Berlin Zoo Berlin Zoo news 2024

Prochilodus246 said:
I mean I can do if others would be interested, otherwise I'll send you a DM. Would you like all the species I see, or just birds, mammals etc?
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I mean I mainly focus on birds, so that would be great, but a complete list would be brilliant if you're able to do so. I wouldn't want you at all to sacrifice time in your trip doing it but if it's convenient then I wouldn't say no.
 
lintworm said:
And in a surprising twist of turns Zoo Berlin has recently received a 6 year old male gaur to accompany their females. Nothing official has been communicated yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if we will see a 3rd European breeding group (again).
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Aren't gaur supposedly being phased out in Europe? Wonderful news anyway, few things are as impressive as a gaur bull.
 
lintworm said:
And in a surprising twist of turns Zoo Berlin has recently received a 6 year old male gaur to accompany their females. Nothing official has been communicated yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if we will see a 3rd European breeding group (again).
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That are very good news, where does the bull come from maybee cabarceno?
 
cerperal said:
Aren't gaur supposedly being phased out in Europe? Wonderful news anyway, few things are as impressive as a gaur bull.
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I do not know any of the details, but I heard that the gaur populations in North America and Europe were a point of discussion at the recent joint AZA-EAZA TAG meeting in Edinburgh. Perhaps there has (hopefully) been a change of heart?

In any way, this is very exciting news for Berlin. Gaur are truly impressive animals, and I maintain hope that there is some way to increase space and interest in this species in both Europe and North America…
 
I believe Gaur are on the phaseout list but Berlin does tend to do things a little differently. If they are phased out of other collections I expect Berlin to hold on a little longer!
 
lintworm said:
And in a surprising twist of turns Zoo Berlin has recently received a 6 year old male gaur to accompany their females. Nothing official has been communicated yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if we will see a 3rd European breeding group (again).
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Ironically, at around the same time you made this post, I was at Whipsnade, admiring their 3 female gaur, and longing for the EAZA to go back on their decision to phase out the species. What a wonderful coincidence, whether or not this does indeed reflect an EAZA change or not! :p This is brilliant news.
 
Pygmy hippo born last week

Zoo Berlin on Instagram: "Hallo kleiner Zwerg. Es gibt Nachwuchs im Hause Hippo: Die Kleine bringt nach einer Woche schon fast 5kg auf die Waage und ist an Niedlichkeit kaum zu übertreffen. Die stark gefährdete Tierart ist selten und auch im natürlichen Lebensraum in Westafrika sinken die Bestandszahlen immer weiter. Die Erhaltungszucht ist daher von besonderer Bedeutung. Da der Nachwuchs noch nicht bereit für das tiefe Wasser des Zwergflusspferdgeheges ist, wird sie mit Mutter Debbie noch einige Zeit im rückwärtigen Bereich verbringen. Aber keine Sorge: Wir begleiten in den nächsten Wochen die Entwicklung des Jungtieres mit und versorgen euch mit Hippo-Content. Hello, little runt. There are new additions to the Hippo family: after just one week, the little one weighs almost 5 kg and is hard to beat in terms of cuteness. The critically endangered species is rare, and even in its natural habitat in West Africa, population numbers continue to decline. Conservation breeding is therefore of particular importance. As the offspring are not yet ready for the deep water of the pygmy hippopotamus enclosure, they will spend some time in the back area with their mother, Debbie. But don't worry: we'll be following the young animal's development over the next few weeks and providing you with plenty of hippo content. #jungtier #hippo #babyhippo #zooberlin #zwergflußpferd #nachwuchs #zwergflusspferd"
 
Cat-Man said:
I believe Gaur are on the phaseout list but Berlin does tend to do things a little differently. If they are phased out of other collections I expect Berlin to hold on a little longer!
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Well, Berlin was without a male for 6 years, so it seems a genuine change of heart, not really a case of Berlin doing things differently anyway.

