Parque de la Naturaleza de Cabarceno Parque de la naturaleza de Cabarceno

New species:
- Coming from ZooAquarium de Madrid, the park is already home to a pair of Persian leopards (Panthera pardus tulliana)! They are both six years old and brothers, they are called Khal and Yala and have arrived as part of the EEP of the species.
The leopards are going to be exhibited on what used to be the jaguar exhibit (The jaguar has left the collection of the park for that matter...), right by the entrance/exit closest to the reptile house and sea lions. Said exhibit has gone under a renovation, and given the animals just arrived earlier this month I'm expecting that the leopards won't be on show for quite a while. Thanks to @MennoPebesma for bringing these news that I completely missed!

ZooAquarium de Madrid's Facebook
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News:
- The park received a new male Addax (Addax nasomaculatus), joining the park's current herd of three females.
- Another European lowland-bison (Bison bonasus bonasus) has been born!
- One female Gemsbok (Oryx gazella) who arrived from Kolmarden earlier this year seems to have passed away, leaving the park's population down to a single male and a single female.
- A series of ponds created to make suitable habitats for native amphibians have been constructed through the park. This project seeks to protect the amphibian class and increase the animal and plant biodiversity of the park by configuring a belt of ponds, between new and existing ones, distributed in different points of the 750 hectares of the facility.
The ponds have been created in the bear, Iberian wolf, and Iberian fauna areas, as well as the Environmental classroom area. Since the latter is in a place with a lot of traffic, an amphibian crossing will also be built soon. They are located in spaces that are not very visible from the usual road route, so they will be accompanied by signage for their discovery through botanical routes. Native specimens of water lily, carex and iris will be used to naturalize the ponds in which visitors will be able to discover and better understand the characteristics of amphibians such as the Marbled newt, Common midwife toad, Iberian tree frog or European common frog.

News provided by Iker Olmedo at the Zoosdelmundo forum.
Cantur y Bosques de Cantabria acondicionan zonas de charca para anfibios en el Parque de Cabárceno - Parque de la Naturaleza de Cabárceno
 
I have been investigating Cabarceno's Instagram profile and in a post from August 31st you can see the 3 gemsboks.
It is possible that this photo was taken before the supposed death, but I choose to believe.
 
okapista said:
I have been investigating Cabarceno's Instagram profile and in a post from August 31st you can see the 3 gemsboks.
It is possible that this photo was taken before the supposed death, but I choose to believe.
Click to expand...
Said information is brought by Iker Olmedo, a regular visitor to the park. They posted the following text in the zoosdelmundo forum (traslanted from spanish):
"Bad news with the gemsbok... In July the two females spent some time in the stable yards; They both looked bad, were nervous and very thin. Two weeks after seeing them in the yards, I returned to the park and only one of them remained, now free with the male in the meadow, but no sign of the other. The remaining female has been gaining weight throughout the month of August and is now seen looking much healthier and much calmer next to the male. I don't know what happened to her... but we are left without a female oryx"
Maybe (and hopefully) it might still be around, but we will have to wait and see...
 
News:
- The Persian leopards (Panthera pardus tulliana) are now on show!
The enclosure in which they have been located was dedicated to jaguars and, since the specimen of this species died, it has been renovated and reinforced at a security level to accommodate this felid with complex behavior given its aggressiveness. The specimens are adapting to their new space and, progressively, they are going out to their outdoor enclosure. They maintain a elusive attitude and are difficult to spot.
The space has a total area of almost 4,000 square meters and includes indoor accommodation, a pool, wooded and rocky areas as well as meadows. The outdoor enclosure is divided into two areas to facilitate the handling of the animals.
- Four Common eland (Taurotragus oryx) calfs have been born at the park through the year.
- An Ellipsen waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus ellipsiprymnus) calf has been born! First calf of this species to be born at the park in quite a while.

News provided by Iker Olmedo at the Zoosdelmundo forum.
Cabárceno incorpora una nueva especie protegida con la llegada de dos leopardos persas
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=539578551811502
 
New individual:
- A new female Southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum) called Tamika is deemed to arrive at Cabárceno from Zoo Salzburg in a move coordinated by the species's EEP!
With the arrival of Sena last year, the park's attempts at bringing young females seems to be on march, let's hope it opens the door to rhino calves at the park!

