The animal park Kunsterspring (or Tierpark Kunsterspring in German) is not far away from Berlin and home to a variety of animals like eagle owls, fallow deer or raccoons. Surrounded by beautiful nature, the animal park is not only a place to encounter animals, but also a place to relax and find some quiet moments. I went to the animal park Kunsterspring on a beautiful summer day and tell you here more about my animal encounters.
The animal park Kunsterspring
A two-hour-long journey by public transport. Furthermore, rail replacement service and an irregular bus timetable. Is it really worth to visit the animal park Kunsterspring from Berlin?
I say yes. The animal park Kunsterspring is surrounded not only by idyllic nature and located in a beautiful area, it is also a place to explore native fauna. Roe deer, wild boars or wolves. But also some birds like different species of owls or black storks. Just to name a few of the animals in the animal park Kunsterspring.
The animal park Kunsterspring is located in Neuruppin. Neuruppin is a town in Brandenburg and a one-hour drive by car from Berlin. However, if you wish to visit the animal park by public transport, you need more than two hours.
The forest area in the animal park Kunsterspring is beautifully landscaped. At some spots forest area changes with meadows or wetland.
Depending on the animal, it is not always possible to see a species. And all visitors have to respect that, for example, raccoon dogs and badgers sleep during the day. I think this is self-evident.
Important: Apropos sleep. It is possible to observe some animals in their dens sleeping through a glass plate. However, please do NOT knock at the glass plate in order to wake them up! Unfortunately, I saw visitors ignoring this rule, and thus, disturbed the animals' sleep!
The animal park Kunsterspring was very well-attended on the day of my visit. Especially families with their children visited the animal park. It were the last days of summer holidays.
Indeed, the animal park Kunsterspring is an interesting place for children. There are many information boards around the park, but several games distributed around the animal park not only contribute to more knowledge about native fauna, they also make learning less monotonous.
I especially liked the nature trail about wolves. On that trail I encountered questions like "What do wolves feed on?".
On the following picture you can see three correct and one incorrect answer. Which one? Can you guess?
I also very liked the cubes with the paw prints.
On each cube was a different picture. The task was to match each paw print with an animal.
How does an insect see the world?
If you want to experience this, then you have to participate in the forest game "One-to-one with an insect" (German: "Unter vier Augen mit einem Insekt"). At this forest game visitors are asked to see through a small hole at a wooden stake.
Insects have compound eyes that may consist of thousands of photoreception units. Compound eyes are made to perceive movements and color (including ultraviolet light). As comcound eyes consist of many single photoreception units, insects are able to perceive several images. The more photoreception units in a compound eye, the more precise is the movement an insect perceives.
I also very liked the insect hotel. Similar to the one I had already seen before in the wildlife park Schorfheide.
Every visitor who searches for animals, surely, will spot the one or other insect.
For example, I spotted a red-brown longhorn beetle (Stictoleptura rubra) and a dor beetle (Anoplotrupes stercorosus).
Thus, in the animal park Kunsterspring you can combine recreation with education. Especially, in the animal park Kunsterspring you encounter rare native fauna like, for example, wolves, lynxes or otters. Most people probably never will have the chance to see these animals in the wild or at any place outside of an animal or wildlife park, respectively.
Information: It might be worth to stop by the feeding times, as this way you might have a greater chance to see the animals in their enclosures. However, on the day of my visit in the animal park Kunsterspring all feeding time activities in front of visitors were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
However, I couldn't observe all animals in the enclosures on the day of my visit. But this was not bad or sad at all. Because in the animal park you can see indeed already much - if you pay attention to the little things. In some moments I even asked myself why the animal enclosures aren't even larger. Especially the ones of the lynxex or the wild cats.
Among visitors it was especially popular to feed the animals with the food provided in automatons. These automatons are distributed throughout the whole animal park. With just a little bit of money you can get some food for the animals and feed them.
Particularly children enjoyed feeding the fallow deer that way. However, it is important to mention that these tame animals are still able to hurt unintentionally a visitor. Especially the male fallow deer with their antlers.
In general, the animal park Kunsterspring is not that extensive like the wildlife park Schorfheide. But still I think it is a place worth to stay for several hours.
The animal park Kunsterspring can be divided into a park area, the Kunsterwiesen and a forest of full-grown trees. At the entrance area you get to the park on the left. On the right side you reach the Kunsterwiesen. Along the trail through the Kunsterwiesen there are steps that lead up to the high forest.
There is also a trail for baby buggies.
