Cologne Zoo Cologne Zoo News

Sifaka41 said:
Of course, I just meant that the masterplan is getting converted differently (e.g. the new savannah) and that many projects that should have already completed haven‘t even started to be planned (e.g. Jaguar exhibit).
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No worries. I am glad there is more zoo afficionados locally that love the Zoo Koeln...as much as I do.

I feel it is high time for a new visit (never seen the new giraffe nor rhino areas f.i.)!!! Maybe we could even meet up, if you like!
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
No worries. I am glad there is more zoo afficionados locally that love the Zoo Koeln...as much as I do.

I feel it is high time for a new visit (never seen the new giraffe nor rhino areas f.i.)!!! Maybe we could even meet up, if you like!
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Yeah, you should definitely visit again of you havent been for a while (would wait for the Giraffe enclosure to open next year).
I unfortunately wont have time for a long while (personal stuff) to visit the zoo.
 
Kängurus für Köln!
The zoo has finally opened the new Kangaroo and Otter enclosures next to the Tropical House.
The Otter enclosure houses 1.1 Asian small-clawed otters (aonyx cinereus) and is 150 square meters big. Its has an indoor- and an outdoor part and features a slide, a creek and multiple pools.
The Kangaroo‘s exhibit is 1160 square meters big and is conceptualized as a ˋWalkthrough-Aviary´(?). At the moment, it only houses 1.1 Dusky Pademelons, but Goodfellow‘s Tree Kangaroos (dendrolagus goodfellowi) and Brown Dorcopsis (dorcopsis muelleri) will arrive soon.
 
Birth of :
- 11 Inca terns
- 2 Crested quail-dove
- 6 pintails
- 6 little owls
- 1 guira cuckoo
- 14 ruddy-headed goose
- 1 ring-necked dove
- 2 Przewalski's horses
- 2 Malagasy turtle dove
- 1 Barrow's goldeneye
- 2 bush stone-curlews
- 6 common pochards
- 4 ferruginous ducks
- 2 canvasback
- 8 Eurasian wigeons
- 3 trumpeter swans
- 1 redhead
- 2 yellow-billed duck
- 1 Sakishima grass lizard
- 1 common merganser
- 4 common eider
- 1 pink-spotted fruit dove
- 2 Azara's agoutis
- 4 yellow cardinals
- 2 white-crested turacos

Source
 
Quick news roundup.
According to Zootierliste, Cologne has received:
- 1.1 Brown Dorcopsis from Skærup Zoo and Prague Zoo, which are still kept behind the scenes
-1.0 Goodfellow‘s Tree Kangaroo from Chester Zoo
This completes the animal roster for the new area next to the tropical house.
I also want to add that a couple of weeks ago, the zoo put the two Asiatic Lion cubs asleep, which were only a few days old at that point.
Their mother „Gina“ didn‘t accept the two cubs and the zoo didn‘t want to hand raise them, which would have caused them to never adopt natural behavior.
The killing of the two cubs has caused a lot of backlash, and personally I‘m not sure of it was the right decision. I can understand the zoos motives, but I think that killing an animal is never the best solucion.
A few days ago, the zoo also held their big 165th anniversary event together with a topping out ceremony for the new Giraffe house/exhibit. There it was also revealed, that the next big project after the Giraffe exhibit and the Tropical House is the conversion of the old Elephant/Rhino house into a nature and species conservation house, which will include a VR-experience.
 
Sifaka41 said:
Their mother „Gina“ didn‘t accept the two cubs and the zoo didn‘t want to hand raise them, which would have caused them to never adopt natural behavior..
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Unless there were plans to release the cubs into the wild at a future date, would they really need to adopt natural behaviour?
 
Yeah, I wondered about that too as Lions aren‘t commonly released into the wild (unfortunately), also because they don‘t fully adapt natural behavior in zoos anyway. Which is to be fair very difficult.
 
Dassie rat said:
Unless there were plans to release the cubs into the wild at a future date, would they really need to adopt natural behaviour?
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Sifaka41 said:
Yeah, I wondered about that too as Lions aren‘t commonly released into the wild (unfortunately), also because they don‘t fully adapt natural behavior in zoos anyway. Which is to be fair very difficult.
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It is not strictly the zoo's decision to refrain from hand-rearing the cubs, but rather a guideline from the EEP. The same guideline also applies to tiger EEPs, for example. The zoo's full statement on not hand-rearing the cubs:

Why were they not hand-raised?
Zoos aim to keep/raise animals as naturally and behaviourally appropriately as possible. Hand-rearing can lead to imprinting problems. However, it is important that the Asian lions kept in the conservation breeding programme behave like ‘normal’ lions. Animals with imprinting problems are unable to integrate properly into a lion group later on and are very unlikely to breed. Therefore, the breeding programme for Asian lions has a clear guideline not to hand-rear them.
 
MennoPebesma said:
It is not strictly the zoo's decision to refrain from hand-rearing the cubs, but rather a guideline from the EEP. The same guideline also applies to tiger EEPs, for example. The zoo's full statement on not hand-rearing the cubs:

Why were they not hand-raised?
Zoos aim to keep/raise animals as naturally and behaviourally appropriately as possible. Hand-rearing can lead to imprinting problems. However, it is important that the Asian lions kept in the conservation breeding programme behave like ‘normal’ lions. Animals with imprinting problems are unable to integrate properly into a lion group later on and are very unlikely to breed. Therefore, the breeding programme for Asian lions has a clear guideline not to hand-rear them.
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I know that the EEP was a key factor in the decision, but I just find it sad that they had to die. In foresight, it was probably the smartest decision.
 
Hi all,

I will be in Cologne this weekend and was wondering how long you would recommend for Zoo and Aquarium for a first visit? And whether there are any personal highlights I shouldn’t miss?

Thanks!
 
Joker22Hero said:
Hi all,

I will be in Cologne this weekend and was wondering how long you would recommend for Zoo and Aquarium for a first visit? And whether there are any personal highlights I shouldn’t miss?

Thanks!
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A recent visit took me five hours including a short break in the restaurant and honestly that was rather tight planed because I just managed to finish the entire round when the security came and politely requested us last visitors to go towards the exit.
 
LARTIS said:
A recent visit took me five hours including a short break in the restaurant and honestly that was rather tight planed because I just managed to finish the entire round when the security came and politely requested us last visitors to go towards the exit.
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Thanks Lartis! Did those 5 hours include the aquarium?
 
Would one day, roughly from opening time to close to closing time, be sufficient to see the whole zoo as well as take a lot of photos of exhibits and species? I would like to go to Cologne, probably next year, but am considering whether a one-day visit would be enough or whether I should consider a two-day trip.

Also, does anyone have any tips with regards to getting to Cologne Zoo by car - are there good, safe and easily reachable options? My driver is apprehensive about Cologne.
 
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