Zoo Salzburg's Facebook page
Reisevorbereitungen für Nashorn Tamika
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Bad news:
- One of the two Persian leopard brothers has escaped the enclosure after less than a month of being on exhibit. The animal has been shot down by the veterinary team of the park, as In these circumstances, as it's stressed, the anesthetic rifle cannot be used since the anesthesia takes between 5 and 7 minutes to take effect, a time in which the animal can "cause misfortune."
El Confidencial: Abatido uno de los dos leopardos persas de Cabárceno tras escaparse de su recinto
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I'm shocked to say the least, terrible terrible news.
 
It is a great shame. It is well known that leopards are good escape artists. Hopefully, this will set a precedent so that something similar does not happen again. One should never cut corners when it comes to safety measures, both for visitors and for the animals themselves.
 
I didn't express my opinions when the leopards were released into the enclosure last month because I wanted to judge the setup when I visited the park and I saw it myself, but the instant I learned that they didn't mesh over the exhibit and that the only real security measures were the hotwire installed on the cliffside the idea of something like this happening at some point never left my mind...
Cabárceno is a very flawed park, it's a place very dear to my heart but I know very well how clumsily designed many aspects of it are. Despite this, these last years have been a breath of fresh air in the zoo; many of the facilities have had significant renovations done on them, the fencing at the park has been renovated in most exhibits, interior exhibits have been renovated for many of the species at the park, there are plans to entirely revamp outdated facilities like the reptile house and elephant indoors holding... and after so many changes to the good, this happens.
What sucks the most about this situation is that it could have been avoided if the proper thought was put into the "renovations" the exhibit went through. The enclosure the leopards resided at housed jaguars in the same setting for about 30 years, and it worked for one reason or another. When the last jaguar died, the exhibit went into what seemed like "heavy" renovation, and the announcement of the leopards was made I was expecting that the exhibit would get a roof of some sort, but for what it seems they didn't really care for this.
I can't believe they didn't do more to secure the exhibit properly. This isn't a case of something going wrong within the exhibit like maybe a tree falling and damaging the fence or a door not being properly locked, this is a case of the park not caring enough to make the changes the exhibit needed to have. Hell, these are changes the exhibit needed BACK when they still had jaguars. I'm so disappointed. I'm also shocked the EEP allowed the park to house them in this exhibit, two young male leopards living in between cliffs with some hotwire on top preventing them to get out sounds like a disaster from miles away.
It's not the first time a carnivoran has escaped an enclosure in Cabárceno, but I hope it's the last (as I have hoped in the other cases). I'm terribly sad for the leopard and I'm still shocked, annoyed and immensely disappointed on how it's all been handled.
 
SivatheriumGuy said:
New individual:
- A new female Southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum) called Tamika is deemed to arrive at Cabárceno from Zoo Salzburg in a move coordinated by the species's EEP!
With the arrival of Sena last year, the park's attempts at bringing young females seems to be on march, let's hope it opens the door to rhino calves at the park!

Zoo Salzburg's Facebook page
Reisevorbereitungen für Nashorn Tamika
View attachment 741971
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@SivatheriumGuy, I signalled some time ago that the Cabarceno Zoo should invest in getting younger females and - quite honestly - should have "ditched" the old flock.

Ahum: should have transferred their non-performing elderly bull as well as the oldest females (Nora, Zola and Mayayi ..) to another non-breeding facility within Spain).

It seems the zoo is now banking on the young male Cosme. Yet even here I am not entirely happy since cow Zola is his mother which I think went a long way to suppressing further breeding earlier with their now deceased bull Sagan (quite valuable and a big loss genetically).

Just fingers crossed with guidance from the EAZA/EEP they are beginning to make the right choices!


SPAIN - white rhinos:
Bioparco Valencia - ditch bull Martin/Sato ... (is probably not the best bull genetically to breed - Hodenhagen genes of old)
Tabernas - ditch bull Heinz (has not performed at any collection he has been in the past - Hodenhagen genes of old too)
Safari Mallorca - transfer bull Hope (UK born and bred) to any of the above zoo facilities with a potential breeding group
Safari de Madrid - transfer bull Serrano (rare genes from the first breeding group in Spain from yonkers years back) to any of the above facilities with a potential breeding group. The Safari is actually morphed into a bachelor herd and maintains of few more promising bulls for the future!
Zoo de Madrid - yes ..., again ... transfer out the current bull Benni to another collection within Spain (where he might breed ...) and bring in a new bull and 1-2 new young cows for breeding.
 
