Rotterdam Zoo Blijdorp Zoo News 2024

Canihelpyou? said:
Does anybody know if any loggerhead turtles are on display yet? Or even if this will be the case? I thought i heard they were going to be displayed in the mangrove tank
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The Kemp's Ridley would be on display in the Mangrove tank. But was placed back behind the scenes after a day when it couldn't eat because the pufferfish was quicker when getting to its food.
I don't believe the loggerheads would be on display at all
 
Gorillas Tamani, Tonka and Thabo will move from Diergaarde Blijdorp to Zoosafari Fasanolandia early next week. The enclosure there was recently renovated, bringing both the indoor and outdoor enclosures up to EAZA requirements. For now, they will be the only inhabitants of that enclosure. As soon as the studbook holder has found a suitable silverback, this little group can start their own family.

Source: Facebook Diergaarde Blijdorp
 
The two aviaries that are being rebuilt right now, will not house macaws and scarlet ibises in the future anymore.

The zoo decided to replace them with African species, because they'll fit in with the new masterplan area 'African Jungle'. Species now mentioned in the article are Congo grey parrot in one aviary and African wetland birds, like the African spoonbill, in the other.

The zoo hopes to get these species from other zoos in the future. Still unknown what will happen to the macaws and ibises that are behind the scenes now.

Source: Zooflits
 
Visited the zoo yesterday. A lot of work going on;
  • A lot of building around the wallaby and reindeer enclosures because of the restauration work on the monument stable. The animals are temporarily located in enclosures off-show, inbetween the railway tracks. I could see the animals later on, when I was leaving the city by train. (See also: Zooflits)
  • The threeshrew enclosure in the Asia house was being refurbished for a new species: Elongated tortoise (Indotestudo elongata)
  • The boardwalk near the pelicans was being refurbished.
  • Scaffolding in place at the "Poort van Azië" café
  • The shell of the macaw building was in place.
  • Some work at the terrace of the "Lepelaar" restaurant.
  • The weavers were not in their aviary, but in the elephant shrew exhibit of the Crocodile River greenhouse.
  • Saw some chicks with the palawan peacock-pheasant in the Victoriasere in the Rivierhal.
Some news that has not been posted yet (I think):
  • A young has been born at the lion-tailed macaques. I saw him yesterday at the belly of its mother when they went outside. (Source: Blijdorp Instagram)
  • M'buti, the female okapi, is expecting a young in the summer (Source: Blijdorp Instagram)
  • On Instagram they teasing another pregnancy, not mentioning the species yet. However the words 'equine abdomen' on the top right of the ultrasound suggest it is a zebra (Source: Blijdorp Instagram)
 
Mr Gharial said:
The Kemp's Ridley would be on display in the Mangrove tank. But was placed back behind the scenes after a day when it couldn't eat because the pufferfish was quicker when getting to its food.
I don't believe the loggerheads would be on display at all
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Why then not put the pufferfish in a different tank or a separation area within the mangrove tank. It is large enough to hold small Rays and Sharks ... so, why not an exclusion area to keep the puffers within?

I still feel that the Asian wetlands aviary has been shut down and most of the birds and other species emptied off ... is (another) massive disappointment. All for a few acreage more for a huge elephant exhibit. I would almost say ..., well built an Asiatic elephant exhibit and obliterate the rest of the zoo .... (talking of size and what is required for a fully natural elephant area, ... do not start me up ... LOL).
 
Hugo28 said:
Visited the zoo yesterday. A lot of work going on;
  • A lot of building around the wallaby and reindeer enclosures because of the restauration work on the monument stable. The animals are temporarily located in enclosures off-show, inbetween the railway tracks. I could see the animals later on, when I was leaving the city by train. (See also: Zooflits)
  • The threeshrew enclosure in the Asia house was being refurbished for a new species: Elongated tortoise (Indotestudo elongata)
  • The boardwalk near the pelicans was being refurbished.
  • Scaffolding in place at the "Poort van Azië" café
  • The shell of the macaw building was in place.
  • Some work at the terrace of the "Lepelaar" restaurant.
  • The weavers were not in their aviary, but in the elephant shrew exhibit of the Crocodile River greenhouse.
  • Saw some chicks with the palawan peacock-pheasant in the Victoriasere in the Rivierhal.
Some news that has not been posted yet (I think):
  • A young has been born at the lion-tailed macaques. I saw him yesterday at the belly of its mother when they went outside. (Source: Blijdorp Instagram)
  • M'buti, the female okapi, is expecting a young in the summer (Source: Blijdorp Instagram)
  • On Instagram they teasing another pregnancy, not mentioning the species yet. However the words 'equine abdomen' on the top right of the ultrasound suggest it is a zebra (Source: Blijdorp Instagram)
Click to expand...

