Burgers' Zoo Burgers' Zoo news 2025

[lintworm]

After 2024, which saw good attendance despite hardly any construction, more will likely happen in 2025:

- Permission has been given (again) to demolish the pheasantry. I expect this to be completed within 3 months. When construction for a new ecodisplay will start is unclear.
- They plan to demolish the current "Verzorgingscentrum" (animal kitchen, storage, vet clinic, quarantine, etc.) with a new one set to open in 2026 at an unspecified location. The permission to demolish the old building has already been granted.
- The panter plaza (the derelict horeca point next to the main restaurant) will be turned into a central education centre with e.g. space for the (now 200+) volunteers, including some office space. There will also be an exhibiton centre. These plans were recently approved by the relevant authorities.

Lichte toename bezoekers bij Burgers' Zoo - Pretwerk

 

[lintworm]

2 new rare bird species arrived according to Zootierliste:

- 3.6 Pyrhuloxia arrived and are currently behind the scenes, safe to say they will be added to the Desert. These are the only ones in a zoo worldwide according to Zootierliste.
- 0.2 offspring variable sunbird (ssp. falkensteini) arrived from Vienna and are already on show in the Bush. This makes Burgers' the 4th zoo with this species in Europe.

Both species had already been kept and bred previously at the zoo.

 

[lintworm]

2 new rare bird species arrived according to Zootierliste:

- 3.6 Pyrhuloxia arrived and are currently behind the scenes, safe to say they will be added to the Desert. These are the only ones in a zoo worldwide according to Zootierliste.
- 0.2 offspring variable sunbird (ssp. falkensteini) arrived from Vienna and are already on show in the Bush. This makes Burgers' the 4th zoo with this species in Europe.

Both species had already been kept and bred previously at the zoo.

Based on Facebook pictures the Pyrrhuloxia are already free-ranging in the Desert.

 

[lintworm]

Some sad news: Asian elephant Dhunja who moved from Belfast to Burgers' Zoo a few months ago was euthanized as her health deteriorated (including arthrose) quickly the past weeks. She was almost 52 years old.

The link has a short clip with footage of her in her final days and of another elephant saying goodbye to her. Overall the clip (which is in English btw) does quite a good job in explaining the circumstances.

Burgers' Zoo neemt afscheid van een olifant

 

[lintworm]

Burgers' Zoo mentioned in a news article that it expects to cease keep elephants in the coming 10-15 years. The current 3 elderly females will remain in the zoo, but they hope no new animals need a place in the future.

Burgers’ Zoo verwacht einde aan het houden van olifanten: ‘Onze functie verdwijnt’

While not exactly an unexpected move, the recent enclosure renovations seemed clearly for the medium long term, it is still a somewhat bold move in a country where every other zoo thinks it needs elephants. If Burgers' intends to keep elephants in the long term, the only realistic option would be in (an extension) of the Safari area, but I wouldn't be surprised if these are the final elephants at the zoo full stop.

 

[Kifaru Bwana]

Burgers' Zoo mentioned in a news article that it expects to cease keep elephants in the coming 10-15 years. The current 3 elderly females will remain in the zoo, but they hope no new animals need a place in the future.

Burgers’ Zoo verwacht einde aan het houden van olifanten: ‘Onze functie verdwijnt’

While not exactly an unexpected move, the recent enclosure renovations seemed clearly for the medium long term, it is still a somewhat bold move in a country where every other zoo thinks it needs elephants. If Burgers' intends to keep elephants in the long term, the only realistic option would be in (an extension) of the Safari area, but I wouldn't be surprised if these are the final elephants at the zoo full stop.

I appreciate how Burgers' Zoo has taken upon itself one of the least sexy tasks in the management of our current Asiatic elephant ex situ groups and cares for elderly, often difficult to manage and deals with all considerable health concerns these will experience up to the inevitable end of life care.

In the case of both Belfast elephants: I do assume both already had elderly elephant health issues and that soon onto the stressful move of both one of them - in this case cow Dhunja - passed away from her health issues might be a realistic scenario to expect here. I do think in her last days she and her companion had expert care from the Burgers' Zoo elephant keeper team. Kudos to them, ... all I can say!

Once this elephant facility is no more, .... I am hard guessing as to new inhabitants and it would be realistic to expect that the facility was designed with also what happens after the elephants are no more in that 15-20 year time frame.

