Wildpark Potzberg, Wildlife park and bird of prey zoo in Föckelberg, Germany
Wildpark Potzberg is a wildlife park and bird-of-prey zoo on the 562 m summit of the Potzberg in the North Palatine Upland, about 20 km northwest of Kaiserslautern. Its roughly 30 hectares are divided by 10,000 m of fencing into large enclosures for European bison, back-bred aurochs, Scottish Highland cattle, Przewalski's horses, red, fallow and sika deer, reindeer, elk, ibex and chamois. A wooden feeding station with a visitor stand won the 1985 Rheinland-Pfalz timber construction prize.
The Kusel district first proposed a wildlife park in a 1972 tourism report aimed at boosting the economically weak region. After more than ten years of planning and four years of construction, the park opened in September 1984. A support association founded in 1978 leased it to a private company in December 1997, and the current operator took over in 1998.
Since 1991 the park has held flight demonstrations from late March to late October, presenting steppe eagles, white-headed sea eagles, giant sea eagles, buzzards, black kites, several falcon species, Andean condors, cinereous vultures, griffon vultures and eagle owls flying at apparent prey. The number of raptors kept in aviaries rose from 50 in 2002 to 120 in 2010, and the falconry also contributes to species protection through breeding rare species.
The park entrance sits at 559 m on the Potzberg summit, reached by a road built in 1964/65; access is via the A62 motorway (junctions 7 Kusel or 8 Glan-Münchweiler) and the B420/B423 roads. Free-flight raptor shows run from late March to late October. About 5 km away, rail draisines run on the former Glantalbahn line between Altenglan and Staudernheim.
The elk cow Natalie escaped in August 2011 when a storm uprooted a tree that damaged her enclosure fence. She roamed the surrounding forests for months despite capture attempts, and returned on her own on 12 January 2012 after the park left its gate open at night with food as bait.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,385 contributors worldwide.