Trouble in Paradise: Art meets wildlife at Schönbrunn zoo

The artist-duo Steinbrener/Dempf have set up six installations in several enclosures at Schönbrunn zoo - from a sunken car wreck in the rhino pen, railroad tracks in the bison enclosure to toxic waste in the aquarium. The installations are designed to interfere with our notions of idyllic wildlife and question the authenticity of places like zoos which recreate 'natural' environments for animals that are increasingly endangered Photograph: Steinbrener/Dempf

A penguin swims in front of a fake oil rig sculpture. The installations confront visitors to the zoo with the reality of the conditions in which animals live in the wild Photograph: Joe Klamar/AFP/Getty Images

A crocodile rests next to a large tyre. Trouble in Paradise is the work of German artists Christoph Steinbrener and Rainer Dempf and will run at the zoo until October Photograph: Joe Klamar/AFP/Getty Images

Children look a fish swimming next to a toxic waste barrel in the zoo's aquarium. The installations are meant to show what humans have done to destroy what was once a wild paradise, the zoo's directors said Photograph: Hans Klaus Techt/EPA

A railway track cuts through the bison pen. Austrian newspapers say the installation has provoked a reaction already with three regular zoo-goers reportedly cancelling their yearly memberships in protest Photograph: Steinbrener/Dempf

Two bathtubs, a signboard and truck tyre represent waste in the crocodile enclosure Photograph: Steinbrener/Dempf

A schneehütte - snow cabin - in the elephant pen Photograph: Steinbrener/Dempf

A car wreck in the rhino pen Photograph: Steinbrener/Dempf