Facts about the history of the Antwerp Zoo

As requested by @Randomname0183 is here a piece about the Barbary lions that Zoo Antwerpen had in the past.
To begin with, Zoo Antwerpen first had lions in its collection in 1847, which had cubs on a regular basis.
There were 2 enclosures for lions in the park, namely on the first floor of the Natural History Museum (built in 1844 and demolished in 1893) and also in the middle of the garden were small square enclosures for the lions (there are photos of this terrible lion enclosure on the Image Bank of the KMDA).
But anyway, the first Barbary lions arrived in 1862. So, since the Predator Building was not built until 1877, the Barbary lions have been in these cages or on the first floor of the Natural History Museum.
When finally in 1877 the new and especially better and larger lion enclosure(s) were opened, part of the Predator Building.
This rectangular building consisted of 1 very large round cage in the middle (presumably for tigers) and 2 almost completely round cages at the 2 corners of the building (the left one was for lions). Between the large cages were smaller square enclosures for leopards, among others.
The indoor enclosures were open to the public.
All cages were nicely decorated with high and beautiful rock walls, this style of Predator buildings was popular at that time, for example Zoo Berlin also had this style.
Inside the building were many terrariums that included snakes, plant beds and busts.
Finally, the last Barbary lions (0.0.1) like all predators and also Caspian and Javan tigers were shot in 1914 as a precaution for the 1st World War. Only 19% of all the animals survived the war.
But although it was claimed as an extinct species, Zoo Antwerpen still has Barbary lions in its collection. In 2020 2 females (0.2) arrived from Zoo Liberec and Zoo Dvur Kralove to breed with their remaining West African lion, in 2021 even 3 (1.2) cubs were born, however a crossbreed unless you count these 2 species together as Northern lions.
So while you can debate that these 2 were not full blooded Barbary lions and the ones from 1862-1914 were we will at least describe them as lions with Barbary lion DNA in their blood.

 

Now that we've covered many felines I will add one more feline.
Another now extinct feline is the Cape lion.
I couldn't find much about the Cape lions that Antwerp Zoo once had, but what I do know is that just like all the other extinct felines I've written about (Caspian tiger, Javan tiger, Barbary lion) also the (last?) Cape lion (0.0.1) was shot in 1914 as a result of the 1st World War.
The founder of Zoo Leipzig, Ernst Pinkert, received a male Cape lion (1.0) named Leo from Antwerp, however, it is not 100% certain if this was a Cape lion.

 

The Cape Lion is now considered as a synonym of the South African Lion (Panthera leo krugeri = Panthera leo melanochaita).
The taxonomy of Lions is full of presumed subspecies, described in colonial times, that are no more recognized as valid taxa.

 

Would you have information on Antwerp’s Elephant seals by any chance.

 

