Special exhibition

Secret roommates in urban areas

Although the badger is a nice animal to look at, hardly anyone wants it in their garden.

(Bild: Bergauer Rubina)

How do wild animals survive in cities and communities? What conflicts arise? Answers are provided by the current special exhibition "Wildnis Stadt" at the "inatura" in Dornbirn. 

The humming of engines, snatches of conversation, people hurrying to the bus, the train, the office - the typical hustle and bustle of a city. But if you take a closer look and listen, you might also notice the gentle rustling in the park, the scurrying of a foxtail in the headlights or the call of a little owl at dusk. "Wildnis Stadt", the new special exhibition at "inatura" in Dornbirn , gives visitors an insight into the diverse animal world in urban areas. Untouched wilderness in the sense of a natural landscape uninfluenced by humans is virtually non-existent in Central Europe. Even near-natural habitats are becoming fewer and fewer due to progressive urban sprawl and unchecked land consumption - the pressure on wild animals to survive under these conditions is increasing.

The exhibition can be seen until September 2025.

(Bild: Inatura)

An astonishing number of species from a wide variety of animal groups are now finding alternative habitats in towns and villages. "Our specialist advice team receives around 4,000 individual inquiries per year. These are often about wild guests in residential areas," reports "inatura" director Ruth Swoboda. Encounters between human and animal city dwellers are not always harmonious: martens leave traces in the form of damaged cars, badgers sometimes burrow through gardens in search of food. On the other hand, the urban habitat also harbors dangers for the animals: road traffic, glass fronts, a lack of knowledge about animal-friendly support and improper feeding can cause problems.

"Wilderness City"

Exhibition duration: until September 14, 2025 daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Inatura in Dornbirn.

Inatura will be closed on December 25 and 26, 2024 and January 1, 2025.

On December 24 and 31, 2024, the exhibition will be open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Is respectful coexistence possible without conflict? The current special exhibition playfully and interactively invites visitors to get to the bottom of this question, question habits and look for new approaches to meet the needs of humans and animals. Sometimes this is even surprisingly simple. "Areas in cities that are no longer used quickly develop into wild, diverse habitats. Fallow land is home to plants that would otherwise colonize newly created gravel banks or scree slopes in the wild. Numerous animals benefit from this. The same applies to green and flowering strips along cycle paths or footpaths. And a small piece of wilderness in urban areas is ultimately also good for us humans," says Ines Linke, who curated the exhibition together with Mathias Gort.

Ines Linke and Mathias Gort curated the exhibition "Wildnis Stadt", which can be seen in Dornbirn.

(Bild: Bergauer Rubina)

Numerous animals are and remain secret city dwellers anyway: they often live unnoticed in parks, green spaces and gardens or use buildings, walls and roofs as their habitat, which they only leave at night when it is quieter and the streets are emptier. As part of the special exhibition, visitors now have the opportunity to get to know and understand these "roommates" better.