However, at some point in the high forest you will reach a bridge. At this bridge there is no crossover for baby buggies.
Tip: Behind the bridge are the fallow deer, the wild boars and the wolves. Some families either carried their baby buggies across the bridge or locked them at a tree. Thus, it might be worth for some to carry a padlock.
In general, the animal park Kunsterspring is a nice place for a day trip.
It is also possible to take some time for a picnic in the park and stay at one of the numerous resting spots throughout the park. I also saw a hut for barbecue.
For children there are two playgrounds in the animal park.
Generally speaking, the animal park Kunsterspring is for all animal enthusiasts and offers not only recreational and educational places, but also playing opportunities.
Wildlife in the animal park Kunsterspring
What is the difference between a European pine marten and a stone marten? Why do we call woolly pigs woolly pigs? And where does the European mouflon come from?
On a visit through the animal park Kunsterspring you will find the answers to many similar questions.
I entered the animal park early in the morning, paid a ticket at the cash point and entered the Kunsterwiesen. It was still very quiet. I neither could hear any animal. But the day was predicted to be nice. Not too hot. Not too cold. Partly cloudy, but in general a perfect summer day for a visit.
Although it was very quiet among the animals, I could still see the one or other animal awake.
Like, for example, the European pine marten.
Actually, European pine martens are nocturnal, and thus, active during the night. Nevertheless, although it was already half past nine, this individual seemed to be quite active on that morning.
I was impressed to see this small marten and I was looking at it with admiration. However, this little European pine marten, in contrast, didn't seem to be interested in me (or any other visitor) at all.
But of course. I had not food with me!
Interesting: What is the difference between a European pine marten and a stone marten? European pine martens do have a dark brown fur and a withish and yellowish throat patch. Stone martens, in contrast, do have a bright grey-brown fur and a white throat patch. While European pine martens usually live far away from human settlements, stone martens feel good in the proximity of humans, and thus, can be found in our neighborhood.
I decided to keep going in order to meet the stone martens. Maybe they were as active as the European pine martens, I thought.
Thus, I went to the hut with the stone martens.
Nothing.
No move. No creak.
"Is there a stone marten in the hut at the moment?", I asked myself.
I didn't know it. I heard nothing. As stone martens are nocturnal like European pine martens, I thought, maybe they were just asleep.
Later in the afternoon I visited the hut with the stone martens again, and yes, I was lucky! I saw one!
The stone marten moved very quickly from one side to the other. But with caution. I perceived its wariness - probably due to my presence. Nonetheless, the stone marten became braver and braver after some time and even ventured to the bottom of the hut.
Interesting: Stone martens are not that popular among humans. Especially among car owners, as stone martens love everything which is soft, and therefore, they check every soft thing for edibility with their sharp teeth. But naturally, stone martens rather feed on mice, birds and other small animals.
I left the hut with the stone martens and stopped at the enclosure with the woolly pigs.
Woolly pigs are interesting and funny looking animals. I knew them already as I had encountered them already in the wildlife park Schorfheide.
There were two different types of woolly pigs in the wildlife park Schorfheide. A red type and a dark type.
The woolly pig is an endangered livestock breed.
In the animal park Kunsterspring I only saw one single woolly pig.
Interesting: Why do we call woolly pigs woolly pigs? Woolly pigs are called woolly pigs because of their dense and curly coat which cannot be - by the way - used as wool. Thanks to the dense coat and their thick layer of fat, woolly pigs can be kept outside throughout the whole year.
However, I decided to continue with my walk to reach the Kunsterwiesen. Because there were more animals to visit.
As it seemed, the first animals were already expecting me.
Or maybe not really me.
As one animal attendant was sweeping the sidewalks, some European mouflons looked excitedly into the direction of the animal attendant. The enclosure of those European mouflons were hilly and the mouflons moved up and down the small hills.
European mouflons are beautiful animals! Especially with their characteristic curved horns. Only males are horned. They use their horns in fights against rivals.
Interesting: Where do European mouflons come from? The European mouflons originally lived in the mountains of Corsica and Sardinia. However, nowadays only few of them still live there. European mouflons were introduced in several other places in Europe. However, just as game. At those places European mouflons had to adapt to a new environment like, for example, to soft grounds.
I also passed an enclosure with roe deer.
I observed two individuals feeding.
As I didn't want to disturb, I decided to leave again. Roe deer are very shy animals and the two were warily looking at me.
Interesting: Roe deer are the most common and one of the smallest deer in Europe. In the animal park Kunsterspring you can find not only roe deer, but also fallow deer and red deer.
