Rotterdam Zoo Blijdorp Zoo News 2025

[Jessica Hogervorst]

Blijdorp has received new male Pallas's cat named Norbu. He is intended to pair with Poes, and the hope is for them to have offspring. Let’s hope it’s a good match—it would be fantastic!

Source: IG Zoo Görlitz

 

[Haliaeetus]

Birth of Caribbean Stick Insects (without more precision about the species), they are the first babies for 2025 in Blijdorp Rotterdam.
Diergaarde Blijdorp - Rotterdam Zoo on Instagram: "De eerste jongen van dit jaar zijn geboren! Dat gebeurde bij de Antilliaanse wandelende takken in het Natuurbehoudscentrum. De jongen zijn nog erg klein, maar hun ouders herken je makkelijker. De vrouwtjes zijn felgroen en tussen de 13 en 19 centimeter. De mannetjes zijn daarentegen bruin en worden maximaal 11 centimeter. Leuk feitje: ondanks hun kleine afmetingen, is hun Latijnse naam wel gigantea."

 

[Mr Gharial]

Birth of Caribbean Stick Insects (without more precision about the species)

These are Diapherodes gigantea

 

[Haliaeetus]

The female Asian Lion LALANA has been euthanized at the age of 15. She suffered from feline leukaemia.
Diergaarde Blijdorp - Rotterdam Zoo on Instagram: "Verdrietig nieuws zo aan het begin van het jaar. Aziatische leeuwin Lalana is vandaag ingeslapen. Ze is bijna 15 jaar oud geworden. Lalana leed aan de besmettelijke ziekte FeLV, ook wel kattenleukemie genoemd. De afgelopen dagen verslechterde haar situatie zienderogen. Gezien haar respectabele leeftijd is in overleg met de dierenarts besloten haar uit haar lijden te verlossen. Lees verder op onze website."

 

[JurassicMax]

Recently a male Eurasian forest reindeer (Rangifer tarandus fennicus) arrived from a zoo in Germany and was introduced to the 4 already present females.

Source:
Instagram of Diergaarde Blijdorp (10/01/2025)

 

[Mr Gharial]

Blijdorp has shared the first sketches for the new Central African greenhouse with Pygmy hippos that will one day replace the Amazonica greenhouse.

In this sketch, the hippos will have a large pool with underwater viewing, three smaller habitats (probably for reptiles) and possibly a monkey habitat.

Personally, I'm not getting my hopes up. I did that for the Island Hopping section of the Oceanium, and that got cancelled too.

 

[Kifaru Bwana]

Blijdorp has shared the first sketches for the new Central African greenhouse with Pygmy hippos that will one day replace the Amazonica greenhouse.

In this sketch, the hippos will have a large pool with underwater viewing, three smaller habitats (probably for reptiles) and possibly a monkey habitat.

Personally, I'm not getting my hopes up. I did that for the Island Hopping section of the Oceanium, and that got cancelled too.

Given that they will stick with pygmy hippo as one of their focus species ... I do think this is going to happen. Plus they recently received the Diana monkey group from Artis Zoo... . So, go figure it out!

 

[Haliaeetus]

The female Indian Rhino KARUNA will be transferred soon to a Peruvian zoo.
Diergaarde Blijdorp - Rotterdam Zoo on Instagram: " Binnenkort vertrekt Indische neushoorn Karuna naar Peru voor het populatiemanagement programma. In Lima zal ze samen met een mannetje (hopelijk) gaan zorgen voor nageslacht. Een mooie intercontinentale samenwerking om de toekomst van deze diersoort veilig te stellen. Om haar voor te bereiden op het transport, is er naast Taman Indah een transportkist geplaatst. Na het vertrek van Karuna mogen wij namelijk Narayani verwelkomen. Deze 37-jarige Indische neushoorn is afkomstig uit @eindhovenzoo."

 

[Kifaru Bwana]

The female Indian Rhino KARUNA will be transferred soon to a Peruvian zoo.
Diergaarde Blijdorp - Rotterdam Zoo on Instagram: " Binnenkort vertrekt Indische neushoorn Karuna naar Peru voor het populatiemanagement programma. In Lima zal ze samen met een mannetje (hopelijk) gaan zorgen voor nageslacht. Een mooie intercontinentale samenwerking om de toekomst van deze diersoort veilig te stellen. Om haar voor te bereiden op het transport, is er naast Taman Indah een transportkist geplaatst. Na het vertrek van Karuna mogen wij namelijk Narayani verwelkomen. Deze 37-jarige Indische neushoorn is afkomstig uit @eindhovenzoo."

What we know from earlier: The only Indian rhino currently at Parque las Leyendas in Lima, Peru is another female (F Vaiana ex Planckendael). Despite what has been suggested here ("hopefully") there is no indication yet that the arrival of a suitably aged breeding bull is imminent (unless the AZA might let one of the surplus good candidate breeding bull go south to South America).

These are Diapherodes gigantea

Is this species locally threatened or endangered in the Carribean?
(They are an unknown quantity on the IUCN Red List!)

