Visited again yesterday, some news:
After a long time of not being used, the expansion to the elephant yard has finally been opened, the plants purposely weren't cleared, so the elephants were allowed to snack on the bamboo that was still there:
The first viewing area of the Sri Lanka leopards was being redone:
- The climbing course for the Coppery titi is now seemingly complete, with ropes over the manatee creek and all the way to the back of the dry forest section.
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For some reason, the large vine over the manatee creek has been removed again
The African lions now also have a new climbing structure, similar to the ones in the renovated Gorilla habitat
The Bush viewing platform was closed off, with a sign saying it's for the animals living there need some rest. I assume that means someone's built a nest on the stairs or something similar, I wasn't able to ask anyone
The Japanese sea nettle tank was empty once again, but a new mini aquarium has opened up next to it (it could have been an old aquarium too, it's in quite a dark corner):
In the Desert, at least 3 Blue-winged teal chicks were hatched, I saw them very quickly before mama took them to cover under a bush.
Also in the Desert, I hadn't seen the North American porcupine in the mixed habitat in a little while, even though he can usually always be found in the same spot. I happened to see a keeper exiting the mixed enclosure's "indoor" holding. I asked if he found a new spot in the "indoor" enclosure, and he mentioned that they're actually introducing a second porcupine into the mixed habitat, meaning there's currently 3 North American porcupines in the Desert.
I also saw the new Bowmouth guitarfish and he's absolutely gorgeous! One of my favourite fish species and he's quite visible in the small ocean tank. I'll admit I don't always visit the Ocean on my weekly visits, but the Bowmouth guitarfish might change that!
Additionally, BZ recently released a video on the Coppery titis that are going to be released soon. Although it's mostly general information we already know, there was a shot of Stef sketching out the titi's climbing route, and they mentioned they're planning on making hanging feeding places in the shape of the Calabash fruits that also grow in the Mangrove, which can be moved around at will.
Sketching (also visible in the video of course):
Video (in Dutch):