I then finally reached the "owl forest".
In that enclosure I encountered not only one or two owls, but three owls!
But well. Maybe I wouldn't have seen all three owls, if another visitor wouldn't have shown me all of them. I even wouldn't have known to watch out for three owls. That visitor apparently knew all of them very well. She was showing around two friends and talking quite excitedly. She knew all favorite places of those three owls.
They were Eurasian eagle owls and quite impressive with their big orange eyes.
One Eurasian eagle owl was hiding in a tree while its conspecific was apparently looking for a place with a wide view.
Interesting: The Eurasian eagle owl is the largest owl species in Europe. Eurasian eagle owls have big eyes and are able to see very well in low-light conditions. Extraordinarily special is their capacity to rotate their necks a maximum of 270 degrees.
There were more owl species to see in the animal park Kunsterspring like, for example, the long-eared owl, the tawny owl and the little owl.
I couldn't see the long-eared owls, but instead, I spotted both a tawny and a little owl in their enclosures.
The little owl appeared to be very sleepy when I was standing in front of its enclosure. It was sitting quietly on a branch. But this is not surprising. The little owl is a nocturnal owl species, and thus, usually not active during the day.
The tawny owl, in contrast, appeared to be quite awake. But maybe I was wrong with my perception.
Just next to the little owls I encountered some barn owls.
Barn owls as well are nocturnal animals. I saw two of them resting in one of the boxes and two others on a branch.
Although I was the only visitor in front of the barn owl enclosure, one barn owl flew away. I tried to be as quiet as possible, but maybe my presence was still disturbing? Was I the reason why that barn owl was leaving its branch?
I stayed in front of the barn owl for just a short time. Barn owls do sleep not only during the day, they are furthermore shy animals.
Interesting: Both the little owls, the Eurasian eagle owls, the tawny owls and the long-eared owls belong to the family Strigidae. Barn owls, in contrast, belong to the family Tytonidae. However, both families are part of the order Strigiformes.
Near to the enclosures with the owls in the high forest I encountered two more enclosures. One with Eurasian badgers and one with raccoon dogs.
As both Eurasian badgers and raccoon dogs are nocturnal animals, I could observe them "just" in their dark sleeping boxes. Visitors can observe these animals through a window glass while they sleep.
However, as beautiful it is to watch them sleep, please do not disturb them by knocking at the window glass! It may appear to be obvious not to disturb the sleep of these animals! However, I unfortunately saw some teenagers disturbing the Eurasian badgers and the raccoon dogs.
Nevertheless, there were also some bison in an enclosed area in the high forest.
Bison are quite large and impressive animals.
Apropos large and impressive.
The bison or European bison, respectively, belongs to the largest and heaviest terrestrial mammals in Europe.
I observed some animal attendants how they were feeding the bison. The bison were so excited and full with anticipation. It was so amusing to observe these big excited them!
Interesting: Did you know that European bison were once extinct in the wild? The last wild European bison was poached in the twenties. At that time just about 60 individuals were left in zoological gardens. Thanks to reintroduction projects there are European bison again in their native habitat like, for example, in the primeval forest Białowieża.
In the high forest I went into the direction of the bridge, as I wanted to see fallow deer, wild boars and of course wolves.
The fallow deer were quite popular among children, as it was possible to enter the enclosure as a visitor. There was an automaton in front of the enclosure where visitors could get some food.
I was standing in the enclosure for some time while a few children were giving food to the fallow deer.
The fallow deer were quite trusting. But I stayed in the background. I had no food and the animals were not interested in me at all.
When all the other people had left the fallow deer enclosure, some of the animals moved into my direction.
However, when they saw that I had no food in my hands they left again.
Interesting: Among fallow deer only males possess antlers. This is very typical for deer. Males shed their antlers in April/May, but their antlers regrow around September. The rutting season starts in mid-October.
After visiting the fallow deer, I continued with my walk to get to the wild boar enclosure.
There were two wild boars in the enclosure. A female and a male. While one animal was feeding, the other one was digging in the ground.
Although there were no guided walks or feeding hours in the animal park Kunsterspring at that time, an animal attendant was telling some visitors more about the wild boars of the enclosure. I was standing in front of the wild boar enclosure and listened to his words.
Apparently, these two wild boars still had to get used to each others. Both animals hadn't lived together for a long time. That's why they still had no piglets.
Interesting: Did you know that wallowing in mud is important for the skin of wild boars? A layer of dry mud protects their body and may protect a wild boar against insect bites.
