Rotterdam Zoo Blijdorp News 2019

The Natuurbehoudscentrum ("Nature Conservation Center") opened this week. It's located in the former "Sea of Cortez" section of the Oceanium. The center informs the visitors about the conservation programs of zoos and there are some enclosures for endangered species.

Het nieuwe Natuurbehoudscentrum in Diergaarde Blijdorp is vanaf vandaag (10 februari) opengesteld voor publiek. Er zijn al enkele bedreigde diersoorten te zien. De komende weken wordt het centrum verder ingericht. Het nieuwe gedeelte bevindt zich in het Oceanium en herbergt diverse (ernstig) bedreigde dier- en plantensoorten, zoals Primula palinuri, Egyptische landschildpad, McCords doosschildpad, vuursalamander, Lake Patzcuaro salamander, Chinese krokodilstaarthagedis, Madagaskar cichliden, Aziatische zangvogels, tandkarpers en de Antilliaanse leguaan, een van de hoofdbewoners.

In het Natuurbehoudscentrum wordt aandacht besteed aan de rol van dierentuinen bij het behoud van bedreigde soorten. In het midden van de ruimte is een ‘glazen huis’ met een aparte broedruimte. Hier zijn de eieren en jonge reptielen te bewonderen die in Blijdorp zijn gekweekt. De Diergaarde heeft een lange traditie in het kweken met bedreigde diersoorten.
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I visited the zoo today and most of the enclosures / terraria in the Natuurbehoudscentrum are still empty (although some already have signages of the future inhabitans). The former enclosure for rock squirrels is now home to four species of Asian birds (Bali myna, red-whiskered bulbul, white-rumped shama, Palawan peacock-pheasant) representing the "Silent Forests"-campain. A couple of tortoise species were also present. San Francisco ribbon snake, Chinese crocodile lizard, Philippine sailfin lizard and fire salamander were signed, but I didn't see these species.

The Oceanium is a bit of a biogeographic mess nowadays. The original concept was a journey from the northern Atlantic through the Caribbean, Amazon basin, Falklands, Galápagos, Sonora coastal area to the kelp forests of the northeastern Pacific. At the moment the Great Barrier Reef is located between the Atlantic and the Antilles, and Madagascar (a walkthrough area with ringtail lemurs) between the Falklands and the Galápagos...

Another current biogeographic mess is the transfer of the maned wolves from South America to Europe, to inhabit the former grey wolf enclosure.

To end positive, I really liked the new two-sided enclosure for the geladas. Amazing to see how the former rows of cages for multiple species of small cats has been turn into a beautiful enclosure for those unique baboon species!
 
AWP said:
The Oceanium is a bit of a biogeographic mess nowadays. The original concept was a journey from the northern Atlantic through the Caribbean, Amazon basin, Falklands, Galápagos, Sonora coastal area to the kelp forests of the northeastern Pacific. At the moment the Great Barrier Reef is located between the Atlantic and the Antilles, and Madagascar (a walkthrough area with ringtail lemurs) between the Falklands and the Galápagos...
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I don't think they're still going with the original concept, but instead try to modernise a slightly outdated building into a more general ocean-themed exhibit.
 
2 Banteng-calves born at Blijdorp, a male and a female. These are the last calves produced by male Bas, which died at the end of 2018.
 
In the Vulture-aviary a Rüppel's vulture is incubating an egg. The female of this breeding-pair hatched herself 2011 at Rotterdam and was a regular member of the vulture-flock used in the Bird-show.
 
Lake Patzcuaro salamanders are placed on display in the Nature Conservation Center. Most of the animals ( 9 or 10 if I'm right ) are however still behind the scenes for a breeding programm for this endangered species.
 
In the new Ring-tailed lemur enclosure belonging to the Conservation Center a baby was born. Quite unexpected because the complete group are only females. The mother of the young must have been paired with a male at Apenheul shortly before the female-group was send to Blijdorp.
 
2 Toco toucans have hatched in one of the breeding-aviaries in the Riviera Hal. A second pair is still sitting on eggs so maybe more young will hatch soon :).
 
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