The other pregnancy announcement was not for the zebra but for an other black and white animal, as KevinB just posted: the Malayan tapir Pooh. ↓
KevinB said:
Blijdorp's Malayan tapir female Pooh is pregnant and expecting a calf this summer.

Diergaarde Blijdorp / Rotterdam Zoo
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Some short news from Blijdorperbende:
  • A new species in the Victoriaserre: Yellow cardinal (Gubernatrix cristata). They will live along the brazilian tanagers in the part with the pond.
  • In the other part there are no bleeding-heart doves
  • The yellow-faced myna and bali mynas have left the Van-Harencarspel-kooi. (I've seen the bali myna in the free-roaming part two weeks ago)
  • The last group of village weavers was replaced to the crocodile river. The group was slimmed down considerably last autumn, probably due to some rats that found their way into the Weaver Kopje aviary. The current group will be the last village weavers in Blijdorp, no new birds will come in the future. A group of speckled mousebirds replaced them in the Weaver Kopje.
  • Other bird relocations:
    • Hornbills from Taman Indah to Victoriaserre
    • All guineafowl now in the Vulture Rock Aviary.
    • Casarca's: 1 couple in Vulture Rock Aviary, 1 couple in the Okapi Aviary, 1 single in the big pond.
    • The white-faced whistling ducks, marbled teals and 2 fulvous whistling ducks are all relocated to the Okapi Aviary.
  • The ex-America aviaries are to be opened before the summer vacation period. The grey parrot and African spoonbill already were confirmed, and now Blijdorper Bende found that the egrets, night herons and fulvous whistling ducks of Burung Asia Aviary will be relocated to the spoonbill aviary.
  • Some births: mhorr gazelle (first one since 2020, with the new male), one lion-tailed macaque (first one in six years), two blackbucks.
 
Hugo28 said:
Some short news from Blijdorperbende:
  • A new species in the Victoriaserre: Yellow cardinal (Gubernatrix cristata). They will live along the brazilian tanagers in the part with the pond.
  • In the other part there are no bleeding-heart doves
  • The yellow-faced myna and bali mynas have left the Van-Harencarspel-kooi. (I've seen the bali myna in the free-roaming part two weeks ago)
  • The last group of village weavers was replaced to the crocodile river. The group was slimmed down considerably last autumn, probably due to some rats that found their way into the Weaver Kopje aviary. The current group will be the last village weavers in Blijdorp, no new birds will come in the future. A group of speckled mousebirds replaced them in the Weaver Kopje.
  • Other bird relocations:
    • Hornbills from Taman Indah to Victoriaserre
    • All guineafowl now in the Vulture Rock Aviary.
    • Casarca's: 1 couple in Vulture Rock Aviary, 1 couple in the Okapi Aviary, 1 single in the big pond.
    • The white-faced whistling ducks, marbled teals and 2 fulvous whistling ducks are all relocated to the Okapi Aviary.
  • The ex-America aviaries are to be opened before the summer vacation period. The grey parrot and African spoonbill already were confirmed, and now Blijdorper Bende found that the egrets, night herons and fulvous whistling ducks of Burung Asia Aviary will be relocated to the spoonbill aviary.
  • Some births: mhorr gazelle (first one since 2020, with the new male), one lion-tailed macaque (first one in six years), two blackbucks.
Click to expand...

The village weavers wil come back. Blijdorp is going to stop holding the black and rufous sengi. They are going to stop due to lack of genetic diversity. There were stil 2 individuals in the rivièrahal two weeks ago. IMO this is a huge loss for zoo fans and the zoo itself.
 
