According to Zoonaute and zoochat member Alexpe, the zoo has received a pair of masked palm civet (paguma larvata), the only ones in Europe from a zoo in Japan. A male Malayan tapir has also been born recently. Translation result for http://zoonaute.forumactif.com/index.forum
Sorry, they are not the only ones in europe. There is a private keeper of them in England, and a zoo in poland will get them also ( maybe they are already there now, I' don't know yet )
Recent births have included males of lowland tapir and an un-sexed Papuan wreathed hornbill (Aceros plicatus).
There´s a new enclosure for clouded leopards at my home zoo ! And there´s also a cade Tamandua in the Tamandua house
The Zoo welcomes four giant otter babys, born 6 weeks ago to sire "Gordito" (born at Tierpark Hagenbeck, Hamburg in 2007, Maku x Beni) and dam "Iny" (born at Dortmund Zoo in 2007, Rufus x Sol)
When I last visited Dortmund Zoo. I found it mediocre. Certainly not worth the 3,5 hours i had to travel. Since then they added gaur (one of my favorites) and clouded leopards. So i'm thinking of going again this summer. Does anybody know if they are planning any new exhibits this year or next year. And could anybody tell me if the Gaur bull is full grown.
I'd personally be happy to travel 3.5 hours to visit Dortmund, alas that's not an option. Anteaters, Tamandua, Armadillos, Gaur, Coypu, superb cat collection (large & small), Giant Otters, Tree Kangeroo, Angolan Giraffes, some funky sculptures, what's not to like? By the way, google maps suggests you might be able to scrape some time of your travelling (if you're going by road).
I travelled at least 4 hours (2 to get there and 2 back) and thoroughly enjoyed my visit. Specially the huge number of giant anteaters, the tamanduas and the giant otters made my day. I found Cologne a bit disappointing, so i guess it's just expectations coupled with weather, time of year and company that mainly makes or brakes a visit...
Sacrilege! Dortmund is an excellent zoo, and one which is worthy of really getting to know... good group of orangs with an interesting new(ish) house innovative, thoughtful Amazon house - nothing flashy, but really nicely done Outstanding lynx enclosure - probably the best small cat enclosure you'll ever see Several good new enclosures for small cats Typical solid German zoo architecture - cat house, giraffe house etc The anteater / tamandua / sloth house - perfection! I'd certainly put it in a list of my favourite German zoos.
I'd certainly put it in a list of my favourite German zoos.[/QUOTE] @Sooty: What would that list look like? Would you like to post a top 10?
Not really - I'm not sure that it's right to start ranking zoos as though they were football teams. However, I would put Tierpark Berlin at the top of any list. But that's another story...
It's great you all disagree with me. Maybe the weather was a factor in my visit. Based on their collection I was a bit disapointed by the housing of certain species for example the jaguars and amurleopards. By the way i find the giant otter and tamuda exhibits in Duisburg more to my liking and i have to travel by train so it's 3,5 hours both ways. But everybody has explained why they disagree, but nobody has answered my questions. Is the gaur bull full grown and are they plannig to open any new exhibits? if so i may postpone my visit for a year
I've no idea about the size of the gaur bull. Regarding new exhibits: when I was last there, in April 2010, a new cattle house was having the finishing touches put to it. The sign detailing this is below. There were also some new cat cages being developed: below there is a view of one from the 'up-stairs' viewing, and of some new and old cages alongside each other. I read somewhere - maybe here - that there were problems with, i think, subsidence, meaning that the new cages couldn't yet be used. I have also attached a picture fo another reason to love Dortmund: its anteater themed signs instructing visitors of zoo rules.
As far as i know, the male gaur is a Berlin Tierpark offspring of 2008 or 2009. So i guess it's not full grown yet.
New cages look good. From what i saw the new clouded leopard exhibit looks excelent too. Finaly a propper exhibit within travelrange. Duisburg and Wuppertal don't have the best clouded leopard exhibits. Thanks for the reactions
So you all have convinced me.I'm going thursday. Does anyone know what time i have the best chance to see active clouded leopards.
Hi all, it´s really difficult to be neutral, because Dortmund is my home zoo, but it´s really one of the best zoos, we have in Germany (nothing spectacular like Hannover or Gelsenkirchen or great collections like Berlin, but it´s really nice) Highlights / news in the last few years were : - new rhino house with a, hopefully, breeding group of 2,3 white rhinos - New enclosures for clouded leopards, serval and bat eared foxes - An enlarged enclosure for the Amur leopards is in construction - new enclosure for red duikers / white storks - Rainforest house "Rumah hutan" for breeding groups of Sumatra Orangs & Malayan tapirs (accompanied by flying foxes, tupaias and slow loris) - planned are an aviary for giant herons and for the future a new enclosure for sea lions and fur seals - new enclosure for asian hoof mammals (Gaur, Axis deer, Nilghai and blackbuck) Special species : - good breeding groups of giant anteaters, tamanduas and two toed sloths - breeding groups of Lowland and Malayan tapir - the only remaining Angola giraffes in Germany - fantastic south america collection, including maned wolf, bush dog, spectacled bear, coati, capybara, collared peccari, vicugna, guanako, agoutis, seriema, king vultures, caracaras, andean condor, south-american fur seal, nandu, giant otter, humboldt penguin, three different armadillos, tamarins, pygmy marmosets, squirrel monkey, sakis, caimans, different turtles and snakes, etc. - good collections of great (lion, malayan tiger, jaguar, amur leopard) and small cats (lynx, amur cat, ozelot, oncilla, margay, jaguarundi, clouded leopard, serval) - other small carnivores like meerkats, mongoose, binturong, civets, european badger, etc. - tree kangaroos, roan antelopes, red duikers,...
That will be very difficult, maybe you have a small chance in the evening, but overall I would not get my hopes up. You will definitely see the clouded leopards, but they are usually not active during visitor hours, unless you are really lucky -anyway, I hope you will be!
Oneanother feature of Dortmunder Zoo is that with a more or less cash-strapped administration it has found rather ingenuous ways to renovate exhibits. Fundraising is done by a rather active Friends of community and Dortmund Zoo staff manage renovation work themselves.
