ZOO Antwerpen Zoo Antwerpen News 2025

KevinB

KevinB

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
This thread will contain all news from Zoo Antwerpen in 2025.

I will start off the thread with some updates from my visit yesterday.
  • Zoo Antwerpen now has bearded emperor tamarins again (they previously kept this species until 2016), in one of the former lemur exhibits in the small monkey house. I saw three individuals. Certainly a nice tamarin species to have back in Antwerp.
  • A net was hung dividing the hippo house aviary into two sections near where the lower part connects to the higher part. I saw none of the birds outdoors. There was no visible sign of them starting work on re-purposing the former hippo exhibit yet. The renovated viewing area on top of the hippo house seems to have been finished, but was closed yesterday.
  • There seemed to be some ongoing work in the currently unused ungulate stables in the Egyptian temple. There was a ladder (possibly for hanging flaps in the doorways to the outdoors) and what looked like the construction of a lower wooden frame, possibly for an animal bed. Perhaps they plan to use these stables again at some point? The first of these stables next to the entrance now has an opaque covering on the glass for the bottom 2 meters or so, perhaps to give animals a private space?
  • In the reptile house green flower beetles (Mecynorhina torquata) were signed for - and seen by me - in two terrariums: a terrarium in the nursery and in one of the terrariums in the 'venomous gallery', where they are mixed with emperor scorpions and mourning geckos. In 2024 I saw some of these beetles in one of the small circular invertebrate terrariums.
  • There was a transport crate in the Komodo dragon exhibit. No reason was indicated.
  • The oriental garden lizards have been moved to the mixed Asian terrarium opposite the turtle exhibit, where they are mixed with prehensile-tailed skinks, South-east Asian box turtles and Chinese water dragons. I also found one of them for the first time yesterday.
  • The terrarium opposite the Komodo dragons now houses cane toads, Guatemalan spiny-tailed iguanas and green basilisks alongside the remaining rhinoceros iguana.
  • In the winter garden of the reptile house I saw two star finches which were not (yet) signed. The red-billed Leiocichlas and Gouldian finches that were signed are also still present, I did not see the scaly-breasted munias also signed. They also keep this species in the Australian mixed aviary in the bird house, where they are also still present.
  • One of the African spurred tortoises in the winter garden of the reptile house was separated from the others, with a wooden board sectioning off a small part of their paddock. No reason was indicated.
  • One of the Wonga pigeons in the Australian indoor aviary in the bird house was on the nest.
  • One of the Rüppell's griffon vultures in the savanna aviary seemed to be collecting branches, so perhaps they will be trying to nest again.
  • There is no visible progress on the construction of the new jubilee complex, I really hope something will start to happen here soon.
Some pictures that go with this post will soon be added to the Zoo Antwerpen gallery.
 
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KevinB said:
  • A net was hung dividing the hippo house aviary into two sections near where the lower part connects to the higher part. I saw none of the birds outdoors. There was no visible sign of them starting work on re-purposing the former hippo exhibit yet. The renovated viewing area on top of the hippo house seems to have been finished, but was closed yesterday.
  • There seemed to be some ongoing work in the currently unused ungulate stables in the Egyptian temple. There was a ladder (possibly for hanging flaps in the doorways to the outdoors) and what looked like the construction of a lower wooden frame, possibly for an animal bed. Perhaps they plan to use these stables again at some point? The first of these stables next to the entrance now has an opaque covering on the glass for the bottom 2 meters or so, perhaps to give animals a private space?
Click to expand...
I visited a week ago. The hippo house aviary was already divided in two back then and the marabous and vultures seemed to be restricted to the lower part. The sacred ibises and comb ducks have been (temporarily?) transferred to the buffalo aviary.

In the former zebra stables in the Egyptian temple, there has been some occasional construction work going on at least since last winter, but there doesn't seem to be an urge to proceed very quickly. The stables have been empty for almost two years now, so it would be nice to see a new use for them. Perhaps the once-announced plans for ostriches are still in place, but for the long term?
 
