Facts about the history of the Antwerp Zoo

[Pertinax]

Interesting to see Pilipili mentioned. I remember reading in ‘Animals’ magazine (now long since morphed into the anodyne ‘BBC Wildlife’), around 1963, about the impending arrival of MALE ‘Mountain’ Gorilla of that name at the Bronx. In preparation for this, their ‘Mountain’ female Sumaili (another of Cordier’s Eastern Lowlands) was separated from male Western Lowland Mambo, with whom she had grown up. Mambo was then successfully introduced to the older Western female Oka, who had lived alone since her same aged male companion Makoko drowned some years earlier. Clearly there was some confusion over Pilipili’s gender, as with some other young Gorillas of that era. Basel’s Achilla and Jersey’s N’Pongo, both subsequently very successful breeding females, were initially sexed as male.

Pilipili was definately male. Recently I've seen photos of him at the Bronx- he became an impressive silverback before he died young, which I hadn't known before(that he grew to maturity). Sumaili outlived him by a long stretch. I think she was eventually paired with the only other Eastern male in the States, 'Mkubwa' at either Oklahoma or Houston both of which he lived in.

The circa 1963 (or maybe a bit later..) 'Animals' magazine article was entitled 'Oka, meet Mambo'. It was very interesting to me.

 

[Pertinax]

- Pega was captured near Walikale, which most likely makes her an Eastern lowland gorilla. There is some ambiguity about Pega's arrival date. According to the studbook, the animal arrived on 12 July, while according to the Image Bank of the KMDA it was 17 December, but it is certain that she arrived at the Antwerp Zoo in 1962.
- Less is known about Pilipili and she therefore only stayed at the Antwerp zoo for barely a year. According to the studbook, she arrived on 12 July 1962. Little is also known about her origin, although the most likely option is that, like Pega, she came from Walikale, where she would have been born around 1957.
The 2 gorillas were housed together with the other (male) Eastern lowland gorillas in the still brand new Great Apes building.

On 25 April 1963, another female gorilla arrived, named Quivu. Like most Eastern lowland gorillas at the Antwerp Zoo, Quivu was also captured near Walikale, where she was born between 1959 and 1961. Quivu was kept at Zoo Hannover for 1 day before she went to Antwerps Great Ape Building. That Quivu was called an Eastern lowland gorilla even by the Antwerp Zoo itself, and not a mountain gorilla, only makes it more plausible that she was indeed an Eastern lowland gorilla.
On 15 May of that same year, Pilipili, who arrived a year earlier, left for the Bronx Zoo, where she died 8 years later as the penultimate living Eastern lowland gorilla in the Americas.

I saw Kaisa, Kisubi, Quivu and Pega- all were quite certainly Eastern Lowlands. Pilipili was a male (see above).

 

[FBBird]

Pilipili was definately male. Recently I've seen photos of him at the Bronx- he became an impressive silverback before he died young, which I hadn't known before(that he grew to maturity). Sumaili outlived him by a long stretch. I think she was eventually paired with the only other Eastern male in the States, 'Mkubwa' at either Oklahoma or Houston both of which he lived in.

The circa 1963 (or maybe a bit later..) 'Animals' magazine article was entitled 'Oka, meet Mambo'. It was very interesting to me.

Can’t lay hands on that edition of ‘Animals’ right now, but I remember the article being headed ‘Oka, this is Mambo’. Great to know Sumaili lived a reasonable span, even if Pilipili didn’t

 

[Pertinax]

Can’t lay hands on that edition of ‘Animals’ right now, but I remember the article being headed ‘Oka, this is Mambo’. Great to know Sumaili lived a reasonable span, even if Pilipili didn’t

You are probably right. I also remember a big photo of them sitting apart with Oka's back turned, as if ignoring him. They lived together okay, but nothing more.

 

[Tiger]

On 9 June 1968 a female gorilla named Victoria was born. It was both the first gorilla born at the Antwerp Zoo and the first birth of an Eastern lowland gorilla in captivity worldwide. The mother and father were Quivu and Kisubi, respectively. There is just about no evidence that both parental animals were mountain gorillas, so Victoria was consequently also probably an Eastern lowland gorilla. However, at birth, Victoria was referred to as a mountain gorilla just like Kaisi, Pega and both her parents. After a 1977 article in 'Onze Zoo' (a magazine for subscribers with the latest news about the zoo, later called Zoo Magazine), the five animals were henceforth referred to as grauers gorillas. Like the famous Western lowland gorilla Gust (I should devote an urgent post to this), Victoria was also regularly taken out of her pen to play with cu of another species. In Victoria's case, for example, this was the more than 1-year-old orang-utan Ursula.

On 11 March 1970, the next birth took place. Again, the parents were Quivu (0.1) and Kisubi (1.0) and again it was a female. Unfortunately, the animal died soon after birth. Strangely, there is no mention of it in the 1979 studbook. On 19 August of the same year, Quivu gave birth to another daughter, again with Kisubi as father. The little gorilla was born no less than three months prematurely, dying after only a few hours.

On 4 May 1973, the 'drama' of 3 years earlier more or less repeated itself. Another short-living female gorilla was born, again with Kisubi as father but this time Pega as mother. The cause of death of the 'baby' is unknown, but it was either premature birth or miscarriage, as Pega had both premature birth and miscarriage after her first (premature) baby, however, the dates of these are not known.

On 22 July 1978, female gorilla Quivu died. She spents 15 years of her life in Antwerp (since 1963). In those 15 years, she gave birth to 2 babys, only one of which, Victoria, would reach adulthood.