 

[MClaeys]

It would be a brave decision, but it is one that can be understood. Burgers’ is a zoo with vision and it’s good of them to look to the future of keeping elephants. Choices need to be made. If they won’t have elephants anymore, I guess there are still enough other animals to see for the visitors at Burgers’.

 

[Kifaru Bwana]

It would be a brave decision, but it is one that can be understood. Burgers’ is a zoo with vision and it’s good of them to look to the future of keeping elephants. Choices need to be made. If they won’t have elephants anymore, I guess there are still enough other animals to see for the visitors at Burgers’.

I was not suggesting anything of the like. Just that in 20 years the exhibit is planned to hold a different large animal.... (no speculation .... please)!

 

[Haasje]

There are even more new birds at Burgers'. In the mangrove, you can now spot Ruddy-Breasted seedeater.. In the Desert, alongside the Grey Cardinal and the Painted Bunting in the Canyon, Black-headed Grosbeak have also been released.

Additionally, the young Cinereous vulture from 2024 has been transferred to Ouwehands Dierenpark. Today, the keepers have been preparing the aviary for the next breeding season. I’m surprised that no demolition or renovations are planned for the upcoming breeding season, which I had actually hoped for. So we have to wait even longer for an new ecodisplay.

 

[Mr Gharial]

There are even more new birds at Burgers'. In the mangrove, you can now spot Ruddy-Breasted seedeater.. In the Desert, alongside the Grey Cardinal and the Painted Bunting in the Canyon, Black-headed Grosbeak have also been released.

Awesome to hear there's another new bird species in BZ. That means we got a new species for every greenhouse in a very short time.

The Grey cardinals / Pyrrhuloxia aren't in the canyon though, I saw one free-ranging in the main hall of the Desert earlier this week (same goes for Painted bunting)

 

[MClaeys]

Nice additions for their birds collection indeed. They keep growing.

 

[lintworm]

The Grey cardinals / Pyrrhuloxia aren't in the canyon though, I saw one free-ranging in the main hall of the Desert earlier this week (same goes for Painted bunting)

@Haasje means the new orange-breasted bunting that join the other species in the canyon. The black-headed grosbeaks are supposed to get access to the whole Desert, just like the pyrrhuloxia (the latter were easy to spot today). With the orange-breasted buntings and pyrrhuloxia being from a confiscation, the grosbeaks & seedeaters are likely to have the same origin.

There have been quite some changes to the free-ranging bird species recently in the Bush. The signage was updated to reflect this:

Apart from the variable sunbirds, the grosbeak starlings from the old Pheasantry were also released into the Bush (they were briefly kept in the Bush before moving to the Pheasantry some 15 years ago).

But the final wrinkled hornbill was also removed for good, as he was harassing other birds too much.

This means that there are now 37 bird species free-ranging in the Bush, of which I saw 32 today in 1.5 hours. Bird activity was very high in Bush and Desert. Pruning of the trees is finished, which makes finding birds easier and it seems as if they already notice that days are getting longer.

Apart from all the new birds, there wasn't much to notice:

The Pheasantry is being demolished and is already more than half gone:

In the Mangrove bristletail filefish were added to the saltwater area.

 

[Mr Gharial]

I visited myself on Thursday. I made sure to double-check the Bush sign, so that changed either today or yesterday.

I didn't nearly see 32 bird species during my entire visit, but I did see the Brazilian tanager, Chestnut-bellied seed finch and White-rumped shama, which I hadn't seen in a while.

A shame there aren't any Caribbean polyp-eating alternatives to the Bristletail filefish, but it is needed as the Mudflat creek is absolutely filled with them.

Some non-news I noticed is a change to the menu in the Bush restaurant. I get a Bush burger almost every visit I'm in Burgers' Zoo, but they recently changed the recipe. Instead of a single chicken patty there's three deep fried chicken pieces and instead of the usual jammy onions and grilled cauliflower there's now some weird salad strands (really thin pieces of carrot and lettuce).
The quality of the chicken went way up, but it's definitely overbattered and they fall out of the bun quickly. So sadly I won't be having burgers at Burgers' anymore. It's a shame since I was a really big fan of the Burger change during the restaurant renovation

 

[GiratinaIsGod]

@Haasje means the new orange-breasted bunting that join the other species in the canyon. The black-headed grosbeaks are supposed to get access to the whole Desert, just like the pyrrhuloxia (the latter were easy to spot today). With the orange-breasted buntings and pyrrhuloxia being from a confiscation, the grosbeaks & seedeaters are likely to have the same origin.