 

[GiratinaIsGod]

Blijdorp has shared the first sketches for the new Central African greenhouse with Pygmy hippos that will one day replace the Amazonica greenhouse.

In this sketch, the hippos will have a large pool with underwater viewing, three smaller habitats (probably for reptiles) and possibly a monkey habitat.

Personally, I'm not getting my hopes up. I did that for the Island Hopping section of the Oceanium, and that got cancelled too.

Good, their old enclosure was shockingly bad

 

[MennoPebesma]

Diergaarde Blijdorp received several tens of thousands fewer visitors in 2024 than the previous year. As a result, the zoo did not achieve the desired number of visitors, and this seems to be affecting developments. For instance, plans to expand the elephant enclosure and build a new enclosure for the François' langurs have been postponed for now. It is also not known when plans for Amazonica can be started. There is not enough money at the moment.

This year, the zoo is focusing on other projects. Such as transforming the Kelp Forest (in the Oceanium) into an exhibition about windmills in the North Sea, new solar panels and building shelters in the polar bear enclosure.

Source: ZooFlits

 

[lintworm]

Exact visitor numbers are: 1.412.295 (-2,3%).

Always nice to see a zoo blaming it on the weather, whereas other zoos still received more visitors despite the same weather circumstances and a similar lack of big investments for the year.

The problems are far from over and it might be time for some realism, the rumoured costs for the elephant enclosure were around 20 million euros, there is a lot you can do with even half the money in making the park more attractive....

 

[MennoPebesma]

This spring, two new Asian lionesses will move to Diergaarde Blijdorp. They are two two-year-old sisters, from a zoo in Denmark.

Source: Hoe dierentuin Blijdorp leeuw na leeuw zag sterven en nu opnieuw probeert om welpjes te verwekken

 

[Jurek7]

Diergaarde Blijdorp received several tens of thousands fewer visitors in 2024 than the previous year. As a result, the zoo did not achieve the desired number of visitors

transforming the Kelp Forest (in the Oceanium) into an exhibition about windmills in the North Sea

I visited Blijdorp after about 10 years, and the zoo makes impression of a slow decay. The skeleton of Amazonica was symbolic, and a number of exhibits were gone or without animals. Plastic bags in an aquarium instead of jellyfish may be a valid education trick, but people may not like to pay 30 euro to look at a plastic bag. Closing down another animal exhibit will not help, I am afraid. But the director wants to reduce the zoo to only 10 big animals...

 

[Mr Gharial]

I visited Blijdorp after about 10 years, and the zoo makes impression of a slow decay. The skeleton of Amazonica was symbolic, and a number of exhibits were gone or without animals. Plastic bags in an aquarium instead of jellyfish may be a valid education trick, but people may not like to pay 30 euro to look at a plastic bag. Closing down another animal exhibit will not help, I am afraid. But the director wants to reduce the zoo to only 10 big animals...

Pretty much, yeah. A lot of things weren't built to last and now we're seeing the results. Even with renovations and replacements, it's a slow decline until they get a different director to steer them into the right direction

 

[Kifaru Bwana]

Pretty much, yeah. A lot of things weren't built to last and now we're seeing the results. Even with renovations and replacements, it's a slow decline until they get a different director to steer them into the right direction

Their current director is beyond a joke. What an incompetent non valeur! I really feel for the staff bc the man seems to be better at financial management and disvestment than actually moving the zoo forward or having anything like a consistent vision of the future Blijdorp Zoo.

Under his "leadership" the zoo has already burned through 2 Masterplans and the number of big animals being transferred out is quite astounding (gorilla, Indian rhino) and the zest of the collection slimming to beyond the bare minimum! He is quite content to have us believe .... a giant new elephant exhibit for which a good quarter of the zoo is sacrificed ...

Gone are the Asian Aviary, the Mongolian Steppe, the Amazonica butterfly garden is defunctional and there seems to be no letting off on the imploding Riviera Hall (that used to hold one of the most impressive herp and amphibian and bird collection in a Nutshell.
It is painful to watch....the decline.

 

[MClaeys]

Pitiful… there needs to come a new director with good vision as soon as possible. People don’t pay to see empty enclosures. Some important species have left the zoo again. I wonder when there will come a new wind.

 

[Sneeuwpanter]

[QUOTE="MennoPebesma, Such as transforming the Kelp Forest (in the Oceanium) into an exhibition about windmills in the North Sea, new solar panels and building shelters in the polar bear enclosure.

Source: ZooFlits[/QUOTE]

That is sure to draw in tens of thousands of visitors.

 

[Kifaru Bwana]

[QUOTE="MennoPebesma, Such as transforming the Kelp Forest (in the Oceanium) into an exhibition about windmills in the North Sea, new solar panels and building shelters in the polar bear enclosure.

Source: ZooFlits

That is sure to draw in tens of thousands of visitors.[/QUOTE]
I fear it is a bit like Don Quichote fighting the windmills in Spain with his ever present assistant on a mule to fight them....!

 

[Sneeuwpanter]

Pancho Villa