Last year the zoo received 1.129.234 visitors, which is roughly 25.000 more than the previous year. The visitor numbers are remarkably stable looking on a five year trend. Highlights included the birth of 3 Sun bears, 1 Manatee and 1 White rhino, as well as the opening of new enclosures for Lemurs, Squirrel monkeys, Coati and Meerkats. Burgers' Zoo groeit op verschillende fronten
Is it fair to say that stability is a slight disappointment given the opening of Mangroves within that time period?
The stability is more from the past 3 years, not 5, looking again at the numbers. They had about 90.000-100.000 more visitors than in 2015 and 2016, before the opening of the Mangrove. So there seems to be a relatively stable increase since the opening of the Mangrove. I think that unless they do a Pairi Daiza this is about the maximum level they can maintain as they are not the closest main zoo for the majority of people in the Netherlands and western Germany.
You would think with better marketing they could generate a much larger catchment area. Burgers is not like other zoos...
Autumn this year 5 male Gorilla, the breeding male Bauwi & his four sons, will move to Hongshan Forest Park in Nanjing, China, based on EEP recommendations. A new enclosure is under construction there currently. It is not mentioned when a new male (and who) will come to Burgers' Zoo. Vijf gorillamannetjes verhuizen naar Hongshan Forest Zoo
I am shocked. Nanjing Hongshan is far from a good zoo. It already holds orangs and chimps (not as a functional troop) in some of the better exhibits at the zoo, and it is, I believe, government-run, which prevents some of the worst aspects of commercial zoos in China from materialising, but there are still plenty of pretty awful enclosures there. Still, they recently acquired koalas, maybe we are witness the beginning of a severe upward trajectory.
Some notes from a visit last week, mostly concerning animals (temporarily) off-display: - The Four-eyed fish have been temporarily taken behind the scenes for observation purposes - No Sea nettles currently on show at the entrance of the Ocean - Blue-winged teal have been removed from the Desert, but the Rose-bellied buntings are finally signed - The Laughing thrush signage has been removed in the Bush, so it is likely the final individual is not on show anymore. This brings the number of bird species in the Bush down to 33.
Actually Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo is highly regarded by Chinese zoo enthusiasts as one of the most progressive zoos in China in recent years. A little historical background, the zoo was formerly known as Xuanwu Lake Zoo, located at Xuanwu Lake Park (I visited the old site as a child and still remember a ocelot-morph Asian golden cat from that visit). The zoo moved to its current site in 1998, but as most of the Chinese zoos built in that period, the “new” zoo is nothing more than a bunch of old-style pits and cages in a larger space. The zoo was underfunded for years. Following another common practice at that time, numerous parts of zoo was outsourced to the private sector, including the horrible “reptile house”. Small-scale modernization started under the new leadership since early 2010s, with the hornbill aviary in 2011, introduction of modern elephant husbandry protocol in 2012, meerkat exhibit in 2013, orangutan exhibit in 2015, among other renovations to the existing enclosures. The zoo proposed an ambitious masterplan in 2015 and secured full funding from the city government. In 2017 they fenced a wooded slope for Chinese water deers and Reeve’s muntjacs. A brand new “Asian Primates” complex opened in 2019. Rows of old cat cages have been razed, and the new “Asian Cats” exhibit is coming this year, featuring leopard cat, Eurasian lynx, North Chinese leopard and an 1-acre tiger exhibit. Adjustments to the masterplan have been made to minimize the impact to the habitat of Chinese ferret badgers, which are native to the zoo ground. Though the reptile house isn’t going anytime soon due to legal issues, all outsourced parts are certainly to be condemned once the their lease expires. I realize this post should be better posted in the Hongshan thread but I’d like to post it here for any Burgers’ Zoo fans who may have concerns about the moving of the gorillas. So far Hongshan hasn’t made any announcement, but I’m not that surprised based on the quality of new exhibits the zoo opened in the past decade.
At 5.40 PM on Thursday January 16th, 2020 a Southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum) was born at Burgers' Zoo. This is the 11th rhinoceros birth at Burgers' Zoo, which places them in the top 5 breeders in Europe. The Arnhem herd now numbers 8 rhinos. Europese top vijf dankzij geboorte neushoorn
It is a male and the mother is Kwanzaa. It is the 5th year in a row that they have a White rhino calf. On a vlog it was mentioned that they will soon receive Blue ground doves for the Mangrove and they are looking for a new duck species there too.
Both Sun bear females + the 3 cubs have been introduced to each other and are now on display together (which is a great sight): https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=2141047775998365 They also mentioned on facebook that several House geckos have dispersed out of the Bush, into the Bat enclosure in the tunnel, where they are feeding on Cockroaches... Additionally it was mentioned on the zoo inside podcast that one of the Chimpanzees is pregnant, which is an accident as they do not have a fertile W-African chimpanzee, a young male was supposed to arrive soon, but apparently one of the hybrid males got lucky. Burgers' currently has one male W-African chimp, but he is sterile...
A video of the Southern white rhinoceros calf playing with a big enrichment ball, posted on Burgers' Zoo's Facebook page earlier today. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=173452253922457
Some bird news from the member's magazine: - The zoo has exchanged Sun Bitterns with Cologne, hoping that a partner switch would make them breed again. - Last year in the bush the number of Green Imperal Pigeons has tripled due to breeding, and also the Orange-Fronted Fruit Doves have reproduced - The Hyacinth Macaws have left the zoo and their aviary will become available for the Keas next door.
I noticed a new fish was added to the Shark tank when I did a walk there last week. The fish being; Chaetodon kleinii. Only managed to find one individual. There was a second species that seemed new but I don't have a ID of it, may go back soon to try and figure that one out.
"The zoo has exchanged Sun Bitterns with Cologne, hoping that a partner switch would make them breed again. " Ahh, that might explain why there is now 1 sunbittern sitting on a tree where I never used to see sunbitterns. Saw him there sit for hours and during 2 visits.
Some more future news about the bush: - They will also do a swap with the victoria crowned pigeons. (Not species swap but to make a new pair) - They are planning to release new white-eyes later this year to the bush in the hope they breed. The hybrids they currently have BTS will stay BTS. - Plans are made to release 2000 "unknown species for me" beetles this year and next year. If this goes well they are planning on releasing a more expensive, and a more pretty species of beetle. They are also thinking about releasing millipedes. - They are hoping to do a trade in the future with the USA zoo which holds screaming pihas in order to get more females. - They have already started this and are still continueing on removing all female red whiskered bulbuls in the bush. Approx 100 individuals (males and females) still live in the bush. - After the removal of the females from the red whiskered bulbuls, they will start the same project for the grey-capped emerald doves. Approx 70 individuals (males and females) still live in the bush. - They expect a nest of the madagascar crested ibises this year aswell.
Todays walk-around after work had a few things that caught my attention: - The red kites are now in the BTS aviary behind the Mangrove, it is likely that the vultures are breeding. - The seanettle tank does not have any nettles in it, but does have plastic waste floating around (Maybe to raise awareness?) - I think I spotted one of the geckoes in the Mangrove, however it was between some rocks before I had my phone out. -
Yea, they have that for more then a month now. I think its because the sea nettles were not doing great and that they decided to move them BTS. (or they all died). There was a decline in individuals in the tank and they looked much worse then usual (They sure didnt look how they used to look when they first got them) So I think it is for awereness that they put plastic in it yes. But that was not the main reason they did it. They just had to put the sea nettles BTS because (i think) they were not doing good
I was aware of them gone (as lintworm already mentioned, and noticed the tank empty for a while), but I hadn't seen it with the plastic waste in yet, hence why i mentioned it.