There have been quite some changes to the free-ranging bird species recently in the Bush. The signage was updated to reflect this:

Apart from the variable sunbirds, the grosbeak starlings from the old Pheasantry were also released into the Bush (they were briefly kept in the Bush before moving to the Pheasantry some 15 years ago).

But the final wrinkled hornbill was also removed for good, as he was harassing other birds too much.

This means that there are now 37 bird species free-ranging in the Bush, of which I saw 32 today in 1.5 hours. Bird activity was very high in Bush and Desert. Pruning of the trees is finished, which makes finding birds easier and it seems as if they already notice that days are getting longer.

Apart from all the new birds, there wasn't much to notice:

The Pheasantry is being demolished and is already more than half gone:

In the Mangrove bristletail filefish were added to the saltwater area.

It is so sad that the hornbills did not work out. Seeing such large birds in free flight is allways a delight. I vould imagen fomething like King vultures or storks there dould be amazing

 

[Mr Gharial]

Visited again today, with some more updates than last time:

First the non-news (food news again). Usually, going to the Bush restaurant to get lunch is part of my BZ "ritual", but since I don't like the burgers anymore, I decided to go for the fried fish. Since, when I'm not really hungry enough for a burger, I always tend to go for the fried fish with a some teriyaki sauce. However, a second chance to the restaurant is the removal of the Teriyaki sauce pump... Meaning I had to go for the normal fried fish sauce (it's similar to garlic sauce). Guess I'll be bringing my own lunch from now on...

On to the real news:

Bush:
I saw the Black vulture for the second time, it seems like it has its own hiding spot near the Ocean exit, above the species sign.


They've power-washed all the paths. Usually I wouldn't notice this, but they also power-washed "welcome" in front of the main restaurant entrance

Desert:
I saw one of the Orange-breasted buntings in the canyon aviary and can confirm there's at least one male


Mangrove:
I noticed quite a few very small Mangroves in the middle of the mudflats. Maybe they're planning on making it more forested? They don't look very planted though, so they could've grown naturally and might be removed later.


Also in the mudflats, I saw a dead walking stick insect. I had no idea these could be found in the Mangrove. The only non-butterfly invertebrates I knew of were Bumblebee millipedes (featured in an announcement once), Ants (seen) and American cockroaches (seen). I wasn't able to tell what species it was.


I feel like this was already mentioned and I forgot, but a keeper has confirmed that there are no more Giant hermit crabs in the Mangrove. I think this is a real shame since they were a great addition to the mudflats. According to the keeper the enclosure wasn't the right fit for them.

I also finally saw the White-throated gecko. I knew these guys were in the fire hose structure building near the butterfly sign, and I check it every visit. But today I finally got an actual glimpse of one, even if it crawled behind the planks almost immediately.

 

[lintworm]

Also in the mudflats, I saw a dead walking stick insect. I had no idea these could be found in the Mangrove. The only non-butterfly invertebrates I knew of were Bumblebee millipedes (featured in an announcement once), Ants (seen) and American cockroaches (seen). I wasn't able to tell what species it was.

Like the ants and cockroaches the stick insects are not part of the collection, but an accidental introduction (and quite a plague) they have been around for years.

In other news, a 13 year old male white rhino has arrived from Zoo Santo Inacio in Portugal. He will be the new breeding bull. Edit: the new male is supposedly called Sam, being born in Beekse Bergen.

Komst neushoorn impuls Arnhems foksucces

 

[lintworm]

The pheasantry is now completely gone:

I also managed to spot the pair of ruddy-breasted seedeaters in the Mangrove: near the feeder where you cross the little stream on the "adventure path".

I was also lucky with the new sunbirds, there was a very active individual at the heightened viewpoint next to the Ocean entrance. I also spotted a pair or chestnut-bellied seedfinches there, which is a place I never saw them before. Haven't seen the new grosbeaks in the Desert yet, so still a bird to look out for next time to complete the tally again.

