Energy crunch forces Germany's Dortmund Zoo to shutter tropical house

BERLIN (AA) – A tropical house at Germany’s Dortmund Zoo will be closed by the end of this year, the latest casualty of Europe’s deepening energy crisis.

Some 150 animals will be moved from the Amazon House, according to a report by public broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR).

The facility was the Dortmund Zoo’s biggest energy consumer, accounting for one-third of total demand, which in 2019 was 175,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity and 420,000 kWh of gas, the report said.

The Amazon House is home to 150 animals and 35 species, including alligators, anacondas, and pygmy marmosets.

Some of them will be shifted to other zoos, while others will be housed elsewhere at the Dortmund Zoo.

The Amazon House had already been closed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Authorities wanted to renovate and operate it until a new tropical house was built, but the plan has now been shelved.

“We also have to pull the emergency brake for the sake of the animals,” Frank Brandstatter, the zoo’s director, told WDR.​​​​​​​