Berlin Tierpark Tierpark Berlin News 2019

markmeier

markmeier

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10+ year member
Never in recent history has Tierpark Berlin started a year in a state of so much hope and anticipation as in 2019. Or so I would assume.

The polar bear cub is doing well and striving. In fact, only recently it opened its eyes and started walking:
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Copyright Tierpark Berlin

Yesterday, the completed monkey building has been presented. Not only did it receive a new interior and exterior design. An inreractive and cross-medial exhibit on species conservation has been installed as well as some glass boxes featuring endangered amphibians. Radiate turtles now live together with lemures. Some weeks ago, news broke that Tierpark Berlin is to receive Coquerel's sifakas along with zoos in Cologne and Apenheul.

Some details from the monkey building:
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Copyright Tierpark Berlin

More pictures can be found here: Affengeil | LiMa+
A short video:

Andreas Knieriem, head of both Tierpark Berlin and Zoo Berlin, also informed the public that 2019 will see the completion of refurbishing works at both the main administration building and the Brehm building. The latter is to reopen in autumn/ fall (the sun bear enclosure already is due in summer). A small reminder: This is what is to be expected:
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Copyright Tierpark Berlin

Knieriem also announced that works on the future Africa building (present pachydermy building), Himalaya area (present Asian and European mountain exhibits) and remodelling of penguin, vulture and cheetah exhibits all should start before the end of this year. Probably the same should apply for the new lion exhibit which is to be completed in 2020 (Africa building and Himalaya are scheduled to open in 2021).

Last but not least, a quite trustworthy statement by a polititian announced that Tierpark Berlin can invest round about 100 million Euro up until 2030. This is about twice the amount of funds officially secured so far.

Now my big hope is that all of this will actually come true.
 
@kiang: Then rumors have proven true. That's quite interesting. So additional 1,1 red pandas are to arrive in March. This comes along severel parallel developments:
-Only recently, Tierpark sent its well breeding Sumatran sambars to Bekesbourne (Howletts Wild Animal Park), causing some disappointment among enthusiasts for rarely kept species. Disappointment turned to confusion, as a small sign at the vacant enclosure announced the arrival of new Sambars from an Indian subspecies. Why suddenly change subspecies after years?
-Another recent (and unexpected) move was an internal relocation of animals: Canadian sandhill cranes left the former wolverine enclosure in the mountain area of Tierpark Berlin to make space for some dholes. Until then, dholes have been and still are kept near other wild dogs.

What do all of these three species (red pandas, Indian sambars, dholes) have in common? They live high up in the Asian mountains. So it seems like some preparations for Tierpark's huge Himalaya area are in progress.
 
Some updates:

Himalaya:
-Apparently, the dholes only were moved temporarily to fend off aggression between some of the dogs.
-As to the sambars there also isn't any official statements whether they may be moved to the Himalaya area. They are not on the earlier species list for the area.
So basically we need to wait and see.

In the meantime, there is an update of construction work in the Brehm building:
 
Some more visual updates:

Tierpark's polar bear cub seems to be the only one in Germany this year. It seems to be doing really well. I very much like this footage:

There also is another video of the remodelled monkey building. Unfortunately winter time doesn't give the best impression of what it will look like during main season:

Speaking about winter season: Many animals spend a lot of time inside at the moment. Here's an example on how zoo keepers try to still keep them busy (not that spectacular but still interesting):

Something else: Tierpark's last civet died. According to zootierliste.de it was EAZA's last Viverra tangalunga.
 
Some recent updates:

The polar bear cub is still doing well:

The Sun Bear enclosure is taking shape:

According to a user from Zoofreundeforum, other parts of the Brehm building also visibly progress now. There is some digging going on in the area of the future enclosures for Javanese leopards. The tropical hall seems to receive its water pools and a lot of plants have been placed around it ready to be planted.

In the future Himalaya area a lot of trees have been cut (not every one is happy about this, though).

In at least one of the zebra enclosures, measures have been taken. It seems like detailled planning for the huge savannah enclosure has begun.
 
Tierpark Berlin is still experiencing eventful days. The little polar bear cub keeps her mother rather busy.

