Rotterdam Zoo Blijdorp News 2021

The association Friends of the Rotterdam Zoo (Vrienden van Blijdorp) has announced a new project that they wish to complete within a year at the cost of €500.000: the existing duo of aviaries in the South America part, for ibises and macaws, is to be torn down. Theyre at the end of their life span. On the current site a new aviary will be build for the ibises, while the macaws will move to somewhere else in the South America part, near Amazonica. More details havent been shown yet.

From: ALV 2021: nieuwe volières Zuid-Amerika!
 
-The gelada males were switched around, so the females have a new leader (Jaba)
-A second bison calf was born, as well as five blackbucks and a banteng
-The gentoo penguins have started breeding, I counted some ten nests
-Two chicks for the lesser rheas, which are being raised by their father
-A few Typhonodorum lindleyanum, originally meant for the Island Hopping expansion of the Oceanium, have been planted in pond of the hyraxes
-The stables of the black rhinos are now permanently inaccessible to visitors
-Four young fire salamanders have been put on display in the Nature Conservation Centre. Their birth was a happy little accident, shall we say.
-The European congers, as well as the blacknose shark young from 2020, are no longer visable in the Oceanium. The Zoo hasnt commented on this.
-The first edition of the 'Vriendennieuws' of 2021 has finally been published online. They announce:
--the Malayan tapir is pregnant
--our last swell shark has moved to Vienna, reducing the amount of zoos with this species to 4
--we recieved a leopard shark and a horn shark from Stuttgart
--some small mutations

From Kort Nieuws
 
You know you are getting old when exhibits you’ve seen being constructed are getting torn down again because they are at the end of their lifespan :(

I still regard much of the Asian section of Blijdorp as "new", as I witnessed their construction. But to be true, most parts are 25 to 30+ years old...
 
- Births among the hyraxes, slender lorises and Guinea turacos
- This summer a show will air on Dutch TV called 'Het echte leven in de dierentuin' (the real life in the zoo), which was recorded in the Rotterdam Zoo during lockdown.
- The construction works in the Asia House have been wrapped up. New floor and the two small enclosures have been rebuilt. Reliable sources indicate one of the enclosures will host an ant colony in the near future.

source (inc a pic): Kort Nieuws
 
Sadly female Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica) Bente (*2006, Blijdorp) was euthanized last Monday. She suffered from neurological problems since birth, but they have become more severe over the years. Male Aapel, who passed away last year also suffered from neurological problems and his offspring show similiar signs. In order to determine the cause of these neurological problems Blijdorp has started an investigation in collaboration with the European studbook of this species and the University of Utrecht.

Source:
Website of Diergaarde Blijdorp (13/07/2021) AZIATISCHE LEEUWIN BENTE INGESLAPEN - Diergaarde Blijdorp
 
All walkthrough bird enclosures in the Netherlands were closed because of bird flu this year. Do we know if they're open again yet?
 
The measures due to avian flu have been lifted. Walk-through aviaries/bird enclosures should therefore be open again.

You can't believe what a relief this is for me

I've spent the last few weeks using ZTL to make a guide for all free-roamers and walkthrough animals in Dutch zoos. I just finished Burgers' and Gaia and I had a little panic attack realizing I might not be able to use them
 
European eiders and Gadwall ducks have been added into the new flamingo aviary

source: ZTL
 
European eiders and Gadwall ducks have been added into the new flamingo aviary

source: ZTL
There are indeed gadwall ducks in that aviary, three pairs to be precise. There are also three pairs of Northern pintails in the aviary. I'm not so sure about the eiders, the zoo has said that they will not return to the flamingos. So that will probably be an error on ZTL.
 
Back
Top