SivatheriumGuy said:
New individual:
- A new female Southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum) called Tamika is deemed to arrive at Cabárceno from Zoo Salzburg in a move coordinated by the species's EEP!
With the arrival of Sena last year, the park's attempts at bringing young females seems to be on march, let's hope it opens the door to rhino calves at the park!

Zoo Salzburg's Facebook page
Reisevorbereitungen für Nashorn Tamika
View attachment 741971
Click to expand...
Tamika has been officially presented by the park, it's still displayed at the rhino house's yards and is getting to know the other individuals.

Cabárceno incorpora una nueva hembra de rinoceronte blanco - Parque de la Naturaleza de Cabárceno
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SivatheriumGuy said:
Bad news:
- One of the two Persian leopard brothers has escaped the enclosure after less than a month of being on exhibit. The animal has been shot down by the veterinary team of the park, as In these circumstances, as it's stressed, the anesthetic rifle cannot be used since the anesthesia takes between 5 and 7 minutes to take effect, a time in which the animal can "cause misfortune."
El Confidencial: Abatido uno de los dos leopardos persas de Cabárceno tras escaparse de su recinto
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I'm shocked to say the least, terrible terrible news.
Click to expand...
News:
- The park has asked to the persian leopard EEP to relocate Khal, the remaining individual at the institution.
The director of the Park has advanced this information. Michel Valdés (the park's new director) has stressed that, despite the decision to stop housing the only remaining specimen, Cabárceno complies with all the security measures established by the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which is the entity that regulates this type of facilities.
The decision was taken following the incident that occurred last November. Yala, the Persian leopard that had been living with Khal in the enclosure for a short time, was shot down after escaping from the enclosure.
The park said then that the security systems would be reinforced but it was finally decided to move the animal to another park.

Cabárceno ha pedido el traslado del leopardo persa que todavía reside en el parque
 
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News:
- Míchel Valdés, the new director of the park, has spoken about some of the new things the park will obtain in 2025. Alongside the incorporation of an alpine slide by the reptile house and the incorporation of more sustainable transportation devices, it has been mentioned that the work plan to renovate the elephant facilities is "quite" advanced and they are waiting for permits to begin work on the renovation of the facilities, which is expected to start between the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. The new facilities will include a larger stable, improvements in rest spaces, and a design that further simulates its natural habitat, favoring its reproduction and quality of life.
The park will also apparently acquire several Asian snakes (species not determined), some of which come from within EEPs. The arrival of a pack of African wild dogs has also been mentioned again as something that will happen this year, the post mentions that they will be housed in their "former enclosure" but the original plans described they'd be housed elsewhere.
El director de Cabárceno dice que el tobogán alpino está en trámites burocráticos y que se cumplirán los plazos
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Not mentioned in the news, but the renovations of the lynx enclosure are very advanced so we might see new animals housed in it soon or later.
 
SivatheriumGuy said:
News:
- Míchel Valdés, the new director of the park, has spoken about some of the new things the park will obtain in 2025. Alongside the incorporation of an alpine slide by the reptile house and the incorporation of more sustainable transportation devices, it has been mentioned that the work plan to renovate the elephant facilities is "quite" advanced and they are waiting for permits to begin work on the renovation of the facilities, which is expected to start between the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. The new facilities will include a larger stable, improvements in rest spaces, and a design that further simulates its natural habitat, favoring its reproduction and quality of life.
The park will also apparently acquire several Asian snakes (species not determined), some of which come from within EEPs. The arrival of a pack of African wild dogs has also been mentioned again as something that will happen this year, the post mentions that they will be housed in their "former enclosure" but the original plans described they'd be housed elsewhere.
El director de Cabárceno dice que el tobogán alpino está en trámites burocráticos y que se cumplirán los plazos
---
Not mentioned in the news, but the renovations of the lynx enclosure are very advanced so we might see new animals housed in it soon or later.
Click to expand...
More information has been revealed surrounding the arrival of the African wild dogs. A pair of wild dogs is expected to arrive by the end of the year, and in the future, more individuals will come to the park.
The article also mentions that they will be housed in an enclosure by "El Mirador del Rubí", an observatory high up in the park's geography that gives great views of Santander and the Cantabrian coastline. It doesn't specify much else, and the closest exhibit to said observatory is the now empty lynx exhibit. The exhibit that was originally planned for the African wild dogs isn't far from said area, but the other enclosure is closer to it.
The article says that the exhibit will be 160 square meters. I did some quick Google Maps measuring and I noticed that the lynx exhibit has 140 square meters, while their intended exhibit is a little bit more than 200 square meters large. Maybe with the construction of staff facilities and brand new indoors housing those 200 square meters get shrunken down to 160, but who knows. There is still time until the end of year, but I'll be disappointed if the wild dogs end in the lynx exhibit.
 