Another tragedy, or rather sensation, occurred on 17 December 1974. That morning, a zookeeper was cleaning the great apes' pens. First, he had moved the great apes from the night pens to the indoor enclosures, but he had forgotten to lock the gate between these 2, as well as the gate to the corridor between the ape enclosures. The latter gate was soon opened by the male gorilla Kisubi. The attendant was so startled that he pushed the gorilla away out of panic. The gorilla felt attacked by this and, in reaction, bit his attendant. It could have been worse had the man not run away and locked himself in a cage. The gorilla, on the other hand, made its way through the building, fortunately not into the well-enclosed public area. A serious problem was that the gorilla had access to the doors of the other great apes. Meanwhile, the building's alarm had gone off and all vets and curators were equipped with a stun gun. The hunt lasted from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., when he just walked by himself to his outside enclosure, where it was easy to stun him. The gorilla may not have released the other great apes but he had caused havoc, especially in the kitchen. He had poured milk on the floor, crushed bananas and strewn tins of sultanas across the floor. And the zookeeper? He was eventually freed by colleagues and taken to hospital where he had to be cared for for several weeks.

On 5 June 1980, the Eastern lowland gorilla collection was supplemented by a wild-caught male named Flup. Unfortunately, the animal died after only two weeks on Belgian soil, specifically on 22 June.

We stay in 1980 because on 18 September of that year, another Eastern lowland gorilla was born. It was the daughter of Pega and an unknown father. This little animal will not exactly have a better fate as her 3 predecessors, as she died just a day later.

Because the male gorilla Kaisi was infertile, Kisubi was crossed with his own daughter Victoria. This resulted in the successful birth of Isabel(le), as the name suggests, a female, on 23 January 1981. Isabel was hand-raised. It was the last Eastern (lowland) gorilla born at the Antwerp Zoo.

On 23 March 1983, Igor, a male Eastern gorilla, arrived. According to the studbook, he was caught in Burundi, a country where only mountain gorillas are found. However, Hilde Vervaecke, in her book 'The bonobos', gives an alternative and more credible thesis, namely that the animal was spotted by a colonial in a hunting village near Virunga National Park, which can make the animal belong to both species. From photographs, it is difficult to judge whether it was an Eastern lowland gorilla or a mountain gorilla, but its lineage makes this animal extremely interesting. Its arrival was met with international criticism as famous US primatologist Dian Fossey wrote a complaint to IPPL Newsletter, the newsletter of the International Primate Protection League. Dian Fossey is even said to have had plans to remove the animal from the Zoo because the Antwerp Zoo had allegedly 'kidnapped' him, but these are just rumours and the story is therefore (rightly) very doubtful.

On 9 August 1984, Eastern lowland gorilla Kisubi, the group's breeding male for many years, died. He lived at the zoo for no less than 26 years and lived to be about 28 years old. Here is a picture of him later in life: Eastern lowland gorilla Kisubi - ZooChat

On 13 May 1985, a male Eastern lowland gorilla arrived that would later prove important to Zoo Antwerp's gorilla group, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. The gorilla in question came from Chester Zoo and was called Mukisi. He was also Chester Zoo's penultimate gorilla as a year later also the last Western lowland gorilla would leave. Mukisi was also captured and born in the wild (in 1957), before moving to Chester Zoo in 1960.

I will post the last part of this three-part post as soon as possible. This last post will be about the gorilla group after the completion of the renovated Great Ape Building.
As always, I greatly appreciate any questions, comments, additions or suggestions.

 

[Tiger]

And as promised, here is the third and final part about Eastern lowland gorillas at Zoo Antwerp(en):
After the Great Ape Building was expanded in 1971 to include enclosures for young great apes, the entire building was renovated from 1987 to 1989. The outdoor enclosures with moats were removed and replaced by glass 'cages' of which only the top was not glazed but latticed, topped with a UV-filtering plexi-glass roof that could slide open in summer, making them technically outdoor enclosures. The 'outdoor enclosures' were fitted with height differences, tree trunks, climbing ropes and various types of enrichment. Below the outdoor enclosures came basements, from which the monkeys could be studied and food could/can be administered. According to a 1988 newspaper article, it was also planned to install sprinkler systems and air-conditioning. According to the same article, the original intention was to make the 'outdoor enclosures' even bigger, but this was prevented by several centuries-old plane trees.
The renovated building housed bonobos, chimpanzees, a new group of Borneo orang-utans, a single Sumatran orang-utan and, of course, the Eastern lowland gorillas, with or without the addition of an occasional mountain gorilla. A new enclosure meant a new group structure and a new gorilla group was formed in 1989. The silverback and breeding male of this group became the experienced Mukisi. The females were Pega and Victoria with Igor (1.0) and Isabel (0.1) as the group's adolescents. Kaisi's role is unclear, though it is possible that he was kept apart as a potentially dominant male.
A bronze statue of the Eastern lowland gorilla Kaisi also appeared near the renovated building in April 1989. Most visitors assumed that it was a statue of the famous gorilla Gust, who died a year earlier, which is therefore incorrect.

On 15 January 1990, Eastern lowland gorilla Pega, the oldest female of the group, died. She lived at Antwerp Zoo for 27.5 years.

On 14 October 1993, Kaisi died, an Eastern lowland gorilla who had lived at the zoo for 36 years (since 1957). Here is a photo of him in the 1980s: Male Eastern lowland gorilla - ZooChat

