Burgers' Zoo Burgers' Zoo News 2022

Tomorrow morning I'll take fresh pictures!
But if it's anything like Anubite says the signage look like I don't know how if it's worth posting to ZC, will make photos regardless!

 

Signage black-tailed prairie-dog & North-American porcupine by Ursus posted 26 Apr 2022 at 3:21 PM

Porcupine & Prairie-dog enclosure by Ursus posted 26 Apr 2022 at 3:21 PM

2 photos I'll share from this morning.

The prairiedogs are currently busy making their burrows in the right corner underneath the agava sp.

 

Do you know if American Porcupines live actually in the deserts ? For me they are forest animals, but I may be wrong.

 

They are more common in forests, but can be found in the deserts and grasslands as well

 

I know they have been expanding east in Texas, and are now found in some fairly arid regions of scrub and desert. They are even found in my fairly dense town. So they seem fairly adaptable.

 

They are really suprisingly adapteble. I know of only a few species living both in the artic circle and in hot deserts

 

Tho not officialy tested, I found that their Bighorn sheep looked a lot like the endangered Nevada subspecies population, and maintaining an endangered species d have been inportant enough to make an effort to establish what they reasoned with a lack of to source them out.

I hoped to see some sonoran hare or rabbit species.

The new generation seemes more bussines oriented than a classic enthusiast like the predecessor.
What is on one hand relatable for a family run institution and further potentialy necessary financialy, but on the other hand the recent decisions felt a bit foreign. The new species are appreciated but the choices felt a bit like as if an outsider looked up what species are kept in private collections therefor available but rare in public institutions.

Compared to Burgers history of pushing boundaries, importing entire species new to the european scene, all this d feel pathetic.

Instead of emptying all enclosures in the bush i expected them to built a bigger riverside enclsoure.

 

Times change, importing back in the day might've been easier then it is now. Importing wild-caught animals is even more controversial these days.

 

None of that imports were wild caught.

Based on the fact that other parks do import new specimen I think that might rather be an attitude.

 

Importing new specimens from outside the EU takes a lot of paper work and years of preparation.

Not to mention getting hoof-stock into the EU from outside the union is near impossible and it doesn’t seem worth it for a non-endangered species, especially one that is native to a country that has the resources to protect the populations of said species.

 

Do you have any evidence to back up such a claim, except some hunch. Based on the animal import location: a Canadian farm and their appearance it sounds extremely unlikely.

Where are they supposed to have come from, even in American zoos they are extremely rare, with only the desert cottontail having a few holders. And what is the point of importing a least concern species that is near-identical to the European rabbit and doesn't even make a good exhibit in terms of activity.

For a zoo that is still bringing in montezuma quail and crested bobwhite and maintains a large number of rare bird species because they fit the ecosystems they want to represent, that is a bold statement. The new strategy still focuses heavily on investing in rare species that fit the ecodisplays, alongside a push for more EEP managed species.

The zoo works together with dedicated private breeders a lot when it comes to quails, pigeons and passerines, much to the chagrin of the Dutch zoo association, which don't like that at all. Their mammal collection has been downscaled and is more boring than it was a few years ago ago, but here you see a clear welfare perspective. The newish head curator has clearly looked at which enclosures are outdated and those animals are sent away at a high pace and where limited communication seems the biggest problem. In the bighorn case, that area really was too small. The problem is the limited options for the bighorn enclosure. I personally would love to see the prairie dogs replaced by Harris antelope squirrel, which have been imported to Europe over the years and are better desert representatives. But this is not Zoo Tycoon. That said the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, which has always been the main inspiration for the Desert, keeps both the tree porcupines and the prairie dogs as they fit the desert ecosystem (I mean when does an arid grassland become a desert....). It might not be the most inventive, but what were ever their realistic options apart from white-nosed coati and peccary.

How the mammal future will look will probably depend on what replaces the forest reindeer, spectacled langur and bobcat. If they really still want to invest in their legacy of (helping) to establish rarer mammals on the European continent like they did with swamp wallaby, ringed seal, white-bearded gnu and forest reindeer, they will need to focus on the level of e.g. babirusa.

 

Now 2 chicks have hatched :

 

I reckon they must've hatched a while ago and just grew a bit already. Seen the female sit on her nest ever since my initial post! But this is lovely news!

 

Unless we're talking about some highly endangered species or a country with massively tight export rules like Australia, "years of preparation" are massive stretch

 

They occur in riparian corridors throughout America's major deserts.

 

Mr Gharial is back, baby!

Well, back for weekly updates, anyway. There won't be that much to update without the bighorn sheep building updates. But I can give you other updates!

Desert:
The first thing I did was sprint to the Desert to finally see the porcupines (some of my favourite animals that I've never seen). Sadly, they were invisible during the day, though I did see both of them hidden away in a corner right before closing time. I hope that later in the year, when the zoo is still open during dark hours, you can see the porcupines more active at sundown.

The prairie dogs (or rather, dog) are already busy digging tunnels in the lower part of the enclosure, while having little to no interest in going up. It was actually very fun seeing them doing more natural behaviour. As one of the females was on lookout while the others were (presumably) digga tunnahs. She ran right into the tunnels the moment you moved too quickly.

Other than the white-winged doves, none of the birds are that interested in the trees in the new enclosure.

Quails were interesting today: the Gambel's were uncharacteristically active and visible, even saw them near the oasis. Also: I think I might have the best picture of the montezuma's so far, as one of the females seem to have escaped!


Bush:
Snowy-crowned robin chats are very active, I think it's their breeding season. They're always visible, but today they were absolutely everywhere! I actually never knew there were this many of them in the hall, but oh well.

Same goes for the Grey-capped emerald dove, though to a lesser extent

Green iguana is visible again! As he trapped a poor zookeeper up at the birding platform, blocking the stairs up or down.
Burgers' Bush - Free-roaming green iguana blocking the stairs! - ZooChat

Madagascar crested ibises are collecting nesting material!

Ocean:

A baby blacktip reef shark has been placed in the ray tank / tunnel tank.

Park:
Absolutely no news, surprisingly. Absolutely nothing going on at the Jackals or the Reindeer

 

The pair of Eurasian black vultures (Aegypius monachus) have laid an egg!

Source:
Instagram of Burgers Zoo (12/05/2022) https://www.instagram.com/p/CddwyrNNAgE/

 

Must have been unlucky.. I have so far always seen the male out on a branch so far!

Why am I really this unlucky that I can never see them... I go try to see them almost daily and still have to see them

The male scaled quail actually calls often from the upper rock part in the morning. I've also seen yellow grosbeak make use of the new trees as well as painted bunting.

 

Well, I am known to have great luck with animals.

Also: I assume you mean Gambels quail? Either way, it was my first visit, I'll probably notice more birds in later visits