Californian sea lion Kees will soon be euthanized at the age of 28 due to his medical situation (bone and joint cancer) no longer being able to be managed with pain medication. Their other remaining sea lion, Luna (15 years old) will move to another zoo (in France) soon to be integrated into a group. The current sea lion exhibit will house harbor seals again in the future. Visitors can come say goodbye to the sea lions in the coming days.

Source: Members website Mijn ZOO, Antwerpse Zoo neemt afscheid van zeeleeuwen: Kees krijgt euthanasie, Luna verhuist naar Frankrijk , https://www.gva.be/cnt/dmf20250123_93801061
 
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Very nice age for a sea lion. A hard, but good decision to let it go. A sick and old animal that can rest now and the other sea lion won’t be lonely.
 
Their enthusiastic personalities will be missed for sure. With the immediate announcement of the harbour seals, it does seem that they had been preplanning this.
 
Cheeorcox said:
Their enthusiastic personalities will be missed for sure. With the immediate announcement of the harbour seals, it does seem that they had been preplanning this.
Click to expand...

The original plan was for the sea lions to get a new exhibit in the jubilee complex renovation and for the harbor seals to return to their exhibit. Then the delays and changed plans for the jubilee complex happened, and the former sea otter exhibit and the pelican pond were not deemed suitable long-term for the harbor seals. A bit sad to see the sea lions go, but I will be happy to see the harbor seals return, as I remember them being in that exhibit since I was a kid in the 1990's.
 
I went to Zoo Antwerp today as a goodbye to Kees and Luna and here's what i saw:
  • The terrain of the Alpaca enclosure seems to be modified for another species (perhaps mara).
    Changes to the alpaca enclosure

    Changes to the alpaca enclosure

    Possible new animals (maras,…)
  • The reason for the addition of the African Comb Duck and African Sacred Ibis to the Buffalo aviary is because there is a large construction in the Hippo aviary, all the netting has been removed and it seems to get a massive overhaul.
This may not be very important information, but Inawi the Tree Kangaroo (Ape House) seems to be much more active these last few weeks compared to his behaviour during the last year.
 
Here are some updates from my visit:
  • The vulturine guineafowl were in the Black-casqued Hornbill. I didn't actually see the hornbills themselves in their enclosure so this might actually be a possible introduction.
  • The climbing frames for the chimpanzees seem to be progressing well.
  • The maras were still in their indoor quarters (on the right of the enclosure), so I did catch a glimpse of them when I visited the alpaca enclosure.
  • The Pelicans have taken residence in the former hippo enclosure, this might be permanent seeing as the signage has been added here and removed from their former enclosure.
(Ps: I have changed my name and profile picture)
 
Père Damian's Deer said:
Here are some updates from my visit:
  • The vulturine guineafowl were in the Black-casqued Hornbill. I didn't actually see the hornbills themselves in their enclosure so this might actually be a possible introduction.
  • The climbing frames for the chimpanzees seem to be progressing well.
  • The maras were still in their indoor quarters (on the right of the enclosure), so I did catch a glimpse of them when I visited the alpaca enclosure.
  • The Pelicans have taken residence in the former hippo enclosure, this might be permanent seeing as the signage has been added here and removed from their former enclosure.
(Ps: I have changed my name and profile picture)
Click to expand...
I thought Zoo Antwerpen was getting pygmy hippos for the space?
 
Some small things that I noticed today:
  • The grey-winged trumpeters are apparantly a new couple, so the former had been replaced.
  • 2 Okapis were together in one enclosure (male and female)
  • The Sign for the Green Oropendolas has been added
  • The Montezuma Quail sign has been removed in the Sun Parakeet aviary.
  • Young Malayan Tapir Zaki is also taking some very good swimming lessons. :D
 
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