On 18 August 1994, Amaharo arrived, a name that many of you will recognise as she is the only Eastern lowland gorilla still living at Antwerp Zoo or any zoo in the world. Anyway, she was born in the wilds of Zaire (today's Democratic Republic of the Congo) around 1990. As a toddler, her mother was tragically killed by poachers. Some claim that after this she was kept in someones home but I don't know if whether this is true or not. The rest of her 'life story' was 'published' by the zoo itself in 1994. I quote (freely translated from Dutch): "On 18 August, 4-year-old gorilla female Amahoro arrived at Antwerp Zoo. She was seized by authorities at Kigali airport (Rwanda) in 1992, along with a young chimpanzee. A trafficker tried to get it out of the country illegally. The animal was taken in for some time by the International Gorilla Conservation Group, headed by Belgian José Kalpers. Due to increasing irregularities in Rwanda, he was forced to send the animal to the Jane Goodall Institute. Most of the chimpanzees live there, so Amahoro did not live among peers for 2 years (because of this, she is said to have developed several chimpanzee traits, such as her aggressive behaviour towards smaller monkey species).
Because the institute deals mainly with chimpanzees, a solution had to be found for the young gorilla female. Release into the wild was impossible, given the politically unstable situation in eastern Zaire, where her species - the eastern lowland gorilla [...] - occurs. Consequently, a proper mentoring programme did not exist. Hence Zaire's Ministry for Environmental Affairs asked Antwerp Zoo to take care of the animal. Since we are the only zoo in the world that houses this species of gorilla, we decided to take on this difficult task.
Amahoro was accompanied for 2 weeks in Belgium by her permanent caretaker, Mr Gashamura Shabani. Through him, she was made accustomed to her new environment and her new caretakers. [...]".
It is further mentioned that the name Amahoro in Kinya Rwandan means 'peace'.
What is not explained in the text is why they chose the Antwerp Zoo as her new home in the first place. In fact, her Mitonchondrial DNA was found to match that of gorillas from Kahuzi Biega, which led to the assumption that she was an Eastern lowland gorilla. It was therefore decided to send her to the Antwerp Zoo, the only place at that time with a potential breeding group. Amahoro will later play an important role in the gorilla group, but more on that later.

In 1995, an important event takes place within the gorilla group. In a fight, Igor defeats Mukisi, making Igor the dominant male of the group.

Just less than a year after Amahoro's arrival, on 13 August 1995, the dominant silverback Igor, who may have been a mountain gorilla, died. Igor spent 12 years of his life in Zoo Antwerp. On 8 December of the same year, Isabel(le), the last Eastern gorilla born in Antwerp, also died. Isabel, also spelled Isabelle, spent her entire life at the zoo and only lived to be 14 years old (not surprising since she was the result of inbreeding). Both Isabelle and Igor died of a disease. Some claim that Igor and Isabel would have died from a virus brought by Amahoro, but I've not been able to find any official information about this. However, it remains highly regrettable as the 2 gorillas could possibly still be admired alive at the Zoo at this time. Now the 2 gorillas, albeit stuffed, can be admired at the Museum for Natural Sciences in Brussels. Here is a photo: Eastern lowland gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri) specimens Igor and Isabella from Antwerp Zoo, 2019-12-03 - ZooChat

On 17 December 2000, '(Grandpa) Mac', better known as Mukisi, Zoo Antwerp's last male Eastern lowland gorilla, died of a lung complication. 1 source states that he died in 2002, but this seems incorrect. Mukisi lived to be about 43 years old, of which he spent 15 years at the Antwerp Zoo, therefore he lived at Chester Zoo. 1 year after his death, his DNA and that of either Victoria or Amahoro, among others, was used in a study on the Mitochondrial DNA of Eastern gorillas. It was discovered trough this study that their DNA was very similar to that of wild animals from Kahuzi-Biega National Park and Mount Tshiaberimu (areas where both Eastern gorilla species occur), and very different from populations from Virunga National Park and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Anyway, Mukisi was replaced by Kumba, a wild-born Western lowland gorilla, on 23 April 2002. Kumba was in fact sterile, important since they obviously wanted to avoid him breeding with the 2 remaining female Eastern (lowland) gorillas.
In the time between Kumba's arrival and Mukisi's death, an actually rather funny event took place for several days, proving again that Amahoro still has some chimp traits. Indeed, in late 2001, the chimpanzee male Arnold arrived to furfill the position of dominant male. Funny enough, Amahoro, who lived in the enclosure next door, also had a crush on the imposing Arnold. She started squawking and showed impressing behaviour. It is thought that Amahoro mistook Arnold for a gorilla because of his size. The impressing behaviour was triggered by sexual frustration due to the lack of a male gorilla.
The group was further expanded in 2011 and 2014 with 2 female Western lowland gorillas, respectively named Mambele and (Esian)kiki.
In 2016, Victoria, Zoo Antwerp's penultimate Eastern lowland gorilla, was euthanised. After eating and moving became more difficult, she was examined. In the process, they found a huge abscess in her throat, so it was decided to euthanise her. Victoria lived to be 47 years old and spent all that time in the Antwerp Zoo, as she was born there. She herself also produced 1 offspring. This left Amahoro as the only Eastern lowland gorilla.
As mentioned earlier, Amahoro is an important member of the gorilla group these days. They always choose her to be the first to make contact with a new gorilla, as Eastern lowland gorillas have a gentler nature than Western lowland gorillas.
On 1 July 2017, the new outdoor enclosure for the chimpanzees and gorillas opened, including thus grauer's gorilla Amaharo. An underground corridor connected the old enclosures to the new outdoor enclosure. The new relief-rich outdoor enclosure for the apes came on the location of the old petting zoo. This greatly increased the gorillas' overall living space. The statue of Eastern lowland gorilla Kaisi was also given a new place at the entrance to this new 'Valley of the Great Apes'.
All this did not prevent Amahoro from generally always looking somewhat listless, but that changed with the birth of Thandie, the first Western lowland gorilla born in Belgium, in 2018. Once again due to her gentle nature, Amahoro took great care of the little ape, brightening her up all over again, all this was reinforced by the birth of a 2nd gorilla, Vizazi, in 2020.

I hope you enjoyed reading these posts and as always, I greatly appreciate additions, corrections or requests.

 

[Pertinax]

I hope you enjoyed reading these posts and as always, I greatly appreciate additions, corrections or requests.

Very interesting posts about history of Antwerp Gorillas. I'm interested as to the possibility whether Igor was an Eastern or a 'true' Mountain gorilla. Do you have access to any photos of him when he was alive?