Rensrobert said:
The village weavers wil come back. Blijdorp is going to stop holding the black and rufous sengi. They are going to stop due to lack of genetic diversity. There were stil 2 individuals in the rivièrahal two weeks ago. IMO this is a huge loss for zoo fans and the zoo itself.
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I should have read it better, it says mammal in the article... Thanks for explaining it!

Indeed a huge loss in my opinion, I quite liked them, and it is a species I don't see too often in zoos!
 
Rensrobert said:
The village weavers wil come back. Blijdorp is going to stop holding the black and rufous sengi. They are going to stop due to lack of genetic diversity. There were stil 2 individuals in the rivièrahal two weeks ago. IMO this is a huge loss for zoo fans and the zoo itself.
Click to expand...

Welcome in the world of the laptop curator where being endangered (not unlikely b&r sengi will be listed in an endangered category again in the future) and/or having an EEP (lack of one could be due to disliking of the small mammal TAG for new-style EEPs...) are extremely important indicators. The genetic basis of b&r sengi is just as narrow as the one for red river hogs and while I wouldn't be surprised if this species shows signs of inbreeding depression, interest in this species is booming and the population is steadily growing too. New imports from Tanzania would be very welcome (and Tanzania used to be a country where such imports are relatively easy), but to ditch a small attractive species that is a perfect stand in species for the future Central Africa area seems ill informed. Especially for a zoo that for a decade has done a lot of work getting this species established in the first place, but with all these new masterplans, stability means little anymore....
 
I think that's a bit harsh. I like the sengi as much as the next guy, and there is some argument to be made for them probably being upgraded to Near Threatened over a few decades. But the deformaties these animals were being born with the last few years is just bizar. With a founder population of one female and one male from the American studbook, which is also no good in itself. The Rotterdam Zoo has spent the last five years trying to set up some sort of transport, to no avail. It's a shame, but to narrow it down to "laptop curators" is ignoring a lot of what was happening in reality. If sh*t really hits the fan in-situ, the zoo could always scale up again, which will probably be considerably easier with increasing Red List listings.
 
Blijdorpenaar said:
I think that's a bit harsh. I like the sengi as much as the next guy, and there is some argument to be made for them probably being upgraded to Near Threatened over a few decades. But the deformaties these animals were being born with the last few years is just bizar. With a founder population of one female and one male from the American studbook, which is also no good in itself. The Rotterdam Zoo has spent the last five years trying to set up some sort of transport, to no avail. It's a shame, but to narrow it down to "laptop curators" is ignoring a lot of what was happening in reality. If sh*t really hits the fan in-situ, the zoo could always scale up again, which will probably be considerably easier with increasing Red List listings.
Click to expand...


Your inbreeding info might be true, but if all zoos would be like this and the sh*t really hits the fan, there is no population base from which to scale up again. You can't just flip a switch and b&r sengi magically appear once you wish for them. This could well be a species which if it disappears again, might not return.
 
I agree entirely with lintworm...there are zoos that want to have interesting things and those that dont. The supposition that all inventories should be created via TAGs,EEPs and so on will mean that the zoos of the future that play solely by EAZA rules will have the same taxa in them. I would have been much more encouraged had someone had the balls to go out and get some more from THE WILD (omg ...did someone actually SAY that !). Blijdorp is no longer the zoo it was 25 years ago...and I mean that for the worse.The above decision is indicative of the reason why that is.
 
I am considering Blijdorp for a visit this year and I have a question. Are there any exhibits that are closed and/or species that are off-show due to avian influenza control measures?
 
From a visit last week, a lovely chat with one of the keepers there confirmed that Blijdorp is now the only successful holder of goose barnacles (Pedunculata) as they have now kept them for over 4 months, which is apparently a record (?) They are unsigned in the small tank opposite the pacific kelp forest tank and their filtration systems and water pumps are connected to said kelp forest which allows the goose barnacles to have a functional filter feeding tank without the risk of fully polluting the water in there (i believe thats how it works, anyways:))
 
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