@Randomname0183 I certainly have. There is a lot of information about elephant seals, but I did a search on the internet and my personal archives and I think this is a good summary.
Zoo Antwerp is/was known for its elephant seals, in fact they achieved the first breeding success (where the young became adults).
Zoo Antwerp only had Southern elephant seals, namely from 1955 to 1996.
In November 1955, the first elephant seals arrived (1.1).
Possibly another female (0.1) arrived in 1956, but this is not certain.
On this website: .... there is a map showing a female elephant seal. This postcard is from 1956, but was also used in 1960. Which Southern elephant seal this is is not clear.
Elephant seals arrived again in 1958 (number: 1.1).
However, there is a photo on the Image Bank of Zoo Antwerp of 4 August 1960 where elephant seal Nemo arrived. It is possible that this was the 1958 male elephant seal.
According to Zootierliste, 1.1 more arrived on July 29, 1961. However, the Image Bank of Zoo Antwerp says that the arrival date was July 28, 1962 or even 1963. Whatever the arrival date was, the elephant seals called Poseidon (1.0) and Phyrrha (0.1). These elephant seals arrived by ship.
On January 15, 1973, another 1.1 arrived from the Kerguelen, i.e. wild catch. The female was named Adèle and the male was named Arrie and eventually became the longest surviving Southern elephant seal in captivity ever.
On 6/3/1975 a first birth took place, this was unfortunately a stillbirth, the young however was fully developed.
The same story as in 1975 occurred on April 14, 1976. Then a female stillborn cub was born, which was also fully developed.
On April 20, 1977, Eric was born, the first elephant seal born in captivity to survive to adulthood. The Image Bank of Antwerp Zoo contradicts this by stating that Eric was born on April 21. Mother was Adèle and father was Arrie. Already in October 1977 Eric left for Zoo Berlin.
On 5/6/1989 the male elephant seal Arrie died, the penultimate elephant seal of Antwerp Zoo and also the father of Eric. Many pictures exist of the removal of his dead body on the image bank of the KMDA.
On 15 September 1996, the last elephant seal Adèle (0.1) of Antwerp Zoo died. She lived to be 23 years and 8 months old, which is a record. She was also the mother of Eric, the first captive-born elephant seal to reach adulthood.
Here is a list of how many elephant seals Zoo Antwerp had each year (from what I have been able to find):
1955: 1.1
1973: 1.1
1978: 1.1
1988: 1.1
5/6/1989-1996: 0.1
The elephant seals were housed in the seal pool from the beginning, which is now temporarily used for sea lions. However, the pool was greatly modified for the elephant seals. For example, they expanded the pool and also made it deeper. By removing the waterfall, a cave was created. Also nesting holes for penguins were made in the rocks and sand and stones were put on the land surface, also trees were planted. When Zoo Antwerpen started breeding their elephant seals, a fence was built to separate female and young and they got almost the entire land surface. Between the 2 elephant seals also walked the penguins, which is funny to see on pictures.
A little later, mother and son Adèle and Eric moved to 1 of the seal pools at the Hippo building.
Female elephant seal Pyrrha, however, lived in the sea lion pool. She swam there as the only elephant seal among the active California sea lions. Why she lived there I don't know, but there are photos of her in the sea lion basin from 1965.
The elephant seals lived with various animals such as seals. In 2 photos on the Image Bank you can even see 6 seals, which lived together with the last female Adèle, to keep her company.
They also lived together for a long time with Humboldt penguins, as shown in photos from 1977 and elsewhere. King penguins also lived together with Southern elephant seals, as seen in photos from 1960 and 1963, among others. The penguins were even there before the elephant seals, as they can be seen in photos from 1936 and 1951, but the basin was later renovated for elephant seals.
Waterfowls such as seagulls and swans were also regularly spotted on the basin, but this was mostly during the pre-elephant seal period.
Also, elephant seal Poseidon once escaped from his enclosure. He was spotted the next morning by a caretaker, as the elephant seal was taking a walk through the park, he was then taken back to his enclosure.

 

@Tiger : Very intresting ! In our Gallery there is a photo of the last 2 Elephant seals at Antwerp and thus must be Arrie and Adéle. I've made this photo somewhere in the 1980s :

Southern elephant seals by vogelcommando posted 9 Dec 2015 at 9:18 PM

 

On the topic of southern wildlife, do you have any information on the Antarctic expedition that got Antwerp a Wedell seal alongside some other Antarctic penguins @Tiger ?

 

I couldn't find much information about the expeditions itself, but they were collaborations between Belgium and the Netherlands. To start, I would first like to make some additions and corrections to my previous post.

It is probably worthy to mention that these 2 elephant seals arrived in the port of Ghent.

In my post, it looks like Arrie became the longest-lived elephant seal in captivity, but this was Adèle.

I forgot to mention that the elephant seals were removed from the enclosure because the elephant seals figured out that the penguins were a tasty snack though.
Then back to the Antarctic expedition.
There were several Antarctic expeditions that brought animals for Antwerp.
Already in 1959 an Emperor penguin named Hans arrived. There are pictures of him with a keeper before his exhibit on the Image Bank of the KMDA, here is the link: Historische Beeldbank In 1965 arrived more animals: 11 Emperor penguins and 2 Adelie penguins. However, there were originally more Adelie penguins on board, but only 2 (0.0.2) survived the voyage, 77.2% of all the Adelie penguins died during the voyage and 36.3% of the emperor penguins died during the voyage.
In March 1966, another ship with Antarctic animals arrived, with a male (1.0) Weddell seal, 35 Emperor penguins and 3 (0.0.3) Adelie penguins on board. Again, there were originally more Adelie penguins and emperor penguins on board, but only 3 (0.0.3) Adelie penguins survived the long voyage, or 81.2% of all Adelie penguins on board. Of the emperor penguins died 35% during the voyage.
However, the weddell seal did not live long after his arrival, he died already on September 29 1966, which made him the last Weddell seal in Europe.
In 1968, penguins from Antarctica arrived again, namely king penguins, however, the number is unclear. Photos on the Image Bank of the KMDA, however, show that king penguins were already in the collection in 1951, in what later became the elephant seal basin and is now the seal/temporary sea lion basin.
Zoo Antwerpen also had Chinstrap penguins in the collection at one time, but I don't know when they arrived.
All the penguins (including Hans) lived in the small building that now serves as the entrance to Vriesland. And you guessed it, Vriesland is in the theme of Antarctica with 3 penguin species and seals.
This is in the building were the penguins lived in: Entrance to "Vriesland" - ZooChat
The building was fully equipped with a land area and a swimming pool. The land area had an uneven surface to make it more natural-looking. The exhibit was also equipped with a cooling system that made it much cooler inside. If the outside temperature was 26.5°C (79.7°F), it was 4°C (39.2°F) inside. The new penguin building Vriesland was built in 1997.
The penguins (including the emperor penguins) were taken on regular walks through the park or put in another outdoor enclosure.
The Weddell seal lived in 1 of the pools on the spot where the restaurant 'Savanne' now is located, opposite the former deer stables (now playground). Humboldt penguins, Baikal seals and several species of fur seals lived in these basins, among others. In adjacent basins lived also coypus and sea lions, even once a sea elephant.
That's about all I could find. If you have any corrections or additions, post them.
Here is another photo of the emperor penguins in their enclosure: Emperor penguins - ZooChat

