I am considering a visit to Blijdorp somewhere in the nearby future and I have a question, so I hope this is the right place for it. My question is regarding the new Conservation Center in the Oceanium. I believe I read somewhere that the "glass room" where the majority of the terraria and the rare species are is only open to visitors when there are volunteer keeping an eye on things. Is that indeed the case and if so, when is the conservation center generally open to the public? My visit will almost certainly take place on a Saturday or Sunday somewhere this summer or fall.
The conservation center is indeed only open with volunteers around. During the holidays I expect them to have plenty of volunteers around so that should not be a problem. And even with the center being closed, I feel like it would not be a big loss as it feels mostly like a petshop setup.
Hopefully the zoo will get as soon as possible new animals from the states. Without new blood, the small european, inbred populationhas no chance to increase. Frankfurt tries to breed them since two and half years, unfortunately, with no success yet, altough they switched the males. But I'm sure, they will breed them in the near future.
There was a plan to import new animals from the US this year, but I don't know whether they have already succeeded.
Sengis are surprisingly difficult to pair up, and they don't just take any other sengi for a mate. Unsuccesful pairs can often live together peacefully for years or even their entire lives without reproduction, while "good" pairs can reproduce quite fast. I don't know the specifics for this species, but it may be a reason why some pairs just don't breed.
Don't know if it was already mentioned earlier. Currently, two Okapi's are again pregnant. Kamina is expecting her calf in around September and M'buti in late December.
Some bits of news: -Bird baby's! The red-legged seriema's, snowy-headed robin-chats and crested Guineafowls have all succesfully hatched eggs. -A white-naped mangabey, two red panda's and 10-15 Nile crocodiles have been born as well. -A new hyena male has arrived from Berlin, twenty years old and the offspring of two wild-caught animals. A female is to come from France and the male that was already present in Rotterdam will move to Croatia. -The Nature Conservation Centre in the Oceanium now also houses Cuvier's Madagascar swifts and spider tortoises (shared enclosure with the ploughshare tortoises) and a couple of Henkels leaf-tailed gecko's. A second gecko-pair is housed behind the scenes, alongside three hatchlings. All four adults originate from the US. A while back the four wild-caught Iguana delicatissima also moved to their new enclosure here. Further information and details can be found on Blijdorper Bende (Dutch, but some browsers have a built-in translator): Kort Nieuws And regarding the two questions that had been asked earlier: no sengi's from America yet, sadly, and the 'glass house' in the Nature Conservation Centre is indeed only accesable when there's someone around to keep an eye on any disturbing visitors, but luckily it's almost always open (tip: visit it in the morning or early in the afternoon as it closes rather early). If you find yourself out of luck, the Testudo kleinmanni and the three aquariums can also easily be viewed from outside
Some notes and news from my visit last Saterday : - Last Maned wolf send to another zoo. The former Wolf - and then Maned wolf - enclosure is empty at the moment. - As @ Blijdorpenaar already mentioned, in the Conservation Center Ploughshare tortoise and Antilian green iguanas are now on display as well as 2 Madagascar cichlids and 2 other endangered / extinct in the wild fish-species ( all four as far as I know Lifers for me ). - Also in the Conservation Center McCords snake-necked turtle and Madagascar Spider tortoises are on display. - Lake Patzcuaro salamander ( at least 5 ) also went on display in the Conservation Center. - In the Riviera Hall ( at least ) 3 juvenile Toco toucans are living in the former Hyacinthine macaw enclosure. - African Slender-snouted crocodile : 6 eggs in the incubator - Visayan warty pig - at least 3 piglets seen - Pallas cats have gone completly out of the collection, the enclosure now house Monal pheasants. New Pallas cats are however expected soon.
Small correction : not 6 but "only" 5 eggs of the African slender-snouted crocodile are in the incubator which were laid / put in the incubator on June 6 2019.
Today an Okapi was born at Blijdorp. Does anyone know the current Okapi-breeding-scores between Blijdorp and Antwerp? Im wondering how well both Okapi breeding 'factories' are doing.
Young born with the Celebes crested macaques : ( video FB ) : https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=373323493579962
