Belo Horizonte Zoo Belo Horizonte zoo news

Elephant Enthusiast said:
With Jamba's passing, what does this mean for the Zoo's elephant program? Will they keep Axé as a solitary elephant, acquire a new elephant (or two) as a companion for Axé, or relocate Axé to another facility to be with other elephants?
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Honestly saying, I don't know. The zoo's team will need some to digest this whole situation up before making any decisions. The only thing that I can assure you off is that will continue to give Axé the best care she can have.
 
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Did a quick visit to the zoo today, so here's some updates:

  • The renovations on the Reptile House are done. Both the terrariums and the outside exhibits received new paintings and new plants, emphasizing more the biomes in which each animal lives. The red-eared sliders are back on their paludarium and a new species is now on exhibition: the Common lancehead (Bothrops jararaca).
  • I finally saw the new silverback!! Bubu (and all of the females) managed to hide from me on my last visit in February, but now he's all settled in his new home. I was told some breeding activities were witnessed between him and the females, so fingers crossed for new gorilla babies later this year :).
  • Speaking about babies, I've also got some good news: two Lesser grison and a male Marsh deer were born some time priori to this visit.
  • The Howler monkeys are also back on their exhibit, next to the Capuchins. To my surprise, they're actually Brown howlers (Alouatta guariba clamitans), not Black ones. Don't know if the zoo still has A.caraya on the off-show areas, but it is nice to see them back.
  • The giraffe house is essencially done by now. It's all painted up, the ceiling is already settled in and two small pools have also been constructed on each yard. The only thing missing (besides the giraffe, of course) are some of the backside walls, which were being installed on my visit, so I can safely say that Ayana will definitely be arriving soon, probably by the end of July or in early August
  • Unfortunately I didn't saw the new Jaguar, despite visiting her exhibit multiple times during my visit. She's currently living in the former Siberian tiger exhibit (previously being used as an extra space for Lolek) while the Jaguar exhibit is currently being used for a male Cougar.
  • Saw Axé today and she seemed surprisingly fine, even though this is the first time of her life that she is alone. She walked around the exhibit for some time and even decided to take a dust bath right next to me!
 
Velas said:
Did a quick visit to the zoo today, so here's some updates:

  • The renovations on the Reptile House are done. Both the terrariums and the outside exhibits received new paintings and new plants, emphasizing more the biomes in which each animal lives. The red-eared sliders are back on their paludarium and a new species is now on exhibition: the Common lancehead (Bothrops jararaca).
  • I finally saw the new silverback!! Bubu (and all of the females) managed to hide from me on my last visit in February, but now he's all settled in his new home. I was told some breeding activities were witnessed between him and the females, so fingers crossed for new gorilla babies later this year :).
  • Speaking about babies, I've also got some good news: two Lesser grison and a male Marsh deer were born some time priori to this visit.
  • The Howler monkeys are also back on their exhibit, next to the Capuchins. To my surprise, they're actually Brown howlers (Alouatta guariba clamitans), not Black ones. Don't know if the zoo still has A.caraya on the off-show areas, but it is nice to see them back.
  • The giraffe house is essencially done by now. It's all painted up, the ceiling is already settled in and two small pools have also been constructed on each yard. The only thing missing (besides the giraffe, of course) are some of the backside walls, which were being installed on my visit, so I can safely say that Ayana will definitely be arriving soon, probably by the end of July or in early August
  • Unfortunately I didn't saw the new Jaguar, despite visiting her exhibit multiple times during my visit. She's currently living in the former Siberian tiger exhibit (previously being used as an extra space for Lolek) while the Jaguar exhibit is currently being used for a male Cougar.
  • Saw Axé today and she seemed surprisingly fine, even though this is the first time of her life that she is alone. She walked around the exhibit for some time and even decided to take a dust bath right next to me!
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Nice updates, Velas!

