AquaZoo Leeuwarden Aqua zoo news

In AquaZoo Leeuwarden, work has started on a new beaver and raccoon enclosure. Both species currently already live in AquaZoo. This enclosure will come on the spot where pygmy goats, among others, used to live. The enclosure is expected to be ready next spring. The pygmy goats have been moved to a petting zoo.

Source: Nieuw bever- en wasberen verblijf in AquaZoo

 

Some news from AquaZoo from my latest visits:

- Two new fish species have been added to the seahorses' aquarium. They are a bristle-tail filefish and a canary wrasse. It now also contains a number of starfish.

- The pygmy goats and guinea pigs have moved to a nearby petting zoo. The golden pheasants and Java sparrows have moved to another zoo, Dierenrijk. The birds from the ibis aviary are behind the scenes, waiting to be moved to other zoos.

The petting zoo and both aviaries have now been demolished. Work is now underway here on new enclosures for the raccoons and beavers, which are expected to be ready next spring.



- On the capuchin monkey island, the trees have all been removed. The monkeys have demolished these in recent years, causing the trees to die. Now new climbing structures have been installed on the island.



- The new education point on the lemur island has now been completed. The island will also feature new climbing structures.



- Unfortunately, the female of the small-clawed otter family in the red panda enclosure has died. The couple had their first young this year.

- The two amur tigers have now been successfully introduced to eachother. For several weeks now, they have always been together, except during feeding times. There have also been several matings. The zoo hopes that cubs will be born next year.

 

- The opening of the wadden aquarium and the tidal aquarium has been moved to mid-2023.

- The new raccoon and beaver enclosures will also open in mid-2023. Together with the excisting polar bear enclosure, they will form a new area. What this area is based on has now also been announced. It will be a Colville area, whose name refers to the big river in Alaska. This area will focus on North American animals and planting. For the planting, AquaZoo is looking for Christmas trees to be planted here. People can hand in their Christmas tree with root ball on 2 January. For this, they will receive a free ticket to the park.

 

They might as well remove it from the map, and only add it back when they actually plan on opening it

 

AquaZoo has received a Linnaeus's two-toed sloth from Apenheul. Which means there are now two sloths living at AquaZoo again, they already had a male. What the sex of this sloth is is not mentioned.

Source: Facebook AquaZoo Leeuwarden

 

About 250 Christmas trees were handed in at the zoo. 80 of them were planted in the Amur area. The remaining trees have been planted at a temporary site. These will eventually be transferred to the new Colville area, which will open in mid-2023.

The new sloth is a female. Which means AquaZoo now has a pair of this species again.

 

Recently 4 African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) hatched!

Source:
Instagram of Aquazoo Leeuwarden (13/01/2023)

 

- AquaZoo's oldest polar bear, Felix, had one of his canine teeth removed in early January. Some time before, he had broken it off. Medical training allowed his tooth to be monitored, during such training the vet could see that the tooth needed to be removed. After which he was put under anaesthesia to remove the canine tooth and also to look at his overall health, as he is already an older polar bear.

- Another new species in the Caribbean reef aquarium. Some hermit crabs. Most probably the blue-eyed hermit crab (Calcinus laevimanus).

- There is a lot of work going on at the zoo during this period. Last weeks, the piranha's aquarium was refurbished. It is now almost ready to put the animals back in. In the entrance hall, the walls have been repainted. Maintenance was carried out on the bottom of the pond in the giant otter enclosure. The roof tiles of the main building have been replaced. And work will soon start on part of the bank of the seal enclosure.

- Not much is yet known about the new Colville area, although a drawing of the area was 'leaked' recently. The second photo in this EAZA Instagram post shows a drawing of this area in the background, although (unfortunately) it is not very clear to see.

 

Recently an Azara's agouti (Dasyprocta azarae) was born.

Source:
Instagram of Aquazoo Leeuwarden (02/03/2023)

 

Meanwhile, this work has been completed. Embankment protection has now been installed here and the path now runs right along the water. As a result, the seals are now more visible.



In addition, I saw the announcement of a new event at the zoo. From 1 April to 18 June, Ocean Bricks statues (from BrickLive) will be on display at the zoo.

 

Last weekend, the zoo's two aviaries suffered a serious amount of damage. A lot of snow fell on the pelican aviary, putting pressure on the roof. In addition, a tree fell on the owl aviary, which fell over due to the stormy weather.

Fortunately, all the animals are doing well. They will be temporarily housed elsewhere in the zoo. The European eagle owls will find a new home in Dierenrijk after this incident. The species will not return to AquaZoo.

Source: Facebook AquaZoo Leeuwarden

 

It was already planned to move the two European eagle owls to another zoo, and demolish their aviary. This would not happen until later in the year, however. Due to the damage to the aviary, this is happening a bit earlier and the owls will move to Dierenrijk at the end of this week. The zoo manager did say in an interview that the new Colville area, which will open later this year, will have a "spectacular birds of prey specie" in its place.

The Pelican Aviary/Asia Aviary needs repairs in its construction. It is now being reinforced so that this cannot happen again.

This is a first activity to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the zoo. There will be more activities later in the year. This exhibition will be opened by the mayor of Leeuwarden. AquaZoo will hand over 250 tickets to the municipality. They will give these to families who otherwise cannot afford a day at the zoo.