Looks like she's quite a hand/ paw full. Yes, it's a she. The medical confirmed what rumors had already told. With the sex being clear, Tierpark now is receiving offers from potential sponsors. The combination "Berlin plus cute polar bear" still works. One of the most interesting offers actually comes from Berlin's major football/ soccer club:

And to top it off by some random event, two monkeys just escaped their fancy remodelled enclosure, left Tierpark Berlin and one even climbed up the walls of a nearby college. When police forces showed up, said monkeys simply left the scene and willingly returned to the Tierpark. This adventure apparently was enough for one day without being chased through the city. Here's some pictures and a video of this spectacular enrichment:
Zwei Äffchen aus Berliner Tierpark ausgebüchst

I'm rather curious what's going to happen next...
 
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Monkey's Diary - Day II:
I was mistaken. Our two little monkeys are still on the run. Apparently all efforts were in vain. Still worse, no one really knows where they are. Tierpark Berlin alone has some 13,000 trees and many locations to hide. As far as I know, capuchins are rather brainy as well. And the two partners in crime have shown they easily can get in and out of the park. So it could be a tough challenge. Hopefully this adventure will find some happy ending.

By the way: The bizarre pictures and videos with monkeys climbing on city buildings strongly reminded me of the movie "twelve monkeys".
 
Both monkeys are back and safe. One got caught Saturday inside Tierpark, the other one only some hours ago quite a distance away at S-Bahn (inner city train) station Biesdorf.
 
I've heard that 3 asian elephants from Tierpark Berlin are expected being sent to Zoo Karlsruhe in southern germany this year. Can someone confirm this rumor ? Zoo Karlsruhe plans to enlarge the elephant outdoor exhibit until the easter period and holds only 2 elderly female elephants at the moment.
 
Times still are eventful, including both joyful and sad episodes.

Only now I read that the blue-eyed black lemurs experienced two deaths in a row. Apparently both the first male and its successor died. It also seems like there is no clear cause. To be safe, staff has replaced all ground substrate. Let's hope for the best.

In the meantime, our still nameless little polar bear cub is prospering - well getting on its mother's nerves:

As the little fellow keeps getting more agile, Tierpark announced first outdoor adventures to start this coming Saturday. Next week, a sponsor and possibly a name will be presented. This is quite a big issue, as Bearlin is rather crazy about polar bear cubs.

So Tierpark could experience even more busy times in the very near future, particularly as Spring weather slowly returns now.

Having said so, other fluffy fellows may just enjoy their peace and quiet, as every one is going to look out for the polar bears:
 
It's time for an update. There is quite a lot to say, really. But I'll try and keep it short.

Some weeks ago the polar bear cub finally received a name:

So HERTHA it is. As Berlin is Berlin, there has been heated(!) debates, whether a popular zoo animal in the eastern part (with its own sports clubs full of GDR heritage) should share the name of a football club located in the western part of the city. Or whether commercial agendas behind naming should be banned in the first place. But Hertha indeed is a somewhat old-fashioned yet regular German name just as with Edgar the elephant, rhino Karl, Sumatra tiger Oscar or a spectacled bear called Hans etc.

In the meantime, little Hertha (assisted by very nice spring weather and Easter holidays) draws crowds of visitors anyways. There even is security and a food stand at the enclosure, while a second daily keeper's talk needed to be added (11 AM and 2 PM) to split up the masses. Some speak of Knut reloaded/ Knut 2.0, but it is not quite on the same scale. Still, it will help Tierpark a lot.

Unfortunately, there is bad news as well. The Brehm building will remain a building site until spring 2020. Apparently, there have been new (fire) safety regulations which need to be incorporated. Nevertheless, the larger new outdoor exhibits begin to take shape. Perhaps the outdoor area or parts of it will be presented before the full opening.

There is also new details about the African area of the park. Apparently, the present pachydermy building is not going to become an Africa building, but a building exclusively for African elephants: a large group of breeding females AND a group of male elephants. The entire roof structure including the columns is going to be replaced. The new columns allow the animals to walk in the present visitors area and the new roof windows allow for the sunlight to pass less filtered. In addition, there is going to be a separate building for African rhinos. So far, there aren't any details (location, design, costs...).
 
I'm curious to see what the Himalayas,and the savannah, will look like, but I like to see a large Arctic area, like the one at Assiniboine Park Zoo.
 
Even though the bird department has suffered greatly under the current management, the mammal department continues to invest in an interesting collection. The newest addition are 1.1 White-bearded masked palm civets (Paguma larvata leucomystax)
 
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