 

I came across a remarkable species while browsing through the Image Bank of the Antwerp Zoo, actually even 3 animal species: the Bongsi, Sibongsi and the Sisibongsi. You may never have heard of these animals, which makes sense because they are hybrids, and not just any hybrids.
Starting with the Bongsi, this is a cross between a male bongo and a female sitatunga.
The Sibongsi is the cross between a female Bongsi and a male sitatunga.
The Sisibongsi is thus the cross between a female Sibongsi and a male sitatunga.
So this are 3 generations!
The first Bongsi was born because Zoo Antwerpen could not find a female bongo for the male Western bongo Nabeli, who was the last Western bongo of the Antwerp Zoo and lived there between 1960 and 1966. So he got a hybrid young with a female Western sitatunga, who lived in the same enclosure. This created the first Bongsi ever.
After this, a female Bongsi was crossed with a male sitatunga, creating the first Sibongsi.
On January 8, 1973, the very first Sisibongsi named Amaai was born. Amaai was thus the cross between a female Sisibongsi and a male sitatunga.
Antwerp Zoo continued to successfully breed Bongsi, Sibongsi and Sisibongi, but the last Bongsi died in sister park Planckendael in the mid 1980s, where he (or she) lived together with bongos. A pity, because this hybrid breeding project could have been an even greater success. However, the hybrids remained within the KMDA (Zoo Antwerpen and Planckendael) and thus did not affect the genes of bongos or sitatungas, so the hybrids are officially extinct.
The bongos and sitatungas lived together in Antwerp Zoo in what is now the bongo enclosure. It was called "African savannah" at the time and in the time of the Bongsi, Sibongsi and Sisibongsi there lived Western bongos, Eastern bongos, Western sitatungas (possibly also Zambezi sitatungas), black crowned cranes, curassows, pheasants, shoebills, vultures, marabous, bustards, ibises and congo peafowls in this large enclosure. However, it is not clear when the last hybrid left for Planckendael, so there were possibly other species in the time of the hybrids. However, many other species have lived in the enclosure's history, such as okapis, but this is only what lived there at the time of these hybrids.
On the Image Bank of Zoo Antwerpen there are many pictures of the animals, here is a link: Historische Beeldbank
Just search for Bongsi, Sibongsi or Sisibongsi.

 

And I keep making mistakes, I meant the penguins were removed from the enclosure, not the elephant seals.

 

