AquaZoo Leeuwarden Aqua zoo news

The zoo has applied for a building permit to build a tiger enclosure. If they get the permit, the plan is to build the new enclosure at the place where the Pelicans, Flamingos and Vicuñas now are.

Since today there is also a new species: the blue poison dart frog.

 

Polarbear Rocky from Monde Sauvage (Belgium) has arrived in AquaZOO to join the other male Felix. AquaZOO has now a bachelor group. In Monde Sauvage there are still two females, mother (Blanche) and daughter (Qanik).

 

New animal species at the zoo: the Majorcan midwife toad (Alytes muletensis).

 

A number of changes can be found on the updated adoption list of the "Stichting Wildlife". There are a number of animal species that have left the park, but also many species that have come to the park in the last few months. Not all animal species have already been confirmed by the zoo, but the adoption list of "Stichting Wildlife" is actually always accurate. (Stichting Wildlife is a foundation that is committed to various nature conservation projects. They are also active in the zoos of Libéma, including AquaZoo Leeuwarden. The volunteers of the foundation organize guided tours and supervise the walk-through stays. You can also adopt animals through the foundation.)

New animal species in the zoo (some have been mentioned before):
- African killifish (Nothobranchiidae)
- Baer's pochard (Aythya baeri)
- Majorcan midwife toad (Alytes muletensis)
- Blue poison dart frog (Dendrobates tinctorius "azureus")
- European flounder (Platichthys flesus)
- Spotted ray (Raja montagui)
- Greater pipefish (Syngnathus acus)
- Small-spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula)
- Portuguese fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra gallaica)
- European eelpout (Zoarces viviparus)
- European plaice (Pleuronectes platessa)
- Shore crab (Carcinus maenas)
- Common sole (Solea solea)
- Fivebeard rockling (Ciliata mustela)
- Shorthorn sculpin (Myoxocephalus scorpius)

Animal species that left the zoo:
- Barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis)
- Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae)
- Cardinal tetra (Paracheirodon axelrodi)
- Red-crested pochard (Netta rufina)
- Cotton-top tamarin (Saguinus oedipus)
- Common pochard (Aythya ferina)
- California sea lion (Zalophus californianus)

 

A second Linnaeus's two-toed sloth has arrived at the zoo. It is the three-year-old male Silio. He joins the one-year-old female sloth Viana. Silio comes from Papiliorama - Kerzers.

 

Spring is in the air! Recently two swamp wallaby's, two African penguins and a tammar wallaby were born. AquaZoo is the ESB coordinator for the swamp wallaby's so it's extra nice to have young there. The young tammar wallaby is currently the only young from this species in an European zoo.

Source: Facebook

 

Yesterday I was finally back in AquaZoo Leeuwarden after 5 months of closure. There have been a number of changes in that time.

- The hut near the polar bears has been removed. New education boards have been placed instead.


- Because of the bird flu measures there are still a number of bird species in a different place. The black swans and common shelducks are still in the ibis aviary, the red-crowned cranes are still with the European eagle owls and the Black-necked swans are still in the pelican aviary.
- Two male azara's agouti's born in the zoo will be introduced at the enclosure of the Tapirs and Capybaras.
- Several bridges in the zoo were given new handrails.

- The emus have exchanged enclosures with the Vicuñas and Greater rhea's.
- The new Baer's pochards are in the pelican aviary.
- Unfortunately, two female South American fur seals died during the closure. This means that the zoo now has 3 (1,2) left.

 

Have these been born this year at the zoo?
I just came across a message on the zoo's instagram, which stated that last week 2 azara's agouti's were born.

Source:
Instagram of AquaZoo Leeuwarden (20/05/2021) https://www.instagram.com/p/CPFsYVgi9AD/

 

Where can I find I picture of the hut near the polar bears?

 

No, these two were born earlier, probably last year or the year before.

I don't think you could find any. I have already looked here in the gallery and there is no picture of it. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of it either.

It was a fairly simple wooden hut. Themed with some fishing nets. From the hut you could look through a couple of peepholes into the enclosure of the polar bears. The wall these new board are on was the backwall of the hut.

 

Recently 3 Little egrets (Egretta garzetta garzetta) hatched.

