Almost half a ton

Pigs made short work of the winning pumpkin

The mega pumpkin ended up in the wild boar enclosure at Altenfelden Zoo and the animals really enjoyed it

(Bild: Tierpark Altenfelden)

"I thought they'd get by with it for longer," laughs Markus Vorauer (32) from Pattigham, who grew the heaviest pumpkin in Upper Austria this year. The almost half-tonne was too much for soup or schnitzel and was therefore thrown "in front of the pigs". The wild boars at Altenfelden Zoo made short work of it.

"I didn't take part in the national championship this year, but weighed in at another competition. Mine is slightly heavier than the Upper Austrian winner of the state championship," says Markus Vorauer, who has been making headlines with his giant pumpkins for years. This year, his "Plutzer" weighed in at a proud 491.5 kilograms. After weighing it, the man from Innviertel was looking for a sensible use for the mega pumpkin. You could eat it yourself, but it tastes rather bland at this size. "I thought I'd take it to a zoo," says the 32-year-old. There were refusals at Schmiding Zoo and Walding Zoo, but a spontaneous acceptance at Altenfelden Zoo. "He came by, unloaded it and was gone again," smiles zoo manager Barbar Laher, who was delighted with the huge food donation.

Newborns bounce around on giant squash
"The pumpkin went into the wild boar enclosure whole," explains the zoo boss. It was intended as food, but also to keep the animals occupied: "The newborns jumped around on it and the old ones nibbled at it." But it wasn't long before there was hardly anything left of the giant pumpkin: "They had eaten it within a day," says Laher, who is also happy to receive smaller pumpkins as food donations: "We fill old Halloween pumpkins that are clean with mealworms, for example, and the squirrels and arctic foxes have fun with them." Keeping the animals busy is called enrichment in technical jargon. 

Head of the zoo Barbara Laher with the giant pumpkin and its grower Markus Vorauer

(Bild: Tierpark Altenfelden)

Up to 200 euros per seed
Next year, Markus Vorauer may well hitch up the trailer to his car again and drive 85 kilometers to the zoo. "I'll soon start preparing the ground again for the next pumpkin," says the Innviertel native, who has been successfully growing giant pumpkins for years. He doesn't reveal all the secrets, but: "It takes about 50 square meters for one plant, lots of water, 30 cubic meters of compost, a glass house and a lot of love. Incidentally, the seeds for these monsters are not available in normal shops. They are auctioned off and cost up to 200 euros. Per seed!