Although these two wild boars still had to get used to each other, both individuals seemed to me quite relaxed. They even didn't care about the visitors, apparently. Usually, wild boars are rather shy and vigilant animals and might even flee from people.
Brown bears, lynxes and wolves are predators of wild boars.
And exactly one of its predators was the next to be visited by me.
The wolve.
In the wildlife park Schorfheide I had already seen wolves, but "just" while they were sleeping. In contrast, in the animal park Kunsterspring there was an upheaval among the wolves in the enclosure.
Some of the wolves were still sitting quietly anywhere in the shadow. But all of them appeared to be vigilant. The wolves did detect anything. But what?
There is an observation hut in the animal park Kunsterspring where visitors can observe quietly the behavior of the wolves.
Wolves live in packs with an hierarchical order. The strongest and most experienced wolf is the alpha wolf. An alpha male and an alpha female wolf lead a pack. All the other wolves in a pack are subordinates.
The body language of an animal signals the intention of a wolf. They might be scared or they are about to attack another wolf. Or they respect to be just a subordinate in the hierarchical order.
I stayed for some time in the hut and tried to decipher the behavior of the wolves (of course, this is not possible in such a short period of time).
There are several observation platforms to observe the wolves.
Interesting: Subordinate wolves show their vulnerable ventral side to the alpha wolf in order to demonstrate their subordinate position in the hierarchy of the pack. A low-ranking animal with fear might even pull in its tail and flee. Another submissive behavior is to flatten the ears to the head, buckle and put the tail between the legs.
Wolves are indeed quite interesting animals as they are such mysterious animals and only few people will ever have the chance to see them in the wild.
Nevertheless, back over the bridge I encountered an endangered livestock breed.
The Heck cattle.
I have written already about the woolly pigs. They are as well an endangered livestock breed.
I had seen Heck cattle already in the wildlife park Schorfheide. In the animal park Kunsterspring, however, I could see a mother with even its calve just next to her. Another Heck cattle was close-by.
Besides all the bigger animals like wolves, wild boar or fallow deer, I don't want to neglect all the birds in the animal park.
One interesting bird that lives in our forests in Europe is the western capercaillie.
Naturally, western capercaillies live in conifer and mixed forests in the low mountain range and in the highlands. Male western capercaillies are famous for their imposing courtship behavior.
In the enclosure of the western capercaillies was a male and a female.
Interesting: Did you know that among western capercaillies males and females feed on different food? While males search for conifer needles and shoots in the tree crowns, females prefer to feed on seeds, berries, worms and insects on the ground.
Not very far away from the western capercaillies was the enclosure with the lynxes.
In comparison to the wildlife park Schorfheide - where I couldn't spot any lynx - I could even spot two of these elegant cats in the animal park Kunsterspring. However, these two lynxes were in two different enclosures and rather sleepy than active.
But of course. Lynxes are like many other animals in the animal park nocturnal!
With their tufted ears and their stubby tail, lynxes are easy to distinguish from house cats. Lynxes are furthermore larger and stronger.
Interesting: Did you know that a lynx is able to locate a mouse from a distance of about 70 m? And a deer from a distance of already 50 m. The lynx has an extraordinarily good sense of hearing and its eyes are six times more sensitive than those of humans.
The lynx became extinct in our forests in the 19th century. Only due to several conservation measures now the lynx comes slowly back to our forests.
Lynxes are impressive animals.
Another impressive animal is the black stork - a bird I very wish to see once in its natural habitat outside of an animal or wildlife park.
Black storks are rather shy birds. Like white storks black storks build on their nests over the years. Ever year their nests become larger and larger and heavier and heavier.
Interesting: The black stork is like the white stork a long-distance migrant that predominantly overwinters in the east of Africa. Both stork species have something in common. Both prefer animals as food that live in or at the water.
Close to the black storks is a small observation hut. At that hut visitors can observe red deer on a meadow.
Apropos observation hut. There are several observation huts in the animal park Kunsterspring to see onto the meadows and forests of the surrounding area. For example, one observation hut is just next to the enclosure of the woolly pigs.
I could have stayed at these observation huts for a very long time. However, if I would have stayed there, I wouldn't have seen much of the animal park...
Nevertheless, at the observation hut close to the black storks I saw a group of red deer. I stayed in that hut for some minutes to watch these beautiful animals. In the background I could hear some children playing on the neighbouring playground.
However, after some time in the hut I decided to continue and went to the park in the entrance area.
