Parque de la Naturaleza de Cabarceno Parque de la naturaleza de Cabarceno

New species:
- Cabárceno has welcomed three new viper species to its collection; two young Mangshan pitvipers (Protobothrops mangshanensis) have arrived at the park from Zoo Zagreb as part of the species' EEP. The park has also welcomed a pair of Mangrove pitvipers (Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus) and an individual of Wetar Island tree viper (Trimeresurus insularis) from Faunia. These vipers will be housed alongside the park's other snakes at the reptile house.

Cabárceno incorpora a su colección una de las especies más venenosas del planeta que está en peligro de extinción
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News:
Array of news since the first of May.
- Two European lowland bison (Bison bonasus bonasus) calves have been born at the park!
- Two Common eland (Tragelaphus oryx) calves have been born as well, a common occurrence at the park.
- The second Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus) calf of the year has also been born!
- The European brown bear (Ursus arctos arctos) cubs have started to emerge in the exhibit, with no estimated count of individuals yet.
- In some especially exciting news, the park's second Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer caffer) calf was born yesterday!
- The lone Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) that lived alongside the wallabies is now accompanied by four more individuals.
- The park now houses Grant's zebras (Equus quagga boehmi), the park's former herd of common zebras has been slowly phased out since 2022 to make way to the current breeding herd. Until very recently the herd only consisted of six individuals, but in the last few weeks five more individuals have been introduced to the herd and the park's current population consists of eleven individuals, with a few foals expected to be born soon.
- There doesn't seem to be construction being done in the area that will house african wild dogs in a future nor indication of when the spotted hyenas are meant to move to their new exhibit. The lynx exhibit renovations seem to be finished but there is still scaffolding in the enclosure.
- The new signae that the park started to install a few years ago has already been implemented to most main exhibits at the park, only missing the gaurs, bactrian camels, Grevy's zebras, and spotted hyenas.
 
New individual:
- Cabárceno has welcomed Napoleón, an 18-year-old male Western pygmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis liberiensis) coming from Zoo Basel in the hopes of breeding this species at the park as part of the EEP.
At Basel, the departure of Napoleon has made way for Ume, the 27-year-old male pygmy hippo that has lived at Cabárceno for the longest time. Interestingly, Ume was born in Basel.
Napoleón was born at Vincennes in 2007 and has fathered six hippos. He arrived to the park in August and has been successfully introduced to the park's two females, and hopefully, his role as a breeding male will continue.

El Parque de la Naturaleza de Cabárceno y el Zoo de Basilea intercambian sus ejemplares macho de hipopótamo pigmeo
 
News:
- Two more Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer caffer) calves have been born at the park; the herd is now up to nine individuals! And another female seems to be ready to give birth soon or later, so the herd might end up with ten buffalo.
- A Common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) has been born, the first of the year, following the three calves born the last two years. The herd now consists of ten individuals.
- A Gemsbok (Oryx gazella) calf was born very recently, offspring of the only pair at the park.
- Seven Kafue flats lechwe (Kobus leche kafuensis) calves have also been born.
- The third European lowland bison (Bison bonasus bonasus) of the year has been born.
- There is also a new species being flown on the birds-of-prey show; the park now houses a Turkey vulture (Cathartes aura).
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This is more of a question than news; there seems to be a new member on the Indian gaur (Bos gaurus gaurus) herd. This young-looking individual I was able to photograph back in June of this year. The day I took this picture, it was separated from the rest of the herd on their stable's hardstand. When I showed this photograph to a regular visitor, they told me that it must be a new animal brought from another park since it looks significantly younger than the other five gaurs living at Cabárceno at the moment. That same visitor went to the park yesterday and saw the regular herd outside and heard movement within the stable, despite not seeing the new gaur. Since the park hasn't made any announcements about this new incorporation, I would like to expand the question to ZooChat: does anyone know of any gaurs that have been sent to the park from any other zoo?
 
News:
- Míchel Valdés, the new director of the park, has spoken about some of the new things the park will obtain in 2025. Alongside the incorporation of an alpine slide by the reptile house and the incorporation of more sustainable transportation devices, it has been mentioned that the work plan to renovate the elephant facilities is "quite" advanced and they are waiting for permits to begin work on the renovation of the facilities, which is expected to start between the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. The new facilities will include a larger stable, improvements in rest spaces, and a design that further simulates its natural habitat, favoring its reproduction and quality of life.
The park will also apparently acquire several Asian snakes (species not determined), some of which come from within EEPs. The arrival of a pack of African wild dogs has also been mentioned again as something that will happen this year, the post mentions that they will be housed in their "former enclosure" but the original plans described they'd be housed elsewhere.
El director de Cabárceno dice que el tobogán alpino está en trámites burocráticos y que se cumplirán los plazos
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Not mentioned in the news, but the renovations of the lynx enclosure are very advanced so we might see new animals housed in it soon or later.
The tourism department of the Cantabrian government has revealed the economic investments the region will undergo in the coming year 2026, with more than half of the whole budget being destined to Parque de la Naturaleza de Cabárceno.
12.3 million euros will be destined for the renovations of the elephant facilities (a model of which will be unveiled next month). Read the post I am quoting; you might see that, according to last year's plans, construction on the new barn and additional facilities should have started already. Let's hope that 2026 finally lets reconstructions begin.
Other than that, 4 million euros will be utilized for stable renovations for hippos, dromedaries, and Bactrian camels, as well as the construction of the African wild dog exhibit (another development expected for this year). Improvements to the bear enclosure are also mentioned to be included in this budget. The investment in the 'alpine coaster' that was also expected for this year will cost 2,4 million euros.
Turismo destinará 21,4 millones en 2026 a inversiones de Cantur, más de la mitad para Cabárceno
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If you have noticed anything in this thread, not many of the developments expected for 2025 have taken place (the arrival of the asian vipers was the only announced development that actually happened). Hopefully, 2026 will be smoother. The elephant stable renovations might be my most anticipated development for the park, I really hope they start and finish as soon as possible.
 
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