MUENCHNR TRPK : Hellabrunn publishes its 2012 Annual Report

Münchener Tierpark Hellabrunn AG can demonstrate that 2012 was a successful business year all round - both in zoological and commercial terms.

· A zoo with many different animals and species:19,183 animals from 757 species lived at Hellabrunn in the 2012 trading year. That corresponds to an increase of 3 percent and 2 percent respectively over the previous year. Hellabrunn has therefore one of the most diverse animal populations of any European zoo.

· In 2012 sales of Hellabrunn's annual season tickets increased by 35 percent over the previous year.An advertising campaign on 34 large format advertising panels in Munich's underground stations has been raising awareness of the zoo's favourably-priced season tickets since 2012.

· In the 2012 trading year a round 1,622,000 people visited Munich's zoo.This is the second-highest visitor count since the zoo opened over 100 years ago.

· 860 animal births were recorded last year at Hellabrunn. Of particular note is the offspring for our silvery gibbons, a critically endangered primate species which nationwide can only be seen in Munich.

· Hellabrunn's animal population grew through additions from other European zoos including amongst others two young lions, two arctic foxes, two critically endangered drills and 14 rockhopper penguins.

· The preparation of an Objectives and Development Plan was one of 2011's key milestones. This serves as the basis for all future plans and emphasises Hellabrunn's guiding principle: the geo zoo concept in which animals are grouped by continent and are kept in natural communities. Both the ground-breaking and topping-out ceremonies for the giraffe savannah in the new African zone took place in 2012.

· Other construction projects: In the summer of 2012 the newly renovated aquarium complete with a new, 10,000 litre tank for both blacktip reef sharks was reopened. Café Rhino with a new, toddler-friendly adventure playground directly adjacent to it containing a tree-top path and water playground opened last autumn.

· Hellabrunn's celebrities: At the end of 2011 the fifth series of the docu-soap "Rhino, Zebra & Co." was filmed at the zoo. The 40 episodes filmed then were broadcast starting in November 2012. Out of all of ARD's zoo programmes this one got the highest audience rating. Bavarian TV's 45-minute film about "Ludwig and his Sister - Hellabrunn's Baby Elephants" achieved 12.2 percent of the nationwide audience rating.

"In many areas Hellabrunn is a trail-blazer: Munich's zoo is the one and only zoo nationwide to have attained TÜV certification in quality and environmental management. Many zoos worldwide are now imitating the geo zoo concept that was developed at Hellabrunn in 1928. After the watering down of this principle in Munich in past decades, we took an important step towards reverting to being a geo zoo by starting construction of the giraffe savannah in 2012," emphasised Christine Strobl, chairman of the board.

"Against the backdrop of all zoos in Europe, we come across as having a particular diversity of animals and species. In 2012 we counted 19,183 animals from 757 species at Hellabrunn! Our ambitious goal is to make the zoo more attractive every year and to continue to be amongst the best loved, most visited and most successful zoos both in the nation and across Europe," said zoo director, Dr. Andreas Knieriem.