On my way to the park I spotted some raccoons. While most wildlife in the animal park seemed to be rather quiet, the raccoons were quite the opposite. Active and awake. With their playful faces they were enchanting the surrounding visitors. Although we were some people in front of their enclosure, they didn't seem to care at all.
One raccoon made itself comfortable on a branch at the wall.
Interesting: Did you know that the first raccoon pair was introduced in Hesse in 1934? Since then the raccoon had widely spread in Germany. Raccoons are predominantly nocturnal carnivores. During the day they usually sleep in tree holes.
When I arrived at the park in the entrance, I saw some rabbits on the right side.
However, I decided to go to the water bird enclosure.
There were northern pintails and mallards, but also white storks.
On the right photo is a Canada goose.
Just next to the water bird enclosure was the enclosure with the otters. I couldn't see any of them. I thought about my visit of the wildlife park Schorfheide where I could see the otters only because it was feeding time.
I also wanted to go to the Shetland ponies, the mules and the red squirrels. Unfortunately, I couldn't see any of them neither. The area with the Shetland ponies and the mules was closed at that moment and there were no red squirrels to see in their tree.
Instead I visited the Ouessant sheep - one of the smallest domestic sheep in Europe. One sheep was dozing in the shadow, another sheep was feeding and going into my direction.
Did the sheep expect some food?
I stayed some time in front of the enclosure with the Ouessant sheep.
However, after visiting the Ouessant sheep I went to my last destination in the animal park Kunsterspring - the parakeets and the terrarium.
Why were those parakeets in the animal park Kunsterspring? How did they get there? Maybe they were abandoned animals? These parakeets are not native to Germany. Or maybe they were pets and their owners couldn't care anymore for them?
Among the parakeets in the cage I saw a cockatiel. Cockatiels usually live in Australia. Zebra finches (below on the right) as well are originally from Australia.
The terrarium was just next to the parakeets.
In the terrarium I saw, for example, a degu - a rodent from Chile.
Nevertheless, at some point it was late and I decided to leave. I still had a two-hour-long return trip by bus and train ahead of me...
Information: I visited the animal park Kunsterspring on a day during the school holidays in summer in 2020. While it was quite quiet in the morning, more visitors came to the animal park in the afternoon. However, as the animal park is extensive with numerous trails, it didn't feel crowded on that day.
Practical information
How to get to the animal park Kunsterspring
I traveled to the animal park Kunsterspring by public transport. However, there are several ways to get to Kunsterspring.
At first I took the urban train S8 (direction S Birkenwerder Bhf) to the train station Bornholmer Straße. At that train station I changed the urban train and entered S25 (direction S Hennigsdorf Bhf) to get to the train station Hennigsdorf. In Hennigsdorf I got into the train RE6 (direction Neuruppin, Seedamm Bhf). At the Seedamm train station I had to change to a rail replacement bus (direction Neuruppin) in order to get to the train station Rheinsberger Tor in Neuruppin. In Neuruppin I took the bus 762 to Kunsterspring.
There is a small bus stop in Kunsterspring. To get to the entrance of the animal park you just have to walk a few meters.
Attention! I suggest to check the website of the BVG as there might be changes in the timetable. Furthermore, the bus 762 is an on-call bus. Meaning, I had to call the bus company Ostprignitz-Ruppiner one hour in advance. Please check the timetable of the bus line 762 to get the most up to date timetable.
I took the same train and bus route back to Berlin. However, it is also possible to take the train RB54 at the train station Rheinsberg to the train station Löwenberg (Mark) and then the train RB12 to the train station Ostkreuz.
The bus 794 operates from Kunsterspring to both the train station Rheinsberger Tor in Neuruppin and to the train station Rheinsberg. Another option is the bus 787 which operates between Kunsterspring and Neuruppin.
I paid 21,00 euros for the whole journey. Meaning that each ticket cost 10,50 euros.
Entrance fee and opening hours
I paid 5,00 euros as an entrance fee at the animal park Kunsterspring (date August 2020). There are annual tickets and concessions on a ticket like, for example, for children or groups.
The opening hours change over the years depending on the season. In summer the animal park Kunsterspring (April to September) opens between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. In winter (October to March), in contrast, the animal park opens only from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
I recommend to check the opening hours on the website of the animal park.
More links and information
Official website of the animal park Kunsterspring
The wildlife park Schorfheide near Groß Schönebeck
The wildlife park Johannismühle in Brandenburg
Do you know the animal park Kunsterspring? If yes, did you like the animal park? Or do you know another animal park in your vicinity? Please let me know in the comments!