 

[Tiger]

Very interesting posts about history of Antwerp Gorillas. I'm interested as to the possibility whether Igor was an Eastern or a 'true' Mountain gorilla. Do you have access to any photos of him when he was alive?

As always, the best option is to check KMDA's Image Bank, here's a link: Historische Beeldbank
Simply search for 'Igor' in the search bar at the top left and you should get 2 pictures.
If you think you know which subspecies he belonged to, please let us know. It would be very interesting to have a clear answer about this.

 

[Pertinax]

As always, the best option is to check KMDA's Image Bank, here's a link: Historische Beeldbank
Simply search for 'Igor' in the search bar at the top left and you should get 2 pictures.
If you think you know which subspecies he belonged to, please let us know. It would be very interesting to have a clear answer about this.

Difficult to tell from just this one as I can't enlarge it. His face looks more like a true Mountain g. g. beringei as it looks shorter than an Eastern graueri. But his coat appears shorter and smoother, more like graueri. Open verdict..

 

[Tiger]

Difficult to tell from just this one as I can't enlarge it. His face looks more like a true Mountain g. g. beringei as it looks shorter than an Eastern graueri. But his coat appears shorter and smoother, more like graueri. Open verdict..

It is indeed very difficult to see. Besides having short and soft hair, his bony crest is also much smaller than that of a mountain gorilla. In my opinion, he he most resembles an Eastern lowland gorilla. A gorilla expert would be very handy in this situation.

I also discovered that the first certain Eastern lowland gorillas, which arrived in 1957, were captured for the purpose of the film/documentary 'Les Seigneurs de la Forêt' (this film was covered in more detail earlier in my post on congo peafowls). The FIS (Fondation International Scientifique) was given permission to capture or slaughter all the animals needed for the film. The filmed group of gorillas was captured using a new method with nylon thread and the 12 animals were distributed to many different zoos, including thus the Antwerp Zoo

 

[Pertinax]

It is indeed very difficult to see. Besides having short and soft hair, his bony crest is also much smaller than that of a mountain gorilla. In my opinion, he he most resembles an Eastern lowland gorilla. A gorilla expert would be very handy in this situation.

I also discovered that the first certain Eastern lowland gorillas, which arrived in 1957, were captured for the purpose of the film/documentary 'Les Seigneurs de la Forêt' (this film was covered in more detail earlier in my post on congo peafowls). The FIS (Fondation International Scientifique) was given permission to capture or slaughter all the animals needed for the film. The filmed group of gorillas was captured using a new method with nylon thread and the 12 animals were distributed to many different zoos, including thus the Antwerp Zoo

I think in that photo of him alive, he is not yet full grown so that may be the reason the crest may not be fully developed there. In the mounted taxidermy he resembles more an Eastern gorilla- I would expect the hair to be longer if he was a beringei .

I remember that film as Lords of the Forest and I think I saw it many years ago. It was horrific how they obtained film of them back in those days, surrounding them with nets etc and in the process probably killing some of them. Another, even older film Mogambo used a similar method with Western gorillas. They did at least let them go again after holding them in the enclosed space for ten days, but during which time one died from a snakebite.

 

[thylacine1936]

Having recently found some more information about thylacines at the Antwerp Zoo, I would also like to update my post about Tasmanian tigers in this thread. However, it gets a little bit confusing this way, since I posted about Tasmanian tigers even before I posted about dolphins (my last updated post) but unfortunately I can't change the fact that with time, new information is also added, which I would like to share with interested people on this forum. Therefore, an updated post about thyalcines. My original post about thylacines was a request from @thylacine1936 so perhaps this person might also be interested in this updated version.
First, however, I would like to correct an error from my post on manatees. My post(s) was/are already confusing enough because of all the dates and peripheral information but 1 sentence makes everything even more difficult to understand:

Of course, it is impossible that Goliath died in the spring of 1953 if the animal didn't arrive until August of that year. Instead, Goliath died in the spring of 1954 and, after his death, underwent an autopsy on March 5, 1954.

