Emotional move: Hedgehog Igor explores new home at Leipzig Zoo!

Emotional move: Hedgehog Igor explores new home at Leipzig Zoo!

Several significant changes are currently taking place at Leipzig Zoo that affect both the welfare of the animals and the structure of animal husbandry. An emotional farewell is part of everyday life for many carers and visitors, especially when it comes to moving animals.

One of these moves concerns the hedgehog Igor, who temporarily lived in Gondwanaland. The MDR program “Elefant, Tiger & Co” documents how Igor is prepared for the move by his carer Dana Eisenreich. Dana trained intensively with Igor to get him used to the new situation. The parade began with Igor sleeping in his old enclosure while Dana offered him freshly caught mealworms as a treat. Igor reacts positively to these rewards and willingly goes into the transport box, where he is then taken over by Holger Wust, the new carer.

New home for Igor

Holger is confident that Igor will quickly get used to his new enclosure. After Igor arrived successfully, he curiously explored his new surroundings and appeared to be doing well. Feeding mealworms also makes the little hedgehog happy.

At the same time, there was another important move at Leipzig Zoo: the two elephant cows Hoa and Trinh moved to Neunkirchen Zoo. The transport took place on Tuesday evening by special transporter, accompanied by their trusted animal keepers. After their arrival, Hoa and Trinh were taken straight to their enclosures, where they can now recover from the journey. The Leipzig elephant keepers are on site and are supporting the two elephants' acclimatization process. In the long term, Leipzig Zoo would like to build a socially intact herd of elephants in order to promote species conservation.

Changes in the elephant house

The population changes are carried out in close cooperation with the European Conservation Breeding Program (EEP). One recommendation from the EEP is to provide company to the single female elephant Kirsty. This could mean that the female elephant Saida, who currently lives at Leipzig Zoo and does not get along with the existing herd, will soon also leave the zoo. Currently living in Leipzig Zoo are the 18-year-old bull Voi Nam, the 11-year-old elephant Rani, the 37-year-old cow Don Chung and the six-month-old bull Kiran, who is currently learning to handle water and sand and enjoys his daily bathing sessions.

The developments at Leipzig Zoo show how important the work of the keepers is, who not only ensure the well-being of the animals, but also master the challenges of animal husbandry and the integration of new members into the herds.