Last Saturday I visited Diergaarde Blijdorp/the Rotterdam Zoo for the first time in three and a half years. Even if admittedly it has never been amongst my favorite zoos it is still definitely a fairly nice zoo and it was pleasant to get reacquainted with this zoo. I don't really have much in terms of "news" to add to this topic, just some observations and comments on developments since my last previous visit. Part of the Oceanium was closed during my visit due to ongoing redevelopments. What is normally an emergency exit next to the Galapagos giant tortoise outdoor yard now serves as an exit as the Sea of Cortez section of the Oceanium is being redevelopped into a nature conservation center with several species of rare and endangered herps, including the aforementioned Lesser Antillean iguanas (a male of this species is already on display in the Oceanium at present, near the Caribbean café). There were signs indicating visitors could enter the last area of the Oceanium, the part with the kelp tank and the former sea otter exhibit, through what normally is the exit, but the doors unfortunately remained closed all day during my visit. I remember the kelp tank as being pretty nice so I do hope that one isn't going away as well. What used to be the section with the Florida/Caribbean reef tanks (with the short tunnel) has since my previous visit been redevelopped into a section representing the Great Barrier Reef and the Indo-Pacific, including appropriate education. The section consists of three tanks with very nicely done artificial reefs that are well-stocked with fish and one tank that is supposedly going to be a living reef in the future (but is clearly still in the very early stages of that development). Personally I liked this section a lot. With the development of the Great Barrier Reef area and the new developments the original continental/oceanic lay-out of the Oceanium has been breached, but at the moment I don't think that is a bad thing at all as I'm liking the renovations and redevelopments so far. Another new development I noticed in the Oceanium since my previous visit was the use of projections for education, for example for the sturgeon in the North Sea section and in the Great Barrier Reef. It was nicely and tastefully done, made the education hard to miss and yet wasn't intrusive either. On the site of the former maned wolf exhibit a large aviary-type exhibit for lemurs was near completion, and next to the Galapagos giant tortoise greenhouse an entrance to that new exhibit was being constructed. Of course I made sure to take a good look at the new gelada exhibits around the renovated and repurposed former predator house. I like this new development, the new gelada exhibits are nicely done and I rather very much appreciated seeing this rare species again and being able to photograph it well, as I only previously saw geladas in a rather very crappy exhibit in the Äquatorium at Duisburg. Something that surprised me in a negative way was the condition of the Riviera Hall. I knew it wasn't in the best of shape and it wasn't during my previous visit, but things looked to me to have worsened quite a lot since - especially around the windows just underneath the curved roof things just looked bad and dilapidated. The tropical wing with the bird greenhouses and the round Victoria greenhouse also looked to have seen better days. It's a bit sad to see these buildings in this state - I seriously hope they'll be able at some point in the hopefully not too distant future to renovate this complex.
@KevinB I visited for the first time last month and was looking forward to seeing the Riviera hall, how disappointing to find a crowded noisy childrens indoor play area, a couple of aviaries for toco toucan and others, a walk through aviary for wreathed hornbill, the lovely lily room and the indoor quarters for the gorilla, black rhino and pygmy hippo! How i would have loved to have seen this building back in the day, crammed full of animals, rarities from all over the world, but hey, maybe it's me that's old fashioned. I noticed the old ape cages lie empty, except one holding a separated gorilla, perhaps a few monkey species could be used here. I like Rotterdam overall, my only bug bear was coming out of the elephant house into the Asian section and just the general randomness of it, the planting for me along the paths was overbearing, and added to my confusion, and general lack of any direction, immersion overload. My favourite area was from the okapi jungle through to the mhorr gazelle, esp the crocodile house and the mixed vulture aviary was stunning.
Having seen the Riviera Hall in its old form myself, jam-packed with animals including many rare critters (albeit admittedly not all in enclosures fully up to modern standards) I sympathize with your disappointment. Unfortunately from what I've heard and read they did not have much of a choice in the matter of removing the cold-blooded creatures from the Riviera Hall. And unfortunately the current use of the hall is likely to remain in place for the time being, as it is very hard for Blijdorp to find the money for the full renovation, and as such that probably won't be happening anytime soon. And even if it does I doubt they'll be keeping animals in there again, unfortunately. I also sympathize with your confusion and the feeling of lack of direction in the Asian area of the park. I had the same experience during my first two visits, over a decade ago. Now that I've been to Blijdorp ten times (even if the previous one was three and a half years ago) it is actually quite a bit better and I can find my way in that section relatively easily with or even without the use of a map. I also agree that the African section of the park is definitely a strong one. And I would say the new gelada exhibit is a strong addition to that section. No, they are not. The white-naped mangabeys (Cercocebus atys lunulatus) now live in the former guereza exhibit next to the servals. The (former?) monkey indoor exhibit within the old stable now serving as a viewing shelter for the gorilla exhibit was covered up and had a sign on it saying the guerezas moved to Brasov Zoo in Romania.
New Ring-tailed lemur walk-through enclosure opened : https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1245266122278638 The enclosure is were formely the Maned wolves were housed and the group contains at the moment 7 adult females and 2 young. Males will be added later.
