Last Saturday I visited Diergaarde Blijdorp/the Rotterdam Zoo for the first time in three and a half years. Even if admittedly it has never been amongst my favorite zoos it is still definitely a fairly nice zoo and it was pleasant to get reacquainted with this zoo.
I don't really have much in terms of "news" to add to this topic, just some observations and comments on developments since my last previous visit.
Part of the Oceanium was closed during my visit due to ongoing redevelopments. What is normally an emergency exit next to the Galapagos giant tortoise outdoor yard now serves as an exit as the Sea of Cortez section of the Oceanium is being redevelopped into a nature conservation center with several species of rare and endangered herps, including the aforementioned Lesser Antillean iguanas (a male of this species is already on display in the Oceanium at present, near the Caribbean café).
There were signs indicating visitors could enter the last area of the Oceanium, the part with the kelp tank and the former sea otter exhibit, through what normally is the exit, but the doors unfortunately remained closed all day during my visit. I remember the kelp tank as being pretty nice so I do hope that one isn't going away as well.
What used to be the section with the Florida/Caribbean reef tanks (with the short tunnel) has since my previous visit been redevelopped into a section representing the Great Barrier Reef and the Indo-Pacific, including appropriate education. The section consists of three tanks with very nicely done artificial reefs that are well-stocked with fish and one tank that is supposedly going to be a living reef in the future (but is clearly still in the very early stages of that development). Personally I liked this section a lot.
With the development of the Great Barrier Reef area and the new developments the original continental/oceanic lay-out of the Oceanium has been breached, but at the moment I don't think that is a bad thing at all as I'm liking the renovations and redevelopments so far.
Another new development I noticed in the Oceanium since my previous visit was the use of projections for education, for example for the sturgeon in the North Sea section and in the Great Barrier Reef. It was nicely and tastefully done, made the education hard to miss and yet wasn't intrusive either.
On the site of the former maned wolf exhibit a large aviary-type exhibit for lemurs was near completion, and next to the Galapagos giant tortoise greenhouse an entrance to that new exhibit was being constructed.
Of course I made sure to take a good look at the new gelada exhibits around the renovated and repurposed former predator house. I like this new development, the new gelada exhibits are nicely done and I rather very much appreciated seeing this rare species again and being able to photograph it well, as I only previously saw geladas in a rather very crappy exhibit in the Äquatorium at Duisburg.
Something that surprised me in a negative way was the condition of the Riviera Hall. I knew it wasn't in the best of shape and it wasn't during my previous visit, but things looked to me to have worsened quite a lot since - especially around the windows just underneath the curved roof things just looked bad and dilapidated. The tropical wing with the bird greenhouses and the round Victoria greenhouse also looked to have seen better days. It's a bit sad to see these buildings in this state - I seriously hope they'll be able at some point in the hopefully not too distant future to renovate this complex.
I don't really have much in terms of "news" to add to this topic, just some observations and comments on developments since my last previous visit.
Part of the Oceanium was closed during my visit due to ongoing redevelopments. What is normally an emergency exit next to the Galapagos giant tortoise outdoor yard now serves as an exit as the Sea of Cortez section of the Oceanium is being redevelopped into a nature conservation center with several species of rare and endangered herps, including the aforementioned Lesser Antillean iguanas (a male of this species is already on display in the Oceanium at present, near the Caribbean café).
There were signs indicating visitors could enter the last area of the Oceanium, the part with the kelp tank and the former sea otter exhibit, through what normally is the exit, but the doors unfortunately remained closed all day during my visit. I remember the kelp tank as being pretty nice so I do hope that one isn't going away as well.
What used to be the section with the Florida/Caribbean reef tanks (with the short tunnel) has since my previous visit been redevelopped into a section representing the Great Barrier Reef and the Indo-Pacific, including appropriate education. The section consists of three tanks with very nicely done artificial reefs that are well-stocked with fish and one tank that is supposedly going to be a living reef in the future (but is clearly still in the very early stages of that development). Personally I liked this section a lot.
With the development of the Great Barrier Reef area and the new developments the original continental/oceanic lay-out of the Oceanium has been breached, but at the moment I don't think that is a bad thing at all as I'm liking the renovations and redevelopments so far.
Another new development I noticed in the Oceanium since my previous visit was the use of projections for education, for example for the sturgeon in the North Sea section and in the Great Barrier Reef. It was nicely and tastefully done, made the education hard to miss and yet wasn't intrusive either.
On the site of the former maned wolf exhibit a large aviary-type exhibit for lemurs was near completion, and next to the Galapagos giant tortoise greenhouse an entrance to that new exhibit was being constructed.
Of course I made sure to take a good look at the new gelada exhibits around the renovated and repurposed former predator house. I like this new development, the new gelada exhibits are nicely done and I rather very much appreciated seeing this rare species again and being able to photograph it well, as I only previously saw geladas in a rather very crappy exhibit in the Äquatorium at Duisburg.
Something that surprised me in a negative way was the condition of the Riviera Hall. I knew it wasn't in the best of shape and it wasn't during my previous visit, but things looked to me to have worsened quite a lot since - especially around the windows just underneath the curved roof things just looked bad and dilapidated. The tropical wing with the bird greenhouses and the round Victoria greenhouse also looked to have seen better days. It's a bit sad to see these buildings in this state - I seriously hope they'll be able at some point in the hopefully not too distant future to renovate this complex.
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