There has not been information on the new inhabitants yet. I saw this weekend that they are replacing the old seal education with images of the penguins that are kept in the Vriesland exhibit, but I have no idea whether that means anything in regards to the old sea otter/seal pool itself.I saw a photo that they are working on the old sea otter enclosure, they're faster then in Rotterdam with it. Any news on which species it might be?
ZOO Antwerpen Zoo Antwerpen news 2023
- Thread starter KevinB
- Start date
At Zoo Antwerpen, 20-year-old silverback gorilla Matadi died unexpectedly yesterday of a double severe viral and bacterial respiratory infection (COVID-19 and Bordetella).
The male gorilla had not been feeling well for some time. Like the females of the gorilla group, he was suffering from a cold. He was sniffling, coughing frequently and short of breath. Veterinarian and caretakers monitored his condition closely. The ladies soon recovered, but in Matadi's case, the symptoms persisted. He felt weak and did not eat. Therefore, the vet started treating him.
Nevertheless, Matadi's health suddenly deteriorated rapidly. Heart massage and several resuscitation attempts unfortunately could not normalise the heart rate.
Source: Facebook ZOO Antwerpen
The male gorilla had not been feeling well for some time. Like the females of the gorilla group, he was suffering from a cold. He was sniffling, coughing frequently and short of breath. Veterinarian and caretakers monitored his condition closely. The ladies soon recovered, but in Matadi's case, the symptoms persisted. He felt weak and did not eat. Therefore, the vet started treating him.
Nevertheless, Matadi's health suddenly deteriorated rapidly. Heart massage and several resuscitation attempts unfortunately could not normalise the heart rate.
Source: Facebook ZOO Antwerpen
So some small news of today.
Ring tailed lemur Dairana has left yesterday for ZooParc Vallée de la Sûre to join 2 other lemurs. The arrival went well. So Antwerp has no more Ring tailed lemurs.
Zaire the Okapi is probably pregnant from Ubundu. Lindi is at Beekse Bergen having a vacation, she will probably return soon once pregnant. Kisala and Xandor will probably move to somewhere in Asia (not certain yet). Xambo's surgery results are to soon to tell if the treatment actually worked, it seems optimistic. If the treatment wasn't enough, the surgery can be repeated. They think the problem of the muscles being a bit to long around the knee are not a genetic issue but individual variation or bad luck.
The Markhor mix is going well their are talks of a 4th joining perhaps.
They're looking for a female Hooded vulture.
I did not see the birth but I can confirm it happened since I saw the young and keepers clean afterbirth or baby goo or whatever from the Dik Dik's.
The pictures I uploaded are of the future tree kangaroo exhibit that isn't fully finished. The largest room does seem nearly finished. The changes to the Gorilla enclosure as well as them canceling the keeper talk, due to Matadis death. They also moved the gorillas into the right chimp terras as they say in addition to their own terras. They planned to build today, but this has been postponed, instead they deeply cleansed and disinfected the exhibits. The group seemed to be lost looking for stability, it's sad that the changing of one enclosure what was exiting was barely enjoyed. I also heard that my previous statement about Amahoro's hunting behavior and breaking of the back of a Owl faced monkey was not true. The introduction in the past got canceled due to the silverback (Kumba) grabbing and tugging on a tail as well as them not having the facilities (no separate room for the monkey's etc) was the reason it got canceled so I'm more hopeful, and can actually see the mix work. The move has been postponed due to Matadi's death.
Matadi's body will be used in a study by the university of Utrecht on arm muscles I don't know the exact project.
Even though Matadi wasn't my favorite gorilla (killing Kiki and a brawl in England) I do miss him, he was a good dad. And he was really nice to the vet trying to hand him the dart he used to sedate him, actually going to him for help, he will be missed. He also leaves a hole in the breeding program not having a male offspring in his paternal lineage.
I also added a picture of the empty seal (old sea otter) enclosure it seems the next inhabitants will be ducks and fish.
I think that's all.
Ring tailed lemur Dairana has left yesterday for ZooParc Vallée de la Sûre to join 2 other lemurs. The arrival went well. So Antwerp has no more Ring tailed lemurs.
Zaire the Okapi is probably pregnant from Ubundu. Lindi is at Beekse Bergen having a vacation, she will probably return soon once pregnant. Kisala and Xandor will probably move to somewhere in Asia (not certain yet). Xambo's surgery results are to soon to tell if the treatment actually worked, it seems optimistic. If the treatment wasn't enough, the surgery can be repeated. They think the problem of the muscles being a bit to long around the knee are not a genetic issue but individual variation or bad luck.
The Markhor mix is going well their are talks of a 4th joining perhaps.
They're looking for a female Hooded vulture.
I did not see the birth but I can confirm it happened since I saw the young and keepers clean afterbirth or baby goo or whatever from the Dik Dik's.