 

[Haliaeetus]

A Cinereous Vulture (young bird) has been transferred to Rhenen.
Burgers' Zoo on Instagram: "Jonge monniksgier verhuist naar Ouwehands Dierenpark Voor deze monniksgieren bestaat er een Europees populatiemanagementprogramma (EEP). In het kader van dit EEP is onze jonge monniksgier verhuist naar onze collega Ouwehands Dierenpark (@ouwehands_dierenpark). Daar worden meerdere jonge monniksgieren verzameld en in een soort datingvolière aan elkaar voorgesteld, waardoor de dieren zelf een partner kunnen uitkiezen waarmee ze de beste klik ervaren. Deze strategie is voor verschillende vogelsoorten succesvol gebleken en wordt ook bij monniksgieren al een aantal jaren toegepast. De nieuw te vormen koppels verhuizen vervolgens naar andere Europese dierenparken die ook deelnemen aan dit EEP. �� Mede dankzij deze succesvolle Europese samenwerking waardoor de dierentuinpopulatie monniksgieren professioneel wordt gemanaged, zijn enkele jaren geleden twee monniksgieren die in Arnhem uit het ei zijn gekomen weer uitgezet in het wild. Na een stapsgewijs opgebouwd herintroductieproces begeleid door Franse biologen zijn beide vogels uitgezet in de Vogezen waar ze met wilde soortgenoten zelfs succesvol jongen hebben grootgebracht."

 

[lintworm]

Some small updates from today:

- Elephant Pinky is not well at the moment, she has some serious issues with her front leg(s?) and apparently a reduced appetite. She is being monitored closely. I don't like to speculate, but I wouldn't be surprised if she is near the end. She has been at the zoo for some 40 years now and is one of the very few animals that was already there when I started visiting the zoo. So if she would pass, that would be a sad moment. But given she is approx. 59 years old, it is something that could happen...

- More positive is that the introduction of the remaining Belfast elephant with resident female Saba is progressing, they are now only separated by a single gate, so can touch each other.

- In the Bush a male Madagascar crested ibis arrived to join the remaining female.

- In the Ocean the lionfish tank is currently under renovation.

- There is finally a horseshoe crab on show again, at least theoretically as I didn't see it. I did see a young four-eyed fish, so they continue to breed nicely in the Mangrove.

- The birds are starting to sense spring, with e.g. the violaceous euphonia already busy with collecting nest material. The blue ground doves won't be breeding this year as all females were temporarily removed. That probably saves the zoo finding a home for 20+ ground doves next year

- The former flamingo pool has been demolished, so the wallaby are currently confined to their original exhibit only. All the rubble of the pheasantry has been cleared, leaving only bare sand.

- Paperwork has been filed to start work on the former panter plaza, which should become the education hub of the zoo.

A Cinereous Vulture (young bird) has been transferred to Rhenen.
Burgers' Zoo on Instagram: "Jonge monniksgier verhuist naar Ouwehands Dierenpark Voor deze monniksgieren bestaat er een Europees populatiemanagementprogramma (EEP). In het kader van dit EEP is onze jonge monniksgier verhuist naar onze collega Ouwehands Dierenpark (@ouwehands_dierenpark). Daar worden meerdere jonge monniksgieren verzameld en in een soort datingvolière aan elkaar voorgesteld, waardoor de dieren zelf een partner kunnen uitkiezen waarmee ze de beste klik ervaren. Deze strategie is voor verschillende vogelsoorten succesvol gebleken en wordt ook bij monniksgieren al een aantal jaren toegepast. De nieuw te vormen koppels verhuizen vervolgens naar andere Europese dierenparken die ook deelnemen aan dit EEP. �� Mede dankzij deze succesvolle Europese samenwerking waardoor de dierentuinpopulatie monniksgieren professioneel wordt gemanaged, zijn enkele jaren geleden twee monniksgieren die in Arnhem uit het ei zijn gekomen weer uitgezet in het wild. Na een stapsgewijs opgebouwd herintroductieproces begeleid door Franse biologen zijn beide vogels uitgezet in de Vogezen waar ze met wilde soortgenoten zelfs succesvol jongen hebben grootgebracht."

That news had already been posted 10 posts above...

 

[john]

four male Gorillas will be sent to China these days.

the number of remaining females is six