But now back to the thylacine:
I came across an interesting document of a scientific paper explaining how Zoo Antwerp(en) got its first thylacine (which would eventually never arrive at the zoo), although it does contain a suspicious number of errors. But let's get started; at a meeting of the council of the RMZAS (does anyone know what this is?) in 1902, a letter was read from the director of the Antwerp Zoo. This does not sound illogical until you read the director's name: F. Krueger. In the first place, the Antwerp Zoo never had a director with this name, nor can I find anything about an 'F. Krueger'. The director at the time was François L'Hoëst. So the only explanation I can find is that perhaps the name L'Hoëst was misspelled as 'Krueger'. Anyway, the director wanted to buy certain Australian animals at a generous price. The then director of the Melbourne Zoo, (William Henry) Dudley Le Souef, responded with: "as we have none to spare and they are difficult to procure, I would suggest ... that I go to Tasmania tomorrow for about a fortnight and visit the various centres where these animals are found, and propose taking my magic lantern with me, so as to interest the people 1 visit in our Gardens and requirements and we should make a good profit ... I anticipate the total expenses will be under fifteen pounds". The RMZAS council agreed to this proposal.
Le Souef travelled through the area where Tasmanian tigers and devils were found. He also advertised widely for the zoos involved. He also gave 2 public lectures in Launceston so that if 1 of the aforementioned species was caught, they will go to Melbourne or Antwerp. The director was eventually able to obtain the following: a pair of Tasmanian devils, 2 black opossums (another thing impossible unless they were captive animals, otherwise they are possums) and most important of all: a Tasmanian tiger. This male Tasmanian tiger was caught in its lair (den) in the Tasmanian Avoca district, where Le Souef was staying on the estate of family friends, the Franks family. The station hands involved (for those who do not know what these are; it are people hired to help on a farm) were paid £7 for their effort. Le Souef returned to Melbourne with his captured animals on 24 December 1902 and wrote F. Krueger (who is therefore probably F. L'Hoëst) a letter on 1 January 1903 offering the requested animals, including "one Wolf (Tasmanian) . . . price twenty pounds". Among others, the marsupial wolf was sent to Antwerp that same month (January), but here also comes the contradiction, as the document states that the thylacine did arrive in Antwerp, while most sources report the death of the animal on the way to Antwerp in Februari 1903. Beyond that the animal was adult, there is nothing additional to be found.
On 6 February 1912, a Tasmanian tiger arrived, probably the first living thylacine at Zoo Antwerp(en) ever. It is stated that the animal's capture site was 'Dip/Arthur rivers'. What exactly is meant by this is unclear, as these are 2 different locations, so it may not be certain at which of the 2 sites the animal was caught, but in any case, the animal came from Tasmania and was caught by C. Knighton and B. Barrett. The scientific article states that a thylacine from Beaumaris Zoo arrived at Antwerp Zoo in 1913, while other sources state that the animal that arrived in 1912 went to Launceston's City Park Zoo, only to go to Melbourne Zoo, which sent the thylacine to Antwerp Zoo. Therefore, there is the possibility that these are 2 separate animals, although I consider that probability rather low. Anyway, the 1912 thylacine was a male and died on 13 February 1914, after only 2 years on Belgian soil. However, if the animal hadn't died on that date it tragically wouldn't have lived long anyway, as it would almost certainly have been shot as a result of the outbreak of World War I later that year (which I wrote about in more detail a few pages back), when all dangerous animals were shot to prevent worse.
Furthermore, the document states something completely new to me, I quote: "[...] and Moeller also notes, in reference to the Royal Society (of Antwerp I presume) and Regent's Park Zoo (London Zoo), that 'Antwerp . . . received several Tasmanian wolves, via London". On further investigation, many thylacines were sent from London Zoo to various unknown places, which the Antwerp Zoo may thus also belong to according to this source.
The 1 or more thylacines were housed in the Small Predator House. This building, opened in 1900, was located next to the larger and also older Predator Building with lions, tigers, leopards, etc. Besides thylacines, the Small Predator House also housed grey wolves, Tasmanian devils (who may have arrived together with the Tasmanian tigers. I need to do more research on this), hyenas, foxes and a side-striped jackal, to name a few. How all these animals fitted in the building is a mystery to me. So that you can see what I mean, and of course where the thylacine(s) lived, here is a link to the zoo's Image Bank. Search the search bar for 'Kleine-roofdierengebouw' (Dutch for Small Predator House) and you will normally see a series of pictures of the building. Here the link: Historische Beeldbank Just like the larger Predator Building (which was also known by its slightly fancier name Lion Palace), the building was demolished in 1967 to make place for the grand Jubilee Complex (Jubileumcomplex, which itself is currently being renovated. Not much is left of the thylacines at the Antwerp Zoo. I was unable to find any footage, but I did find a picture of the sign that for years confirmed the presence of the thylacine(s); the information sign: "This is the original plate that... - The Bartlett Society
Here is a link to the scientific article I used for this post and which I referred to so often:
https://www.nature.com/articles/360215a0.pdf
If you can add to, improve or correct this post I would encourage you to do so, new information is always useful. The next post will again be an updated post about Eastern lowland gorillas in Antwerp.

Sorry for the late reply. I have to look into this because it's really weird since no thylacines were ever sent to antwerp from london, plus is a quote from Moeller a really credible researcher. But the thing is that is written by Paddle who usually cuts words from the original quote and gives out the wrong message. So probably is just another misinformantion created by him

 

[Tiger]

To add some variety between all my updated posts, here is a post about a rare animal in captivity: the horned screamer.
The horned screamer (Anhima cornuta) is currently only kept in 3 European zoos, but there used to be many more. One of them was (of course) the Antwerp Zoo.
The arrival year of the first horned screamer is probably 1958, as there was 1 animal of unknown gender (0.0.1) in the collection on 30 April 1958. Where this animal came from is uncertain, but in 1957, one horned screamer of an unknown gender arrived at Cologne Zoo, which left the collection (left or died) in 1958, the same year Antwerp received one. Whether my suspicion is correct is difficult to verify, however.
This number of 1 animal of an unknown gender persisted throughout the years, as both in 1973 and 1978 there was only 1 animal of an unknown gender. Consequently, the species was never bred.
In 1988, the species left the collection.
The horned screamers were housed in the Peacock Aviaries, located against the back of the Pig Building. This row of aviaries overlooking the cattle enclosures of the Cattle Building had one large aviary in the middle that protruded further, this was where the horned screamers were housed. In other years, this aviary housed green peacocks, among others, and was later fitted with glass. These peacock aviaries were originally built as a pheasantry and in its history, besides peafowls and pheasants, also housed a rich collection of other birds, such as curassows, touracos and hornbills and also congo peafowls (one of the species the Antwerp Zoo is known for).
So much for this short post.
Please let me know if you have any additions, corrections or requests to cover anything in this thread.

 

[Tiger]

When I was preparing my updated post about elephant seals, I came across a very interesting story about the birth of elephant seal Adèle, the last elephant seal at Zoo Antwerp(en). However, I have decided to cancel this updated post as the amount of additional information is too limited, but this story, which of course fits perfectly in this thread, I cannot withhold from you...
But before explaining this story to you, I would like to dwell on the only additional information (apart from the story) I could find:
When I was preparing my updated post on elephant seals, I came across a very interesting story about the birth of elephant seal Adèle, the last elephant seal at Zoo Antwerp. However, I have decided to cancel this updated version as the amount of additional information is too limited, but this story, which of course fits perfectly in this thread, I cannot withhold from you... But before explaining this story to you, I would like to dwell on the only additional information (apart from the story) I could find:

Zoo Antwerp only had Southern elephant seals, namely from 1955 to 1996.
In November 1955, the first elephant seals arrived (1.1).

