedler See), but also zoos in
Gerersdorf by Güssing, the “Steppentierpark Pamhagen” presenting some pusta creatures in the eastern
Seewinkel and the “Naturwinkel Saufuss”, a small breeding station for ancient breeds of animals.
Back to "activities"
Further Reading
The Guardian on Wilflife Holidays in Austria
Hunting in Austria
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