Wild Berlin: Boar, Foxes, Skylarks and Peacocks

The natural side of Berlin, from the wild boar of the Grunewald and the foxes, raccoons and martens of the city streets to the skylarks that breed on Tempelhofer Feld and the peacocks of Peacock Island, with a directory of the parks and forests in our guide.

Berlin is a capital with a forest in it. Woods and lakes cover much of the south-west and east of the city, and the animals have come in from them: the Berlin Senate notes that wild boar and foxes in particular have multiplied strongly in recent years, and that martens and wild rabbits have increased too, thanks to plentiful food and mild winters.

This is a short, honest guide to a city where wildlife walks into the gardens. Most of it is easiest to meet in the Grunewald and along the Havel, on Tempelhofer Feld and in the big parks; bring good shoes, and come early or towards dusk.

Wild boar in the woods

The wild boar is Berlin’s signature wild animal. Families of sows and striped young, called Frischlinge, root through the leaf litter of the Grunewald and the forests along the Havel, and have learnt that the city’s gardens, compost heaps and parks hold easier food than the woods.

They are shy by nature, but the Senate is clear on one point: a sow that feels she or her young are threatened may attack. Watch from a distance, keep dogs close, and never feed them.

Foxes, raccoons and martens

After dark the city belongs to smaller animals. Red foxes trot along the pavements and through the courtyards, raccoons, originally from North America, have settled in Berlin’s parks and allotments, and stone martens live in attics and under car bonnets. The Senate’s wildlife pages, and the wildlife advice line of NABU Berlin, explain how to live alongside them.

On Tempelhofer Feld, skylarks nest in the meadows between the runways of a former airport.

Peacock Island and the Havel

On the Havel near Wannsee, Peacock Island (Pfaueninsel) is a 67-hectare landscape park reached by a small ferry. Its gardens were laid out at the end of the 18th century under King Frederick William II, with exotic trees and colourful peacocks to complete the picture, and peacocks still wander its lawns; the island is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of the palaces and parks of Potsdam and Berlin.

Around it, the Havel and the lakes of the Grunewald are the place to watch water birds.

Feature: skylarks on the runways

Tempelhofer Feld, the airfield of the former Tempelhof Airport, has been a public park since 2010, and its open meadows between the runways are one of the most important breeding grounds in the city for the skylark, a bird of open country. In the breeding season, signs and tape mark the meadows that visitors must not enter; the skylarks’ song carries over the kite-fliers and cyclists all spring.

Did you know? Most of the animals of Peacock Island’s royal menagerie were given to the city in 1842, and they led to the founding of the Berlin Zoo.

Our advice

Our advice: keep to the paths on Tempelhofer Feld in the breeding season and stay out of the marked meadows. Give wild boar plenty of room, especially sows with young, and never feed any wild animal. Take the ferry to Peacock Island early on a summer day, when it runs every 20 minutes from 10am.