Austria: Dr. Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck Appointed New Zoo Director of Vienna Zoo

Dr. Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck, former zoo director of Tierpark Hagenbeck (Hamburg, Germany), has been appointend new zoo director of Tiergarten Schönbrunn (Vienna Zoo, Austria). He will succeed current director Dagmar Schratter, who will retire after 13 years in her position, as of January 1st, 2020. Schratter, who strongly contributed to the modernization of the zoo facilities and turned Vienna Zoo into a world-renowned animal park, sees Hering-Hagenbeck as a perfect successor: „I am delighted that we have found with Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck a passionate animal keeper with experience in different fields in an animal park. He is internationally renowned for his expertise in the construction of animal enclosures, what makes him a great successor for my position,“ says Dagmar Schratter.

The 52 year old, who has been working in the zoo business for almost 20 years, studied biology in Berlin and Paris and also achieved his doctor’s degree in this field. In 2000 he began his career at Tierpark Hagenbeck as a facility manager, in 2005 he was promoted managing and became director oft he zoo in 2012 (until 2018). In 2015 Hering-Hagenbeck, who grew up in Germany and South Africa, opened an independent planning and architecture bureau specialised on animal parks and aquariums. Dr. Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck, who sees his personal focus in the animal health and animal experience, comments: „Vienna Zoo is not only the oldest zoos in the world, but also one of the most modern ones. The chellange of my work is to combine tradition and innovation is appealling to me because I did the same at the 112-year-old Tierpark Hagenbeck.“ With a new aquarium facility the first large-scale project for the new zoo director is already in the making (cf. EAP news of 1 Jul 2019). (eap)