Planckendael Zoo Planckendael News 2025

KevinB

KevinB

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
In this thread all news and updates from and discussions about Zoo Planckendael in the year 2025 will be collected.

I will start off the thread with some updates from my visit last Sunday.
  • The construction of the new entrance seems to be progressing well, it looks like it might be possible to open it before the summer. The height of the bamboo tower it features is quite impressive.
  • Not much progress, besides some ground work, next to the aviaries near the Asiatic lion exhibit. It does look like the aviaries will be staying, but it is still not clear exactly what is being done here.
  • There was a stack of bamboo poles next to the Demoiselle crane aviary, not sure whether they will be used for the bamboo-covered huts for this aviary, for the other Asian aviaries or for something else.
  • In the orangutan greenhouse the pigeon and pheasant aviary is being renovated. The area near the greenhouse exit, with the viewing area for the third orangutan indoor exhibit and the hornbill and crowned pigeon aviary, was also closed off for unclear reasons.
  • The old aviaries (hooded vulture, blue-headed macaw, guira cuckoo and giant wood rail, spectacled owl and Mexican military macaw) near the entrance to the American section are also being renovated, with new frames and mesh being placed as well as new soil being placed and vegetation being trimmed.
I intend to post some photos of the updates as soon as possible.
 
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Article about Planckendael supporting a conservation and breeding program for the slender-horned gazelle in Sidi Toui National Park, Tunisia, with financial support and expertise in husbandry and population management.

Planckendael was the last European zoo to keep this species, glad to read they are still connected to and supporting the conservation of this species.

Datende duingazellen: ZOO Planckendael redt bedreigde diersoort
 
Lioness Vanda should be transported tomorrow To England.
Sadly Zora the Black panther or Jaguar behind the scenes will be euthanized tomorrow intimately. She turned 26 but her health has recently declined even further with her being blind and deaf. Not making 27 years old for a Jaguar is no shame, But It's an animal I've known my whole life so It's sad to loose her.
Plenty of storks are back and are the most active species at the zoo right now.
 
KevinB said:
Article about Planckendael supporting a conservation and breeding program for the slender-horned gazelle in Sidi Toui National Park, Tunisia, with financial support and expertise in husbandry and population management.

Planckendael was the last European zoo to keep this species, glad to read they are still connected to and supporting the conservation of this species.

Datende duingazellen: ZOO Planckendael redt bedreigde diersoort
Click to expand...
I do wish the program would be extended from Tunisia to Algeria soonish. Algeria has a breeding station in the interior near Saharan erg area. Sidi Toui boasts the remnants of that interior Algerian erg population.... Hence, it is important that both get connected!

Glad that Planckendael Zoo remained firm and is still working closely with the Marwell Wildlife managed Tunisian antelope restoration programs. This is one of those projects that small in kind do have a major impact on conservation in situ.
 
Updates from my visit on Sunday March 2nd, 2025:
  • The construction of the new entrance is progressing well. The bamboo tower that recently reached its maximum height is somewhat of a landmark, and certainly not like something I've seen before. The buildings of the new entrance are still under construction, but it seems like they might be able to start using the new entrance by the summer.
  • Between the Asian aviaries and the Asiatic lion exhibit a new walkway is being constructed. It also seems the aviaries are being renovated, with netting removed, some ongoing ground work, placement of some new rocks and a wall and the building of a new wall with concrete blocks in front of the bird house for the aviaries. I think the aviaries will get some new viewing areas.
  • The Asiatic lion exhibit has been slightly renovated with new substrate and a few new large logs.
  • In the orangutan greenhouse the renovation of the pigeon aviary seems to be more extensive than I previously thought. A new covered (viewing?) area with a roof is being constructed, and there is also construction on the back wall of the aviary. The pigeons are currently in the indoor aviary between the entrance and exit of the greenhouse, alongside the crowned pigeons and golden pheasants. The signs for the pied imperial, grey-capped emerald, Nicobar and Bartlett's bleeding heart pigeons have been moved to this aviary, as of yet it is unclear whether the pigeons will return to the other aviary or whether it will be used for another species (perhaps the currently off-show hornbills?). The Nicobar and pied imperial pigeons were attempting to make nests on top of the metal box containing the equipment for the sliding doors into the outdoor aviary.
  • The climbing structures in the middle primate indoor exhibit in the orangutan greenhouse (normally indoor gibbon exhibit, sometimes also home to orangutans) are being redone, the gibbons are temporarily off-show. The working pontoon that a few weeks ago was connected to the primate island on the lion side was now connected to the two middle primate islands.
  • The third and largest orangutan indoor exhibit has had bamboo poles placed on the upper part of the mesh, above the viewing windows, so that this exhibit can now only be viewed from the lower viewing area down a steep set of stairs, and no longer from the upper main walkway.
  • A new small playground area is being constructed behind the wisent paddock, near the small drink stand.
  • The Barbary sheep are temporarily off-show, no reason was specified.
  • I saw a domestic Muscovy duck in the American plains bison and Rocky Mountain wapiti paddock, along with the Flemish geese that are also kept in this exhibit. I only saw one, I think a female, but there might be more. This species is not yet listed on ZTL for Planckendael.
  • The Mexican military macaws have returned to their renovated aviary and according to signage are currently nesting. There was no progress on the renovation of the spectacled owl aviary.
  • The American flamingos have returned to Antwerp, as was reported at the Laafsekikkers recently (unclear what they did with the Chileans at Antwerp).
  • The Darwin's rheas were separated from the capybaras and guanacos.
  • For the first time I saw two Visayan warty pigs in the male Indian rhinoceros paddock, possibly a male and a female although I am not sure about that. It seems they will be keeping this species here now, with the exhibit next to the lions now seemingly gone.
I intend to post some pictures in the gallery in the coming days to support these updates.
 