 

The Ocean Bricks event runs from 1 April to 18 June. On 31 March, the event was opened by the mayor of Leeuwarden. This opening was exclusively for season ticket holders. There are more than 25 animal sculptures made of building bricks spread throughout the zoo. The largest sculpture is this one of an orca with young:



I was also present at this exclusive opening. Some news from my visit that day:

- AquaZoo has reached 170,000 visitors in 2022. That is a record number since Libéma took over the zoo in 2015.

- The zoo hopes to start construction of the new Colville area soon.

- Work has resumed at the Wadden aquaria. It is planned that this part of the indoor section of the zoo will finally open in medio this year.

- The owl aviary recently damaged in a storm has now been demolished. The two eagle owls have been moved to Dierenrijk.


- The hamerkop are now in the pelican aviary. The same aviary now houses a second white-naped crane.

 

Some updates from my recent visit:

- New co-inhabitants can be seen in the Blue aphyosemion's aquarium: Ancistrus cf. cirrhosus.

- The vampire crabs also have new co-inhabitants: Poso Yellow Rabbit Snails (Tylomelania)


- A young was recently born to the pair of white-faced sakis. Two Azara's agoutis were also born in the same enclosure.


- It seems the two steamer duck species have switched enclosures again. The flying steamer duck was back with the African penguins.

- The red-crowned cranes have made a nest and are sitting on two eggs.


- Both a swamp wallaby and a Tammar wallaby have a joey in the pouch.

- In the pelican aviary, the little egrets, black-crowned night herons and hamerkop are now busy building nests.

- The pond turtles are out of hibernation again. On the little island in the enclosure, two European pond turtles and a red-eared slider were sunbathing.

 

Visited AquaZoo again last Friday. Some updates:

- A new species in the indoor section: Red Madagascar Panchax (Pachypanchax sakaramyi). They replace the Blue aphyosemion (Fundulopanchax sjoestedti), of which AquaZoo is/was the only holder in Europe.


- Another new species in the indoor section. There are now swordtails with the axolotl's.


- The new Wadden area is also finally being worked on again. Mesh panels have been installed around the top of the large tank so that visitors will be unable to reach the water. In the lower section, the walls have been repainted and work is being done on the layout. I am curious about when we will finally be able to see this section up close (the aquariums have been there since early 2021). It is scheduled to open in the middle of this year.




- The African penguins got new nesting boxes.


- New fencing has been put up around the red-crowned crane enclosure.

- The young swamp wallaby is now out of the pouch.

- For several visits now, I cannot find the last common shelduck, nor have I seen the last wood duck in the last two visits now. They are possibly out of the collection.

 

Visited AquaZoo again yesterday. Some updates:

- The young white-faced saki has died.

- The new Wadden Sea section should open soon. There are two aquariums in this section. The large aquarium will house several fish species, including a number of flatfish species. The smaller aquarium is a tidal aquarium.

- Plans for the new Colville area were reportedly approved recently. Construction is expected to start soon. More details have not yet been announced.

- The black-necked swans are nesting.

- A new bird species has been added in the Pelican aviary: the scaly-sided merganser.

 

Visited AquaZoo again yesterday. Some updates:

- The new Wadden Sea section is still under construction. However, the first inhabitants of the aquariums have arrived and can already be seen from a distance. For instance, I already saw several species of flatfish, a small-spotted catshark, crabs and starfish.

- There are several young birds around the zoo. In the Asia aviary, there are several young little egrets and there are also several nests of the black-crowned night herons and also a nest of the hamerkop. In addition, I saw at least eight young among the Humboldt penguins. The black-necked swans near the vicuñas also have a nest.

- Not only are there young birds in the zoo itself, there are also several nests of wild birds with breeding birds or young. These include white storks, Canada goose, mallards, Eurasian coots, Eurasian oystercatchers and a black-crowned night heron.

- A sign in the zoo announced more about the new North America area. The area is based on the Churchill River in northern Canada. Next to the current polar bear enclosures will be new enclosures for raccoons, North American beavers and various fish species, among others. There will also be a large aviary for bald eagles. The new area will open in early 2024.

 

Two and a half years after moving the Wadden Sea aquariums from a local Wadden Sea experience centre to AquaZoo Leeuwarden, this new section at the zoo has finally opened! Both aquariums, a sea aquarium and a tidal aquarium, feature fish and other small animals found in the Wadden Sea. With these aquariums, the animal collection now also focuses on local wildlife. The Wadden Sea, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is in fact only about 20 kilometres away from the zoo.

The large sea aquarium houses plaice, flounder, sole, shorthorn sculpin and small-spotted catshark, according to the signs. It also houses smaller animals such as starfish, among others. The smaller aquarium, the tidal tank, houses shore crabs, starfish and other smaller animals.

 

Four Amur tigers were born at AquaZoo on 15 June! This is the first time for the zoo. Parents are Vadim and Aïda. It is also the first litter for them.

 

The four Amur tiger cubs have now opened their eyes and they are doing well! Mother Aïda is also doing exceptionally well. Even though this is her very first litter. The cubs are becoming more playful and active by the day. So it probably won't be long before they take their first steps outside.