The pictures I uploaded are of the future tree kangaroo exhibit that isn't fully finished. The largest room does seem nearly finished. The changes to the Gorilla enclosure as well as them canceling the keeper talk, due to Matadis death. They also moved the gorillas into the right chimp terras as they say in addition to their own terras. They planned to build today, but this has been postponed, instead they deeply cleansed and disinfected the exhibits. The group seemed to be lost looking for stability, it's sad that the changing of one enclosure what was exiting was barely enjoyed. I also heard that my previous statement about Amahoro's hunting behavior and breaking of the back of a Owl faced monkey was not true. The introduction in the past got canceled due to the silverback (Kumba) grabbing and tugging on a tail as well as them not having the facilities (no separate room for the monkey's etc) was the reason it got canceled so I'm more hopeful, and can actually see the mix work. The move has been postponed due to Matadi's death.
Matadi's body will be used in a study by the university of Utrecht on arm muscles I don't know the exact project.
Even though Matadi wasn't my favorite gorilla (killing Kiki and a brawl in England) I do miss him, he was a good dad. And he was really nice to the vet trying to hand him the dart he used to sedate him, actually going to him for help, he will be missed. He also leaves a hole in the breeding program not having a male offspring in his paternal lineage.
I also added a picture of the empty seal (old sea otter) enclosure it seems the next inhabitants will be ducks and fish.
I think that's all.
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Given the type of exhibit, I hope were are talking about sea ducks or at least diving ducks for that exhibit?
They are. I think it's sea ducks.
I would not blame Matadi too much for Kiki's death. At the time he was a young inexperienced male who had moved homes twice in recent months. It was probably only natural for him to act aggressively to strange females while Kiki was already in poor health and prone to fits. I believe it was her fitting, consequently unfamiliar behaviour for him, that caused him to attack her in the first instance? His stay at Howletts prior to his move to Antwerp was also very short. They said they couldn't manage him. Whether he was aggressive to his new female partners I don't know but being placed in a new situation with another angry silverback in full view just a few yards away could well have been a factor. Prior to Matadi the silverbacks of the two adjacent groups had known each other over a long time. Howletts had never brought in a new male from another zoo like that before so maybe weren't expecting trouble. Suddenly Djanghou had a new' rival' neighbour(Matadi) and he would have gone ballistic I don't doubt. Possibly Matadi reacted likewise. Howletts have since screened those two adjacent enclosures so the males cannot see each other any more. I suspect that was done before the next replacement male Sammi arrived from Denmark. So there was calmer behaviour with him. Matadi also then settled down in Antwerp to prove he was indeed just a normal male. I think having no male offspring is not too important given he has at least his two female offspring.
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I don't blame Matadi for what happened. Kiki had epilepsy(her health was quite alright with the medication she took) and she had a seizure(rare at that point) near the half-open barrier. Matadi's behavior is perfectly understandable. He was just a complicated gorilla, it turns out that him being gone leads to me missing him more then expected. He certainly was a good dad and leader. And the no male offspring is not terribly problematic but does reduce gene retention as a Y-chromosome at least disappears.
You might be interested to hear of an earlier event in Matadi's life that was pretty traumatic for him too, though only in the short term I guess. At Twycross when his father Sekondi died, Matadi was still a juvenile around five or six years old, living in the group. They then brought in new silverback Oumbi from Port Lympne where he'd been a long term resident in one of the male groups. He was pretty confused and aggressive to start with and rough with the other group members. EEP advised them to leave Matadi with him though but Oumbi then attacked him and bit him badly, opening up a nasty long gash on his rump. (I'm sure he carried the scar on his skin till his death). Matadi was understandably then really frightened of Oumbie. So they removed him and placed him with his grandmother Biddy until he was transferred to Paignton's male group. There he appeared rather sullen and withdrawn but he was the only mother-raised gorilla among several handraised ones so was bound to show different behaviours. Just a bit of his earlier history for you.
The works haven't actively started, however the planning is done. Problem is funding, the cost has increased by double or triple since covid. So they already turned in their permits but not everything that has been approved will be build all at once the jellyfish breeding and so on is postponed to my knowledge.
Thanks - is there a link to the proposals available anywhere?
Earlier in the thread around page 2.
Do you know the destination in Asia for okapi's Xandor and Kisala?
Not yet, these are rumors and are not fixed yet. If it's solid I'll share more or someone else or official signals will come.
Unfortunately it has since been posted in that same group that the Kirk's dik-dik calf didn't make it.
Gorilla Mambele is still not doing great and still being treated with antibiotics for the airway infections that sadly killed Matadi.
In better news, recently a spider monkey was born to female Zuma.
They were working at the zoo today. I don't know much this time I just walked through.
But the monkey house was sectioned off and they were working with a crane or like a lift thingy. The mandrill outside enclosure was empty (climbing structure was gone). They were working at the path outside the great ape house leading to the elephant paddock. That's about all I saw, maybe more next week.
But the monkey house was sectioned off and they were working with a crane or like a lift thingy. The mandrill outside enclosure was empty (climbing structure was gone). They were working at the path outside the great ape house leading to the elephant paddock. That's about all I saw, maybe more next week.