Actually, the earliest clue to elephant seals at the Antwerp Zoo comes from the 1993 book 'The Chant of Paradise'. According to this book, the Antwerp Zoo regularly purchased animals from specialised trading houses between 1945 and 1965. Thus, in 1953, 2 elephant seals were bought from the Danish company Krag's Dyrehandel for 180,000 Belgian francs (today 4,462 euros or 4,925.7 US dollars). But, however, of the 1.1 elephant seals that arrived in November 1955, nothing else can be found.
But now for the story, or should I say 'drama':
First some background: Southern elephant seal Adèle had given birth on 6 March 1975 to a stillborn pup (or whatever you call a young elephant seal), which was nevertheless fully developed. So when Adèle was pregnant again months later (the father was again the 1400-kilogram Arri), they wanted to be on the safe side. One kept an eye on her throughout the day and at night the night watchman did the same. At midnight 14 April 1976, the night wacthman noticed that the contractions had started. In a hurry, the zookeeper and curator rushed to the zoo. The curator even had with him the guests who had come to dinner that night. When the legs of the cub became visible and they seemed lifeless, the caretaker and curator ran, at the risk of their own lives, to the birthing elephant seal. If Adèle had moved once, both would have been crushed. This was also in almost complete darkness, lit only by the night watchman's torch. Adèle trusted them through and through, however, and let them do as one helped her young into the world. However, all these efforts were in vain, the young was already dead. Once again, the pup was fully grown. An attempt was made to resuscitate the young by cleaning its mouth and nostrils, but to no avail. The whole birthing took no less than 1.5 hours. So much for this rather sensational story.
Here is a photo of the more than 100-year-old basin where this whole event took place, which now temporarily houses the sea lions, but normally houses seals: seal pool - ZooChat
The enclosure was renovated in 2012, so it no longer looks like it did in the time of the elephant seals (or as in this picture).
1 year later, on 20 or 21 April 1977, Adèle finally gave birth to a successful cub named Eric. As the saying goes, "Third time's the charm". Eric would become the first captive-born Southern elephant seal to reach adulthood. Here is a picture of Eric with mother Adèle: Southern elephant seal - ZooChat Eric was already transferred to Zoo Berlin in October 1977, where it was joined by Antje, a Berlin-born elephant seal cub (who sadly did not reach adulthood). Eric died there in 1981. More information about elephant seals at Zoo Antwerp can be found in my original post, on page 3 of this thread.

 

[Lamantin]

Hello @Tiger, thank you so much for all this fascinating information about manatees at the Antwerp Zoo! I study African manatees and am always interested to know where they are (or have been) in captivity around the world. Thanks again for this wealth of information!

 

[Tiger]

Thank you so much @Lamantin , I am very happy that I have been able to help and inspire so many people like you. I hope you can use the text wth information about African manatees if you ever need it.
It just so happens that I recently came across some additional info on manatees at the Antwerp Zoo, although it's about the Caribbean species. In my original post I wrote:

Antillean manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus):
Antillean manatees were first reported in the Antwerp Zoo's animal collection in 1973. It concerned 1 female specimen. Also in 1978, a female Antillean manatee turned up in the animal collection, in all likelihood the same specimen.
In 1981, Europe's first captive-born West Indian manatee arrived at the Antwerp Zoo from Artis, where it came to live with the female already present in the manatee building. The gender of the animal is unknown (does anyone have any more information on this?), but since the species wasn't bred at the Antwerp Zoo, it is more likely that it was a female.

My suspicion was sadly wrong, as the specimen from Artis that arrived in 1981 was not a female, but a male. The manatee was given to the Antwerp Zoo as part of a breeding loan, but it sadly didn't pay off.

 

[Tiger]

I haven't posted a new 'fact' for a very long time. I had a lot of concepts to write about, but each time I didn't have enough information. Last time, among other things, the seal enclosure came up. That's where we start this post too. Near the former seal enclosure (now sea lions) hangs a sign (unfortunately I couldn't find any pictures of this in the gallery, but it's a sign you quickly miss if you don't pay attention) explaining how Antwerp Zoo used to get its seals. The zoo's guidebook states it like this: "Common seals have been seen at the ZOO since 1847, almost continuously. We used to regularly receive seals found in the Scheldt, the port or on the Belgian coast, injured or not." And you can already feel it coming, I would like to dive into this in detail in this post. Indeed, it was not only harbour seals that were brought in, but on one occasion also another, rarer species.

When you think of the Antwerp Zoo, you wouldn't immediately think of sheltering seals. One reason is because the zoo is so far away from the sea, but it is located in the port city of Antwerp, which is on the river Scheldt. There are regularly seals that swim up the Scheldt and cannot find enough food there or collide with a ship. For these seals, Antwerp Zoo is the nearest place to shelter them. Before the SeaLife Blankenberge seal sanctuary opened in 1998, seals found on the coast were also often brought to the Antwerp Zoo, simply because there was no better alternative. From 1945, around 2 to 4 seals were sheltered in the zoo this way every year. It is not possible to find information on all these seals, but I have used the limited information that did exist to make an as complete overview as possible about seals sheltered by the Antwerp Zoo. Herewith:

The earliest detailed reference I can find of a seal brought in the Zoo dates all the way back to the year 1948. An article from the members' magazine (for zoo members) 'Zoo' of January 1964 is reported to mention that seal 'Bobbie', also spelt 'Boby', was the oldest animal in the group at that time. The animal had been brought in on 4 August 1948 as a newly weaned cub about 2 months old. He had been taken in by a family as a howler (a seal pup abandoned by its mother who incessantly calls, or rather cries, for its mother), along with a female named Bettie. The family managed to habituate the seal pups to fish food. However, the female was sadly found dead one morning, she had died of intestinal infection.