Source:
Instagram of AquaZoo Leeuwarden (01/06/2021) https://www.instagram.com/p/CPljra6rvno/

 

Yesterday, on the 5th of June, the indoor areas of the zoos in the Netherlands were allowed to open again. In AquaZoo, a lot has changed in these indoor areas during the lockdown.

Firstly, the 'Vissengrot' (fish cave) has been renovated into a new area with seven aquariums and terrariums for different animal species.


- The first is a terrarium for Blue Poison Dart Frogs (Dendrobates tinctorius 'azureus') and Golden Poison Frogs (Phyllobates terribilis).
- The second is a terrarium for Majorcan midwife toads (Alytes muletensis).
- The third is an aquarium for Blue gularis (Fundulopanchax sjoestedti), they are together with a species of Otocinclus, ID anyone?

- The fourth is an aquarium/terrarium that alternates between growing young of the species in this room.
- The fifth is a paludarium for Blue vampire crabs (Geosesarma dennerle) housed together with Yellow Shrimp (Neocaridina heteropoda 'yellow').
- The sixth is a terrarium for Portuguese fire salamanders (Salamandra salamandra gallaica).
- The seventh is an aquarium for axolotls (Ambystoma mexicanum).

I added photo's of the terrariums/aquariums to the gallery.

- The indoor Giant Otter enclosure has also been refurbished. The plants were removed, because the otters had already demolished them. A mural has also been painted.


- The new North Sea aquarium was not accessible yet, because work still had to be done there to finish it all off. But from inside, you already had a good view of it. There are two aquariums in this room. The smallest one is an tidal aquarium that holds European shore crab (Carcinus maenas), Blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) and Common periwinkle (Littorina littorea). The large aquarium holds Small-spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula), Spotted ray (Raja montagui), European eelpout (Zoarces viviparus), Greater pipefish (Syngnathus acus), Fivebeard rockling (Ciliata mustela), Shorthorn sculpin (Myoxocephalus scorpius), European plaice (Pleuronectes platessa), Common sole (Solea solea) and European flounder (Platichthys flesus). In this room, there will be more education about the North Sea and the Wadden Sea.


A few other news items:

- There are new signs for the animals.


- The Ibis aviary has a new species: North American wood duck (Aix sponsa).

- The Golden pheasants have young, I counted seven.

- Two of the three young wallabies have left the pouch.

- A wild pair of Black-crowned night herons (Nycticorax nycticorax) made a nest this spring on top of the Pelican aviary (which also houses Black crowned night herons). Yesterday I saw for the first time that they also have a young.

 

What did the fish cave used to keep before the renovation?

 

The following species were kept in a number of different aquariums:
Cardinal tetra (Paracheirodon axelrodi)
Axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum)
Red cherry shrimp (Neocaridina davidi)
Blue streak hap (Labidochromis caeruleus)
Kenyi cichlid (Metriaclima lombardoi)

The technical condition of the room was no longer good and also no longer matched the current standard. So it was decided to demolish the cave and set up a completely new space for new species.

 

Interesting, I thought the species was quite rare in the wild in the Netherlands and on the northerly reaches of its distribution. The major breeding colonies are in N and SE Italia. Historically, it was a bird associated with wetlands and riverine habitat. Our local bird conservation society claims that most wild birds are escapees from the zoo world (Amsterdam - Artis and Rotterdam - Blijdorp zoos a.o.). I keep an open mind to anyone wishing to comment further.

 

The only thing i know is that AquaZoo don't miss any of their night herons and that the pair that nests there don't wear a ring. They have been spotted in the area a couple of years now.

 

The parents of the newborn are a wild individual + an escaped individual

 

Some things I saw on my visit last Monday:

- The Wood ducks are now housed with the North American beavers.
- The white-naped cranes are sitting on eggs.
- A harbour seal was born recently. I saw him/her together with the mother.

 

Would be nicer to exchange American beaver for Eurasian C. Fiber. Fits conservation success and rewilding for otters and beavers (Oder sourced Eurasians) for Friesland, Groningen and Drente-Gelderland axis.

 

Totally agree. The EAZA would also like to see that. They support listing the North American species on the Invasive Alien Species list of the EU.