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SivatheriumGuy said:
Well, we have a hint as to what is being done in the jaguar exhibit :)
The park has updated a new version of the map to their website, and the spot where the jaguar exhibit is (Number 33 on the map) now marks that you can find Persian leopards (Panthera pardus tulliana)! I hope the renovations really accommodate the enclosure to be suitable for leopards, to house leopards proper climbing structures are a must-have. I really hope the indoor housing is brand new too! Which seems to be the trend as of recently.
The park hasn't said anything so we might learn something new sooner or later, the closest thing I have found on the news mentions an "adaptation on the jaguar exhibit". This post also mentions the upgrade of the elephant facilities, which will be done for 2025, the already discussed crocodile house, and a new one, as for what they mention the lion exhibit will receive some renovation (Hopefully their indoor housing). This whole ordeal will cost 15 million euros.
El Gobierno invertirá más de 30 millones en Cabárceno y Alto Campoo
https://parquedecabarceno.com/wp-co...za-de-cabarceno-web-junio-2024-compressed.pdf
Click to expand...
Similar to how I noticed the arrival of the leopards last year through an update of the map on the park's website (rather sad news now in retrospect), the same has happened this year with a new map update.
On the second page of the PDF showcasing the map a few changes can be noticed, some of which are rather exciting! This is what can be observed:
- We can discard the idea of the African wild dogs being housed in the lynx exhibit, as the new map and this article posted by the park itself reaffirm that they will be housed in their originally planned exhibit (point 11b in the map), between the wallabies and the upper part of the baboon exhibits.
- As for the lynx exhibit (point 13 in the map), it will soon or later obtain a new inhabitant, a new species for the park; the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus)! The idea of welcoming Iberian lynxes to the park is an exciting one, I won't deny it, but I've been critical of this enclosure in the past and I still stand with the idea that it's not the ideal way of exhibiting felids (It's basically a pit with a grassy bottom and a large rock in the middle). At the same time after seeing Iberian lynxes for the first time back in January and realizing how small they are, and taking into account they live in more open environments compared to their northern counterparts I feel like the enclosure can be more suitable for them than for northern lynxes. I've been told that vegetation has been planted in the form of some low shrubs and the indoor facilities have been completely renovated, I'm not 100% convinced about the inclusion of this species in the park but I guess we will have to wait for the animals first to arrive and then I will judge the setup accordingly.
- The future of the short-lived leopard enclosure has been determined, as it will now house Spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) (point 33 in the map). As sad as the whole leopard situation has been I feel like this is a best-case scenario, I don't know if the remaining leopard is still at the park. As for the hyenas, this is a wonderful upgrade, for the last 10 or more years the hyenas were relegated to a side exhibit next to the cheetahs that was basically inaccessible to visitors because of its location and despite the enclosure not being small in size for the clan the park housed it was a far cry from what they used to have (basically their current enclosure plus the entire cheetah exhibit, it was once all connected). The population got lower and lower as the hyenas got older and older until we were left with what we have now, a single female that was thought to be the last of its species to be housed at the park. Their soon-to-be-new enclosure is bigger and has access to trees and a water point, it's way safer to house hyenas than big cats and it offers good views for the visitors, these are wonderful news and I hope the park ends up welcoming a large group of hyenas as it once did.
- Outside the map, a new species has been added to the animal lineup in the website; Seonae's viper (Vipera seoanei). Back in the 90's the species was housed at the reptile house, and it seems to have returned. It's a good inclusion to the park as an endemism of the northern Iberian peninsula.

Parque de la Naturaleza de Cabárceno park map PDF
Víbora de Seoane - Parque de la Naturaleza de Cabárceno
 
 
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