Zoo Basel Zoo Basel News

beccasunbear said:
I don’t know why, but I had been under the impression there were three or so bears at Basel. I can’t wait to see her, anyway! I hope she is keeping well.
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Yes I remember, but that was ages ago when I was younger :) (I once helped working at the petting zoo. Me super naive taking a Pony for a walk and choosing to walk by the sunbear enclosure... The bears were very curious and Pony Malisha was very glad when I brought her back to her enclosure as quick as possible. I was in my early Teens back then. Luckily no one was harmed. But that was around '96/'97?).

Can't find much more at the moment - just this one here: Zoo Basel | Malaienbären in Europas Zoos

Ever since 2010 we only had Lotynka. If it wasn't for her Basel would not have Sunbears anymore.

It's a small enclosure she lives in - you can't miss it. I rarely see her outside when I pass by, but when I do she looks like she's doing well :-)
 
I really appreciate this information! I hope that I will be able to come to visit her in February, and I hope that she’ll be outside then.

I would dearly love to speak with Sabine Bresser some more, but we lost touch almost one year ago now. She has always had some very interesting information to hand regarding sun bears in European zoos.
 
African elephant "Malayka" has died aged 47, she was the oldest of the 5 elephants in Basel and had lived in Basel since 1984. She died on January 3rd when she collapsed multiple times and could not get up in the end, she was finally put down by the vet and her body was sent to the veterinary institute in Bern to determine the cause of death, though they suspect is was due to old age.

Elefantenkuh Malayka im Zoo Basel gestorben
 
Does Basel have rosy-faced lovebird?
Zootierliste says no, but I have them on my species viewing list from around 2 months ago, when I visited the Basel Zoo.
Anyone could tell me whose wrong between me and ZTL?
 
Rayane said:
Does Basel have rosy-faced lovebird?
Zootierliste says no, but I have them on my species viewing list from around 2 months ago, when I visited the Basel Zoo.
Anyone could tell me whose wrong between me and ZTL?
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They used to keep Rosy-faced lovebird. The sign at the enclosure is somewhat confusing, as Rosy-faced is still listed, but below the sign there is an orange "aktuell" sign which says the Rosy-faced have been replaced by Black-cheeked lovebirds (in 2014, so not really news anymore).
 
lintworm said:
They used to keep Rosy-faced lovebird. The sign at the enclosure is somewhat confusing, as Rosy-faced is still listed, but below the sign there is an orange "aktuell" sign which says the Rosy-faced have been replaced by Black-cheeked lovebirds (in 2014, so not really news anymore).
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You probably not just have to read the sign (Rußköpfchen = black cheeked lovebird aka Agapornis nigrigenis), but look at the birds in question too … helps a lot.
I remember black-cheekeds from last year.
 
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Oh yeah I must have read the sign and didn't really pay attention to the birds I saw, my bad.
Thank you guys.

Damn it was the first time I listed the species I saw in a zoo, I have a mangrove snake listed but it doesn't seem to be held at Basel by ZTL, what do you guys think?
 
There seems to have been a fourth birth in little over a year in the West-African chimpanzee group, the mother is the 9 year old female, so it will be her first birth. There is no sign up yet, but mother and young seem to be doing fine.

Basel has also announced what will be the next big project: the bird house.

The house will be completely renovated and the walk-through area will remain and for this area Tanagers, Euphonias and butterflies are mentioned. The Ibis aviary will house Budgerigar in the future. The row of outdoor aviaries should remain as well. Below the bird house the Pelican enclosure will be extended and a new enclosure for Small-clawed otter built. Depending on the finances opening is foreseen for 2021. So all in all it will likely be an improvement for the animals, but from a nerd point of view the species list is pretty disappointing, which unfortunately is quite typical for Swiss zoos.... Why Small-clawed otters which are already present in the zoo and not bring back the N-American otters for example....

Some artist impressions can be found here:
Zoo Basel: Um- und Neubau des Vogelhauses geplant
 
I assume visitor feeding will be possible in the upcoming budgie aviary? Otherwise, I honestly cannot see the idea in repurposing the aviary for a new, generic and non-endangered species when scarlet ibises (and little egrets, if these are also still in the aviary?) can easily be used for walkthrough aviaries. I realize that scarlet ibises are not exactly a rare species either, but at least they cannot be seen in any local pet shop.
 
I visited Zoo Basel again this weekend and there have been some interesting births.
"only" 22 Greater flamingoes were born this year (if I counted correctly). Additionally 3 Carmine bee-eater young fledged.
There have been multiple Geoffrey's spider monkey births, twin births for the Cotton-topped tamarin and most notable there has been another Orang utan birth. I
n the bird house there are multiple Honeycreeper nests in the free-flight section and the Paradise tanagers are raising a chick.
In the Vivarium multiple reptile enclosures are being renovated: Teju, egg-eating snake, Water dragon. There is still a lot of work to be done for the new King penguin enclosure and I doubt it will be finished in 3 months as originally planned.

It was also something of a goodbye visit, as I will be leaving Switzerland soon, after living there for 3.5 years. Though I still prefer Zurich, Basel is a very good zoo in its own way. The collection contains basically every animal, except tigers, that one would expect to see in a zoo and most enclosures are of high quality. What I have really started to like is that this is a zoo that is clearly built to let visitors observe animals. Most enclosures give good views of its inhabitants, without compromising exhibit quality and structure. This means that many enclosures look a bit minimalistic and especially in the primate house they look somewhat old fashioned. They are however perfect to observe the animals and especially the Chimpanzees and Orangutans are some of the most active and interesting to watch here, especially compared to other zoos. In an age of mock-rock this is a very interesting approach and there is a very clear zoo feeling. The zoo doesn't pretend that you travel the world, it is very much just a green oasis in a bustling city. Though it is maybe not the most interesting home zoo, as there is relatively little to explore (unlike my real home zoo Burgers' Zoo), the zoo has grown on me and I will certainly be back.
 
lintworm said:
This means that many enclosures look a bit minimalistic and especially in the primate house they look somewhat old fashioned.
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I can remember when the Primate House was brand new! So now over fifty years old. Originally it was designed with no outside enclosures at all, as the zoo had no space to build them. Later they added a small 'fresh air' outdoor cage for the gorillas and possibly others too?. Finally, and much more recently, I believe they demolished some other old(?) exhibits to make way for the new outdoor Ape enclosures and also extended the depth of one section of the gorilla indoor areas too.
 
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