Once at the Zoo, Bobbie was initially placed in the seal pool (today temporarily housing sea lions). From 1955, the seals mostly lived in one of the outdoor enclosures of the Hippo(potamus) Building. In 1992, the last seals moved back to the old basin. Bobbie was just one of so many seal pups brought in every year. The Antwerp Zoo itself was very concerned with this matter. After all, one was always dealing with pups that were still nursing. However, there was no suitable food or equipment available to feed these seal pups. In the case of Bobbie, they were lucky that he was already eating solid food (fish) when he was brought in, so he did survive. The zoo keepers, who considered a solution as a matter of honour, therefore started experimenting with different feeding systems.

We'll take a time jump for this. On 21, 26 and 28 July 1957, 3 more unweaned seals were brought in. For the umpteenth time, a different diet was put together. The 'Zoo' magazine of April 1958 explained this in detail: "... and we decided to feed the animals with the meat of whiting, ground into mush in a mixer. Over five feedings, three fish and 12 teaspoons of cod liver oil were administered daily; every two days a yolk of an egg and some milk were also mixed in."

It was eventually zookeeper Aimée Van der Venne who came up with an ingenious solution to administer this food. His invention, or rather inventions, were explained in detail in the 'Zoo' magazine of March 1958: "For the first few days, the whiting mash was poured into a funnel, which ended on a plastic intestine 1.5 cm in diameter. A stick was used to fill this intestine with food so that all the air was expelled from it. The intestine was then inserted into the oesophagus and the ration squeezed into the stomach. This cumbersome operation had to be performed 3 times 5 times a day and required two attendants at the same time. Mr. Van der Venne soon found this method too primitive. He modified a large syringe in such a way that it facilitated the work. The only thing that annoyed him was that a helper was always needed to hold the seals. So he decided to make his own wooden pump, with which he could feed all the animals in a few minutes without help. The quantities were measured with a cup."

After a few months, the seals started eating whiting and were placed in the basin where the flamingos were housed in summer. This basin/enclosure was located roughly where the giant sequoia forest is now located. 'Giant sequoia forest' will ring a bell with few, but possibly it will when I say that this is where the metre-high cross-section of the trunk of a giant sequoia is exhibited.

Caretaker Aimée Van der Venne was even honoured in 1975. The speech by Louis Diercxsens, chairman of the zoo's Board of Directors, read as follows: "Aimé Van der Venne is among our very best keepers. He not only has love for his animals, but also an eye for their behaviour, and it is difficult for me to mention the many constructive suggestions we owe him. I wish to underline the great merit he acquired in carrying out his work with the seals and seals."
This once again underlines how important his invention was...

Following on from the part of the text from the 1964 'Zoo' magazine that gives information about seal Bobbie, the next part (which we have actually already just discussed in part) of the 'story' about captured seals sums it up best. I quote: "Since then (since Bobbie's arrival ed.), many young seals have been brought to us, sometimes still in good condition, but mostly, however, as already exhausted howlers or unrecognisable wretches due to fuel oil residue. Thanks to the dedication of the carers, we managed to keep several alive and get them used to the diet of dead fish. However, these were always male animals, for which another home had to be found over time. Although numerous zoos abroad were keen to have the young seals, we did not get around to forming a breeding group in this way."

But eventually there was light at the end of the tunnel for the Zoo, as on 7 July 1953 a nursing female with young was brought in. The two animals, named Gid and Garleentje respectively, were brought in by three fishermen, who had caught the pair with great difficulty in Terneuzen (the Netherlands). The 'battle' with the heavy mother animal, who was also defending her young, lasted for 2 hours. After the two were reunited, the mother showed great calm and she soon felt at home in the seal pool of the Antwerp Zoo. The mother soon started eating from the fish and the cub started suckling and even gaining weight after a short time. However, this was short-lived; eventually neither mother nor cub survived the sudden transition. The final solution to the problem would not come until 1957.

In 1954, only 3 more seal pups were brought in. 2 of them were brought in by Mr. De Coninck from Deurne. The other young seal was brought to the Zoo by Mr. and Mrs. R. Jansens-Decoster from Vlissegem. Unfortunately, time was not on their side as there was no successful way to feed still lactating seals at that time, so they did not make it. A final solution did not come until 1957 (as already detailed in the text section following that of seal Bobbie).

The same thing was noticeable in 1955. At that time, a young seal was brought in by the shipping company 'Flandria', which provides round trips in and around Antwerp.

In 1957, another young individual was obtained. This time, however, it was finally of the female sex. It had been brought in in a perfectly healthy condition by the Van Cauwenbergh family, who had been caring for the animal since they took it in a few years earlier This animal has been briefly discussed before in the section of my post following the section on seal Bobbie. That section was about how they had invented a new feeding system. Just for clarity, here is the quote that mentions this: "On 21, 26 and 28 July 1957, 3 more unweaned seals were brought in". This animal, named Kaatje, was apparently the only one of these 3 young seals to make it. Kaatje was gentle and soon became good friends with the already present (and already mentioned) male Bobbie. However, that was (to much disappointment) the extent of it.

On 28 October 1961, a new female was brought in, called Okkie. She was an estimated 3 years old and stood out for her blue-grey colour with a beautiful, regular pattern. The three seals soon got along well, even when a fourth, this time a weaned pup, joined them. Unlike with Kaatje, the male Bobbie did take an interest in Okkie. So much so that Okkie was pregnant not much later. The birth took place on 16 June 1962, but the youngster unfortunately died.

