I've visited Basel last Saturday, it's just an two hour drive by train from my home. They 've started recently the expansion of the giraffe enclosure, it will be nearly double in size after its completed next spring. Basel is keeping massai giraffes, but they lost the last male a few years ago , unfortuntely, Basel is the last european zoo with a group of massai giraffes, so they tried to get a new male from the usa, canada and japan, all three attempst were not succesful, so it looks very bad for the european population of massai giraffes...
The female okapi is pregnant, she will give birth next spring.
A few weeks ago, they have opened the new outdoor exhibits for indian rhinos, altough they are small, especially the bull enclosure, they are very good. The ground is now very soft, thats important for this species, because they all have enormous problems with the feet, because most zoos keeping them on to hard grounds indoors and outdoors. Basel changed that, and now, the feet of the rhinos become better and better. They have big outddor pools and they have new compaignons, asian small clawed otters and muntjaks.
I've posted some pictures in the gallery. The formely muntjak exhibit is now empty, I've heared , they will get great anteaters, I don't know, if this is true.
They are plans for outdoor exhibits for the apes, I think, it will be the next big projekt after the giraffe exhibit. And there are future plans for a new elephant house and outdoor exhibit. The 55 years old female is still alive.
Unfortunately, in july a wild fox killed the whole group of Kirk-Dik-Dik's. What i like at this zoo is, most animals, so the elephants, giraffes, zebras,hippos and even the okapis can use in summer the oudoor exhibit in the night also. A few german zoos keeping some hoofed animals and elephants in the nights outdoors in summer, too, but not okapis or giraffes, thats very amazing.
Basel is a great zoo, I enjoy every visit, altough at saturday it was raining the whole day...
