ZOO Antwerpen Zoo Antwerpen news 2023

Jarne said:
One of them is also the son of the breeding female, if she isn’t allowed to breed chances are he isn’t either. So that only leaves the breeding male. And there is an excess of males.

In all honesty, the program was already on the edge of being doomed for years. The loss of a full breeding lineage in an already genetically impoverished population alongside the loss of one of the few breeding groups might just accelerate the inevitable. It would be nice though if in time Antwerp would redirect their focus on one of the still viable populations (Diana, Roloway, Brazza or L’Hoest) or get something like mangabeys (three programs in dire need of holders), a species of Colobus or Angolan talapoin.
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I watched the demise of the Hamlyn's groups in the UK too in the 1990's -when there were five groups in the UK. Gradually each was lost and disappeared until there were none. It mirrored what seems to be happening with them in Europe too, where as you said, it has seemed like a doomed population for a long time now. Dianas are going the same way in the UK - De Brazzas are still a bit stronger while L'Hoests seems to thrive.
 
I personally would prefer to not see a mix with the gorillas. I think there should be groups that just consist of gorillas. Especially since 2 individuals in the group have a history with aggression. Amahoro, with her past living with chimps and Matadi who attacked multiple times and killed 1 gorilla. Combi enclosures are cool if they work but in my opinion you always need a large amount of groups that don't consists of combi enclosures since once problems arise you need to be able to move the individuals or separate both groups. Antwerp might be doomed with their Hamlyn's, but some individuals are allowed to breed. The female that moved to Berlin, already produced offspring. Looking at the existing members of the population on ZTL it seems the population is way smaller then I thought. So I think it's impossible to save unless you would get some new founders. Also for clarification the monkeys will get one indoor room behind the scenes from the Gorillas not the chimps. I also want to point out that at Planckendael the holding facility from the Bonobos in the old shop would be available once the Sulawesi Macaques move to their new enclosure. Holding animals is always possible for the KMDA however I don't think they always should.
 
I am affraid the future is bleak for the genus guenon in Europe. Debrazza and patas still seems to be doing reasonably well, but for owl-faced, diana, mona, red-tailed, l'hoest and others the future is very uncertain, while the putty-nosed and white-nosed guenons are already almost gone.
 
Personally I've thought for several years now that if Zoo Antwerpen continues to keep any larger African monkey species, it should be L'Hoest's guenons, given that species is named after a lineage of directors of Zoo Antwerpen between 1888 and 1944. However while that species seems to be doing a bit better than the Hamlyn's, the number of holders and the population still don't seem to be large enough to assume a safe future for this species in European zoos.
 
KevinB said:
Personally I've thought for several years now that if Zoo Antwerpen continues to keep any larger African monkey species, it should be L'Hoest's guenons, given that species is named after a lineage of directors of Zoo Antwerpen between 1888 and 1944. However while that species seems to be doing a bit better than the Hamlyn's, the number of holders and the population still don't seem to be large enough to assume a safe future for this species in European zoos.
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Looking at this, I’m glad my home zoo, Edinburgh, has had success breeding the L’hoest’s guneon 3 times in the last 4 years or so.
 
KevinB said:
Personally I've thought for several years now that if Zoo Antwerpen continues to keep any larger African monkey species, it should be L'Hoest's guenons, given that species is named after a lineage of directors of Zoo Antwerpen between 1888 and 1944...
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I agree, L'Hoest's monkey would be a very appropriate guenon to keep at Antwerp Zoo. For similar reasons, I would like to see them at London Zoo as the type specimen was a London Zoo animal and the species was first described in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. (London Zoo obtained the type specimen from Antwerp Zoo so it was named after Antwerp Zoo's director, François L'Hoest.)
 
Tim May said:
I agree, L'Hoest's monkey would be a very appropriate guenon to keep at Antwerp Zoo. For similar reasons, I would like to see them at London Zoo as the type specimen was a London Zoo animal and the species was first described in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. (London Zoo obtained the type specimen from Antwerp Zoo so it was named after Antwerp Zoo's director, François L'Hoest.)
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For historical reasons I understand this opinion. However, there's no difference in keeping owl-faced or l'hoest guenon and whether it is for one species or another, the fact is that the zoo has not opted to invest in an adequate enclosure for African primates.

This is extra painful considering the fact that a few years ago they invested a lot of money in their sister zoo Planckendael for an enclosure for Barbary macaques, while for many years the colobus, mandrills and owl-faced guenons have been kept in questionable conditions.

For a (city) zoo which history is so connected to tropical Africa, and which could have told a absolute smashing educational story for the general public (zoo, port, the historical connection with Congo, okapi, congo peafowl, turacos), I think this is a major failure. They are doing a terrific job of preserving the historic gardens and buildings, but I do not see the same focus for the collection.
 
Perseus6 said:
The warthog mystery has been solved. The male that was there the longest is Boboti, he came from Zlin. The female is Nala and she came from Ouwehands a little over a week ago. The couple has been introduced and is meant to join on the Savanna. The couple has been approved to breed, so really fun news.
Facebook :Snuffel snuffel ... Na een paar weken besnuffelen, nu hop naar bepotelen? Wij hopen alvast op veel nieuw leven bij het koppel wrattenzwijnen Boboti... | By ZOO Antwerpen | Facebook
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Calling a warthog boboti is kind of cruel :p
 
Some small news:
2 Macaroni penguins moved to Madrid. They told them they were starting a group of them to breed, so the young couple left Antwerp in the hope for breeding success. However the staff was not aware of them having any, and zootierliste isn't either. So the only Macaroni penguins left are 1:1 both old animals. The king penguins had a egg, but it was unfertilized(The male was molting so mismatch in timing). One male king penguin moved away, back to the zoo he came from since he disturbed the couples to much. The Gentoo penguins had 2 eggs both fertilized so with some luck, they will have some young.
2 Eggs at the African penguins exhibit from only one couple.
They were working in the old Guereza, refurbishing it for the Tree kangaroo from Planckendael.
 
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Tim May said:
I agree, L'Hoest's monkey would be a very appropriate guenon to keep at Antwerp Zoo. For similar reasons, I would like to see them at London Zoo as the type specimen was a London Zoo animal and the species was first described in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. (London Zoo obtained the type specimen from Antwerp Zoo so it was named after Antwerp Zoo's director, François L'Hoest.)
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L'Hoest's monkey also seems to thrive better and breed more freely than e.g. Hamlyn's does in Zoos. Twycross, Colchester and (I think?) Edinburgh in UK all have groups that have multiplied quite rapidly from their formation it seems. Overall it seems to be a more suitable( though not so attractive IMO) candidate for captivity/zoo breeding.
 
Why does the tree kangaroo go into the monkey house and not into the koala house like it used to ?
 
Kaelio said:
Why does the tree kangaroo go into the monkey house and not into the koala house like it used to ?
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From what I understand they are going to keep two tree kangaroos and the tree kangaroo currently at Planckendael will move to Antwerp to make space for a koala breeding female at Planckendael once one is available.
 
I saw a photo that they are working on the old sea otter enclosure, they're faster then in Rotterdam with it:p. Any news on which species it might be?
 
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