EXCELLENT AND SECURE CLIMBING PLEASURE WITH X-TEND

Everyone who is a guest in Stuttgart or has the good fortune to live here should not miss Wilhelma, i.e. the zoo. Among other things, Wilhelma is a leader in the species-appropriate keeping of primates. For example, the X-TEND stainless steel cable netting stretches over the enclosure, which has been awarded the Hugo-Häring Prize of the Association of German Architects BDA Baden-Württemberg. This serves not only for the safety of the bonobos living there, but also for the fun of climbing. The net is springy and offers the perfect grip width for the bonobos thanks to its 50 to 60 millimetre mesh size.

Currently there are 16 bonobos living there. The primates, also known as dwarf chimpanzees, are the closest relatives of the human beings besides the common chimpanzees.

11,500 ANIMALS AT WILHELMA

Wilhelma has its home in the district of Bad Cannstatt. About a million people visit the zoological-botanical garden every year. Not only the bonobos live on the approximately 30 hectares of the zoo. A fabulous 11,500 animals can be visited here by guests. After the Berlin Zoo, most of the animal species (1,200) at Wilhelma live in a German zoo. Among other things, the latter are intended to give city children a connection to the local fauna.

THE FEMALES ARE IN CHARGE

The X-TEND stainless steel cable net from CARL STAHL ARCHITECTURE stretches over the 3,000 m² of the bonobo enclosure. Both large areas such as brooks and the small retreats of the great apes are secured. With the X-TEND stainless steel cable net, the zoo thus meets the needs of the 16 bonobos to be able to retreat in smaller groups.

Bonobos are more delicate, but not smaller than chimpanzees. They also live at Wilhelma in matriarchal family groups. Visitors notice this every day at about 9.30 a.m. When the females come first to the food distribution through the punting boxes, the males always have to wait.