The following year, however, it was a hit; on the night of 2 to 3 August 1963, Kaatje (mentioned here earlier) gave birth to a male pup, named Questo. It came as a gift from heaven, as people had already given up hope of having offspring for that year. Mother Kaatje showed herself to be an excellent mother, defending her pup vigorously from the other seals Bobbie and Okkie. On 13 September, the report stated that Kaatje was no longer caring for her cub, it was big enough to continue on its own (in the wild, the mother would have swam away). It was subsequently placed in a small pool a few days later. Initially, the special wooden pump for hand-rearing seals, an invention of zoo keeper Aimée Van der Venne, was used first. This pump was cited earlier in this post. Afterwards, Questo gradually transitioned to adult seal diet.

The next mention of a captured seal is among the acquisitions of 1976 in the mammals section, again in the magazine 'Zoo', which mentions that Mr. F. Van Gompel, a veterinarian from Blankenberge, had offered the zoo a young seal. The vet had taken care of the little animal himself because it had external injuries.

On 2 August 1986, another young seal was brought in. The animal was first spotted near the old Antwerp harbor docks. The seal had likely drifted towards Antwerp on the Scheldt River, possibly by ships. Staff of the Antwerp Zoo, together with the police, who deployed the police boat Argus, started a search. After 3 hours of searching, it appeared that the animal had ended up in the Albert Canal (Belgium's largest canal), where it was finally caught near the Wijnegem locks complex. The animal was emaciated and suffering from an eye problem. Despite proper care, the seal pup succumbed to pneumonia 2 weeks later.

But without any doubt the most extraordinary story comes from 1987. It was then that no harbour seal, as usual, was brought in, but a non-native species; a hooded seal. Nowadays, hooded seals aren't kept in any European zoo, and at that time there was probably no holder within Europe either. The story behind this seal goes as follows;
In February of the same year (1987), a seal was spotted far upstream the Scheldt River. From the Zoo it was advised to leave the animal alone, as it was hoped that it would reach the sea again via the Ghent-Terneuzen canal. Catching it would indeed be too risky. The animal could drown in a lock or be hit by a vessel. Moreover, a seal is difficult to overpower in the water, and it can also bite vigorously. However, the seal kept swimming more and more inland and was finally caught in Tournai on 12 March of the same year and picked up by staff from the Antwerp Zoo for further care for the animal. This was also necessary, as the animal suffered from severe abdominal cramps and such mucosal irritation that there were fears of permanent blindness. In fact, it was only at the Zoo itself that they realised they were dealing with an immature female hooded seal, a so-called 'blue-back'. It had been known for some time that it couldn't be a grey seal, but it was only during care that they noticed the skin above the snout moving up and down with each breath, a characteristic unique to the hooded seal.
The animal probably arrived in Belgian territory because of a fishing boat from which it escaped or was unloaded. After being cared for in the marine mammal quarantine for several days, the animal regained strength and miraculously healed. To reunite the animal with conspecifics as soon as possible, the zoo contacted the seal seal rehabilitation center in Pieterburen (Netherlands). At the time of writing the article in the April 1987 'Zoo' magazine, the female hooded seal still resided at the Antwerp Zoo. However, it is mentioned that the animal would be released by the seal rehabilitation center in Pieterburen as soon as the animal was sufficiently healthy and strengthened. On Zootierliste, this species is not linked to the Antwerp Zoo. Whether this temporary care behind the scenes actually counts as having kept the species is up for debate. But along the other side, the 'Seehundstation Nationalpark Haus' in Germany is also indicated as a former holder of this species, while it only temporarily took in a hooded seal. Of course, the difference with the Antwerp Zoo is that the German facility is a shelter for seals, but that doesn't really change the substance of the matter. Therefore, I ask for your opinion on whether or not the Antwerp Zoo should be linked to the hooded seal on the Zootierliste website. Please let me know so that I can link or not link Antwerp Zoo to this species. Thanks in advance...

 

[Valvas]

Interesting read. In the past, the zoo was one of the few places one could go to if a wild or exotic animal was found that had to be taken care of. Now there are other institutions with that purpose.

On Zootierliste, this species is not linked to the Antwerp Zoo. Whether this temporary care behind the scenes actually counts as having kept the species is up for debate. But along the other side, the 'Seehundstation Nationalpark Haus' in Germany is also indicated as a former holder of this species, while it only temporarily took in a hooded seal. Of course, the difference with the Antwerp Zoo is that the German facility is a shelter for seals, but that doesn't really change the substance of the matter. Therefore, I ask for your opinion on whether or not the Antwerp Zoo should be linked to the hooded seal on the Zootierliste website. Please let me know so that I can link or not link Antwerp Zoo to this species. Thanks in advance...

Any animal that has been kept at a zoo, even if it was only temporary and only kept behind the scenes, is enough to be mentionned on Zootierliste.

 

[Flo Horswell]

I wanted to make this because there is no tread about the history of the Antwerp Zoo yet. Every day I will try to add an interesting fact about the history of the Antwerp Zoo.

I'd like to thank you so much for starting this and all the contributors. I work in a gallery in London where we have sculptures from the Antwerp zoo resident artists - Bugatti, Collin especially.. we have always wanted to know the dates the animals arrived in the zoo, so that we can date some of our sculptures and also know that for example the Tapirs were Malayan. I only read English adn French so it is very hard for us to access the information, so thank you all so much!

 

[Tiger]

I'd like to thank you so much for starting this and all the contributors. I work in a gallery in London where we have sculptures from the Antwerp zoo resident artists - Bugatti, Collin especially.. we have always wanted to know the dates the animals arrived in the zoo, so that we can date some of our sculptures and also know that for example the Tapirs were Malayan. I only read English adn French so it is very hard for us to access the information, so thank you all so much!

Thanks for the kind words. It's very much appreciated. What an honour that I can even assist a gallery, especially one located all the way in London. If you or the gallery ever need further (more specific) help, please feel free to let me know (whether through a private message or not), I am always willing to help.