The annual report for Zoo & Tierpark Berlin was published:
https://www.tierpark-berlin.de/file...chaeftsberichte/Geschaeftsbericht_AG_2023.pdf

Some snippets:
- In 2023 both a Hamlyn's guenon and a brown capuchin were born, the latter was not planned
- 4.4 S-African springhares were imported from South Africa, with the first young already born while in quarantine. This is an important restocking of the European population, which now numbers 21 animals in 5 zoos.
- 6.3 Bavarian pine voles were received from Tierpark Berlin
- 3 ring-tailed vontsira were born and a pair each of these animals were transferred to Bronx Zoo and Munster
- As preparation for the new tiger enclosures the white-tailed deer herd was transferred to Forestia in Belgium. The new tiger enclosures will be built adjacent to the deer enclosure...
- The arrival of 2.2 king penguins from Zurich meant a reboot of the group, with as result the first successfully raised chick in almost 30 years.
- The fruit doves had quite some breeding success with multiple Grey's fruit doves & golden-fronted fruit doves being raised. Most important was the first successful breeding of a yellow-bellied fruit dove, of which Zoo Berlin is the only European zoo holder (a second young was already born this year)
- From Zoopark Zajedzd arrived 2.2 African golden orioles, 12 Senegal white eyes, 3.2 swallow tanagers and 4.2 western bluebills
- The 2 new tiger enclosures, as well as the new jaguar enclosure will likely be finished in the first quarter of 2025.
- in 2024 they will start planning for a new gorilla enclosure on the extension on the other side of the canal. This also means the original idea of an elephant house on that side was ditched.

There is a lot more interesting information in the rest of the report though ;)
 
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Kudu21 said:
I do not know any of the details, but I heard that the gaur populations in North America and Europe were a point of discussion at the recent joint AZA-EAZA TAG meeting in Edinburgh. Perhaps there has (hopefully) been a change of heart?

In any way, this is very exciting news for Berlin. Gaur are truly impressive animals, and I maintain hope that there is some way to increase space and interest in this species in both Europe and North America…
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Good. Gaur are a serious contender in my top 10 favorite animals and, as a driver on the Wild Asia Monorail, nothing beats seeing them in the morning, especially when they come next to the fence.

One thing I'd do is have the gayal at the Berlin Zoo and have the true gaur in their enclosure at Tierpark
 
tigris115 said:
Good. Gaur are a serious contender in my top 10 favorite animals and, as a driver on the Wild Asia Monorail, nothing beats seeing them in the morning, especially when they come next to the fence.

One thing I'd do is have the gayal at the Berlin Zoo and have the true gaur in their enclosure at Tierpark
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I have always found it strange Tierpark holds the domesticated breed and the Zoo kept the wild (though I am sure there is historical reason for this), as the Tierpark exhibit is certainly better and would provide much more space for the larger gaur. But I do also like having the domesticated water buffalo nearby at the Tierpark.

lintworm said:
- in 2024 they will start planning for a new gorilla enclosure on the extension on the other side of the canal. This also means the original idea of an elephant house on that side was ditched.
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I think I speak for all of us non-german speakers in thanking you for the write up. Is an elephant redevelopment completely off the table now? And what is the plan for the current gorilla section of the ape house, presumably being given to the other great apes?
 
Fallax said:
The elephant plans being ditched is interesting, surely there must be some kind of plan long term? I can't see the zoo keeping the current elephant enclosure in the long run.
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I think it will pop up again. Right now they focus on implementing the changes for the big cats and planning for the gorillas. The annual report also mentions they are preparing an extension for the polar bears so they can keep up to 3 bears and even breed again (this actually was the biggest surprise for me). I think once they got ahead with all this, we will hear some news about the other apes/monkeys and also the elephants.

As far as I can see they have been really quick about their announced projects up till 2035 and unlike the Tierpark (which has even bigger projects though) they may even finish all of them ahead of schedule. And I wouldn't be surprised, if they present rather ambitious plans for the elephants sooner or later (which likely would mean substantial losses of smaller species however). I'm quite curious, where they plan to put them.
 
There is quite a large area behind the bongo/okapi where black rhino etc used to be held. Is this to be extended for them or one would think that might be a suitable area for a new gorilla habitat?
 
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