In the Advent season, the Tölzer Kurier takes a look behind a door in the district that is normally closed to the public in every issue.
Today: The bio laboratory in the Center for Environment and Culture (ZUK) in Benediktbeuern Monastery.
Benediktbeuern
- In the monastery land in Benediktbeuern there is a lot of crawling and floating that feels good in the nature of the Alpine foothills.
But only a few people know that exotic animals also live in terrariums in the Center for Environment and Culture (ZUK), more precisely a large green iguana, a pearl lizard, six bearded dragons, ten leopard geckos, some fire salamanders and around 200,000 leaf-cutting ants.
You can also meet some of them in front of the door - but only in summer.
The reptile terrariums are in the so-called bio-laboratory, which has existed since the ZUK was founded, i.e. for a good 30 years.
It serves the environmental education of young people.
There are also some microscopes in the room, in which children can observe the smallest living things, for example when they come from a pond safari on the monastery land.
Around 15 years ago the bio laboratory was expanded in cooperation with the reptile sanctuary in Munich, reports ZUK Rector Father Karl Geißinger.
The aim is to complement the environmental education so that the young visitors get to know and appreciate other living spaces in the world and at the same time put aside their shyness.
But one thing is important to the ZUK: “It's not a zoo,” emphasizes the Rector.
The bio laboratory can be visited on guided tours.
The animals live in specially prepared terrariums that reproduce their habitat.
There are also heat lamps.
The volunteers at the ZUK take care of the care.
The reptiles eat lettuce, mealworms and grasshoppers, for example.
Sometimes they sit in one place for days.
The animals are all non-toxic and do not bite.
In addition, they tolerate being held in the hand, such as the bearded dragons.
“They like the cozy warmth,” says the rector.
He likes to watch how children dare to touch the lizards: first they carefully stroke their tail and back, then the reptile is usually allowed to touch their hand.
"Everyone is surprised how warm the lizard is and that the spines are very soft."
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Watch out, lizards live here: you can already guess at the door which animals live there.
© Pröhl
The aim is to bring visitors closer to the home of animals in the desert climate.
"We talk about the different living spaces on the different continents and explain how everything is related, including our life here," says the Rector.
Many are particularly fascinated by the large iguana.
Usually he sits on a branch, and when he is not too lazy he lifts his head.
At five kilos, the animal is relatively heavy, so you shouldn't pick it up yourself.
If he allows it, the supervisor will hold him and he can be petted briefly.
On very warm days in summer, the reptile can sit in the apple tree in front of the Maierhof, under supervision of course.
"Then he eats moss, leaves and flies," says Geissinger.
The leaf cutter ants have lived with their queen in the ZUK for 25 years.
With around 200,000 members, their colony is rather small compared to the wild, says the father with a smile.
The ants have even escaped and plundered the rose bushes in front of the Maierhof.
The employees carried it with composure.
“That shows how well the animals can take care of themselves,” said the father happily.
“When it gets colder at night, they all go back to the terrarium.” And that's how it was.
However, the "escape routes" were then closed.
The fact that there will be six bearded dragons was also not planned.
When the alleged male was pregnant, a solution had to be found quickly.
Because bearded dragons do not tolerate living with their offspring or siblings.
Now they all have their own little kingdom.
The fire salamanders are a specialty in the organic laboratory.
The small, black-and-yellow companions can also be discovered by streams in the local countryside - but less and less.
Because their existence has been endangered for several years by the spread of an Asian fungus.
"Large parts of Europe are already without fire salamanders," the Father knows.
The salamanders in the ZUK come from one breed.
“We're not going to release them into the wild, because they shouldn't be mixed in.” One day, however, fire salamanders will probably only be seen in terrariums.
The Biolabor in ZUK can be visited by appointment, during the Corona period only with your own family.
Otherwise it is open every Wednesday from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Information is available on the Internet at www.zuk-bb.de or by calling 0 88 57 / 88-777.
Admission is free, a donation is requested.
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