Just to tell you, we haven't finished the renovations at the reptile house yet. Me and the guys are preparing some nice stuff that are about to come :D
 
The zoo now holds Pied tamarin (Saguinus bicolor). A female arrived from the Primatology Center of Rio de Janeiro (CPRJ) and is on quarantine (she probably will stay off-show for a while, since all the current small primate exhibits are occupied). This is the first time the zoo is taking care of this species, and soon she will be joined by a male.

Source:
Zoológico de BH recebe fêmea de sauim-de-coleira
 
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The zoo's aquarium received a donation of fifty Pacman catfish (Lophiosilurus alexandri) from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG)'s research and breeding program of threatened native fish species, in order to boost the aquarium's population of the species (previously composed of a single elderly breeding pair and three offspring born last year).

Source:
Biodiversidade preservada: zoológico de BH tem novos habitantes
 
David Matos Mendes said:
The zoo received a pair of genetically valuable white lions today. The individuals were born in South Africa, lived in the former Beto Carrero zoo and had several offspring there. They will be held in the moat style exhibit next to the present lion pen, in which 1.0 individual is kept.

https://prefeitura.pbh.gov.br/noticias/zoologico-de-bh-recebe-casal-de-leoes-brancos-em-seu-plantel
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Great news! Mafu and Pretória being white isn't very ideal, but receiving subspecies-pure individuals will be really good for the zoo. Just hoping that they don't end up leaving Lolek stressed... Oh, and fingers crossed for possible lion cubs as well!
 
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Velas said:
Great news! Mafu and Pretória being white isn't very ideal, but receiving subspecies-pure individuals will be really good for the zoo. Just hoping that they don't end up leaving Lolek stressed... Oh, and fingers crossed for possible lion cubs as well!
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Lolek is a sassy guy, but I think he'll end up getting used to the presence of Mafu and Pretoria. Those exhibits had lions and tigers side by side for decades and things worked out. Of course, animal welfare section's close watching will be fundamental.

About the cubs, I'm looking forward. This pair is promising, even if no longer in their breeding prime.
 
Updating this thread with quite sad news: yesterday Pretória, the lioness that arrived from the now closed Beto Carrero World's zoo about a month ago, unfortunately passed away. She suffered from a cardiorespiratory arrest while being prepared for a dental procedure

To be honest, I wasn't expecting that she would stick with the zoo for much longer, as she was already considered somewhat elderly and had some health issues that originated from her time at BCW, but it is still very sad and quite unfortunate that she passed away so soon after her arrival, specially since the zoo was without a lioness for quite some time. I'm hoping for the crew to soon find a way to obtain more lions.

Source:
Leoa recém-chegada ao Zoológico de BH morre durante anestesia
 
Velas said:
Updating this thread with quite sad news: yesterday Pretória, the lioness that arrived from the now closed Beto Carrero World's zoo about a month ago, unfortunately passed away. She suffered from a cardiorespiratory arrest while being prepared for a dental procedure

To be honest, I wasn't expecting that she would stick with the zoo for much longer, as she was already considered somewhat elderly and had some health issues that originated from her time at BCW, but it is still very sad and quite unfortunate that she passed away so soon after her arrival, specially since the zoo was without a lioness for quite some time. I'm hoping for the crew to soon find a way to obtain more lions.

Source:
Leoa recém-chegada ao Zoológico de BH morre durante anestesia
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Unfortunately, I'm updating this thread with more sad news: following just a couple of hours after Pretória's passing, the zoo announced the death of Kelly, a female Central chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) that recently arrived from the Sorocaba zoo. :(

Kelly was Sorocaba's last chimp, and she was obtained by the BH zoo in order for her to make company for the zoo's male chimp, Serafim, who was living by himself for a couple of years as of now. Sadly, she was dealing with a number of health problems, including an uterine cancer. She died after suffering cardiac arrest due to anesthesia while being transferred from the zoo to undergo some tests.

It is importante to notice that, while these deaths happened very close to each other and both with very similar causa mortis, the zoo's crew shouldn't be blamed. Both of these animals already suffered from health issues that appeared way prior to their transfer to Belo Horizonte, and the vets made their best efforts to save them.

Source:
Entenda a morte da chimpanzé Kelly no zoológico de Belo Horizonte
 
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