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The Breeding Visayan warty pigs are off show Male: Buzz and female Matapang reside in the enclosures in Africa at the river near the old Moose enclosure. Both Visayan warty pigs that reside with Gujarat are Vladimir and either Yvar or Yemi One of the Y brothers died a year ago I think. The bachelor group actually is going well and something Planckendael tried out. If you want more info the keepers do a talk at 13:30 I think and you could ask them.
The rest I can confirm.
 
According to recent messages at Laafsekikkers a Chacoan peccary was born again, they now have 8. Two Chaco chachalacas have been added to the Mexican military macaw aviary. They apparently were briefly kept in the large South American aviary (which I did not notice), but have not moved to the macaw aviary, where they are as of yet unsigned.
 
Here are some updates from my visit to Planckendael on Saturday April 26th, 2025.
  • According to signage in the European aviary red-billed choughs are back in the collection at Planckendael. Although I toured this aviary three times during my visit I wasn't able to find any yet.
  • The switching of species in the Asian section aviaries seems to be continuing, and the signage does not appear to be completely correct or up to date currently. The aviary near the snow leopards was signed for little egret, Eurasian spoonbill, green peafowl, black-headed ibis, white-winged wood duck and northern shoveler. I however saw the white-winged wood duck (or at least one of them) in the demoiselle crane aviary, and the northern shovelers in the Europea aviary. In the demoiselle crane aviary brown eared pheasants are now signed and have gone back on display after being off-show for a while, I also saw the signed demoiselle cranes and pied imperial pigeons in this aviary.
  • The renovation of the Asian aviaries near the Asiatic lions continues, new pools have been constructed and new landscaping is ongoing. It appears the aviaries will become larger than they were before.
  • Two of those play tortoise shells were placed near entrance orangutan greenhouse.
  • The new reptile exhibit in orangutan greenhouse is a really nice addition. I was able to see all three species, although the turtles and water dragons are a challenge to find.
  • Butterflies are against present in orangutan greenhouse and butterfly feeders are also again present. I saw mainly a lot of Morpho peleides, as well as a few other species in smaller numbers. New signage for the butterfly species and two new large chrysalis hatching cabinets were placed as well as a slightly themed table, maybe for future educational purposes, were placed in the covered area between the second and third Asian ape indoor exhibit.
  • The new playground that is under construction behind wisent paddock and the tree-top walk will be more extensive than previously thought, according to a sign with a design that was placed. Some parts of this area will be covered with sheltering structures, the design also featured a building that is possibly new snack stand replacing the current snack stand "Gibbon". It appears the construction will also involve some areas underneath tree top walk, where I noticed some planning and measures and digging holes for poles was underway.
  • I saw a grey wagtail in the flowing creek area on the Sulawesi crested macaque island and on top of the former side entrance of the restaurant.
  • Even on a Saturday morning they were actively working on the transparent cladding of the bamboo tower of the new entrance.
  • An American black vulture is now housed with the hooded vultures in the first aviary at the beginning of the American section.
  • The Somali wild donkeys, Dorcas gazelles and North African ostriches are currently more or less off-show, and the bongos only have access to the part of their exhibit on the cheetah side (they rarely seemed to use the other part though), as they are constructing a new stable between the donkey/gazelle/ostrich and bongo paddocks. The Somali donkeys currently only have access to their separation paddocks and a small area with construction fences near the stable, the ostriches are currently kept in the off-show separation yard behind the bongo paddock.
I hope to post some update photos as soon as possible.

Nieuwstopic Zoo Planckendael (2025) - Pagina 4 - Laafsekikkers.be
With regards to the construction work between the bongo and donkey paddocks, it was mentioned at the Laafsekikkers (with links to a newspaper article from earlier this year) that Planckendael will receive red river hogs, so it seems they are building an additional stable for them. I find it a little strange they didn't include this in the recent project for the African hoofstock area. Mixing the red river hogs with the donkeys, as the article suggested, seems simply illogical. Mixing them with the bongos makes somewhat more sense, but seems pretty risky to me. While I like the idea of red river hogs at Planckendael, I personally would have preferred for them to go into the exhibit currently housing the Ankole-Watusi cattle, perhaps together with the banded mongoose.

A recent e-mail newsletter mentioned that the recently born Chacoan peccary is a female, that Planckendael is supporting a project in the Chaco region and that recently two Dalmatian pelicans hatched.
 
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Sad to read. The Asiatic lions seem to have a lot of health issues in several zoos in the Benelux the last year. Also in Blijdorp, I think only Wishu is alive at Rotterdam now after the infection that was there.
 
Some things I noticed at Planckendael today:
  • The netting of the renovated Asian aviaries near the Asian lion exhibit was being closed again, so it seems like this renovation is nearing completion.
  • Near the new chrysalis hatching cases in the Asian greenhouse a series of models displaying the life cycle of butterflies were hung.
  • The construction of the new entrance seems to be heading towards the final stages, with the outer cladding being put on the buildings.
  • New climbing structures are being installed in the Barbary macaque exhibit.
  • The construction of the new house for red river hogs (and perhaps other African ungulates) between the bongo and Somali wild donkey paddocks is continuing well, the shell of the buildings seems mostly complete.
  • I saw one fledgling African spoonbill in the African aviary, at least one spoonbill was still on the nest.
  • I saw one fledgling glossy ibis in the Australian aviary, at least one of these ibis was still on the nest.
 
 
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