To continue on rare animals that Zoo Antwerpen had, this time it is the turn of the Sumatran Rhino.
The earliest indication of a Sumatran rhino in the Antwerp Zoo comes from 1878.
On 21 November 1878 a female Sumatran rhino arrived at Zoo Berlin. This rhino was supposedly bought at an auction in the Antwerp Zoo.
Antwerp Zoo held at least 1-2 large animal auctions a year, which made Antwerp and London the 2 most important cities for the international animal trade, this success is mainly due to the then director Jacques Vekemans. At these auctions zoos could exchange information about animals and how they should be kept alive and could also buy new animals. Especially the hippopotamus couple earned the Antwerp Zoo a lot of money, as they had a young almost every year.
However, there is no information about where this Sumatran rhino came from or the arrival of the animal.
There is another report of a Sumatran rhino in Antwerp in 1879. Indeed, on May 19, 1879, the skin and skeleton of a male Sumatran rhino arrived at the Royal Museum of Natural Sciences (Museum Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique) in Brussels. This specimen originally came from the coast of Sumatra and was thus of the subspecies Dicerorhinus sumatrensis sumatrensis.
Also in 1879, the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle in Paris received a Sumatran rhino of unknown lineage from Antwerp Zoo, so possibly Antwerp Zoo had another Sumatran rhino in 1879. This rhino is possibly the female Sumatran rhino that lived at London Zoo from October 1878 to March 1879 and was then shipped to an unknown destination. This would make sense because there was already a male in the zoo and a female was purchased for it, although the female would not have lived very long after her arrival at Zoo Antwerp.
There was however with certainty a Sumatran rhino in the collection from 1895 until possibly 1903. This specimen was a female and first appears in an illustrated guide from 1895. She was offered for sale at the animal auction held in Antwerp from September 13 to 14, 1898. It is unknown which animals were sold but this rhino probably remained in the collection, as there was a Sumatran rhino in the collection in 1899, 1902 and 1903, but the rhino was absent from a 1910 guide, so she must have died between 1903 and 1910, at least in 1903.
So there were, if all this information is correct, 1.3 Sumatran rhinos in the collection of Zoo Antwerpen. Except for the male rhinos from 1879 it is not clear to which subspecies they belonged.
The Sumatran rhinos probably lived in the Egyptian Temple, where all the rhinos of the Antwerp Zoo lived at the time.
If you have any additions or corrections, please post them.

 

And then we move on to another extinct animal the Antwerp Zoo once had. This time it's the turn of the Bubal hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus buselaphus). This hartebeest subspecies, which is already rare in captivity anyway, became extinct in 1925 and lived in northern Africa. Antwerp Zoo kept 2 types of hartebeest in its history, the Cape Hartebeest and the Bubal Hartebeest, I will briefly tell you something about the Cape Hartebeest and then we move on to the main subject, the Bubal hartebeest.
Cape Hartebeests were first kept from 1861 to an unknown year between 1861 and 1867. This specimen(s) may have come from South Africa, as the London Zoo received a male Cape Hartebeest from South Africa that same year. Africa. Cape Hartebeest(s) were held again in 1867, but this was also until an unknown date.
Now to the main topic: the Bubal hartebeest. There was probably only 1 specimen in the collection, an animal of unknown sex (0.0.1). This animal was purchased from Artis (Netherlands) on 5/10/1865 (day/month/year). Fun fact might be that this was Artis' first Bubal hartebeest. This specimen with an unknown gender arrived in Artis on 21/8/1854 (day/month/year) and came from North Africa (most likely the wild). Antwerp Zoo, together with 8 other zoos, was the only keeper of this animal species in Europe. The hartebeests (both species) immediately came to life in the Antelope Building built in 1861, which was also the arrival date of the first hartebeests. There are 3 photos of an unknown species of hartebeest on the Antwerp Zoo's Image Bank. One of the specimens can be seen there in his enclosure in front of the antelope building with a goat.

 

Let's continue with extinct animals that Antwerp Zoo once had, this time it's the turn of perhaps the last animal of the series: the Carolina Parakeet.
1 of the most famous extinct birds: the Carolina Parakeet. Although this is one of the many species that we regret to have gone extinct, there was less attention paid to the bird at the time, so I can find very little information about the species in the Antwerp Zoo's animal collection. The species must have been present in the collection anyway between 1843 and 1918. Zoo Antwerp was the only holder of the species in Belgium (as far as we know). Where the species was kept is also a question, as I don't know in which year exactly the species was kept, as the still existing Bird Building (however completely changed by the bombings in WW2) was opened in 1894, therefore there were many different aviaries scattered around the park, and it is almost impossible to find out in which of these aviaries.
So much for this short piece about this very beautiful and unique parakeet. This is perhaps the last species of this series about extinct animals that the Antwerp Zoo ever had. If I can find another extinct species I will cover it, if not I will continue with other special species and 'stories' about the history of the Antwerp Zoo.

 

How about you tell us the history of the Egyptian temple?

 

Very good idea @Randomname0183 . I will need several days for this though to make it as complete as possible, 165 years of history is not easy to explain of course. I will use different posts for different time periods or different subject, thereby I always wanted to make an overview of the histroy of the Egyptian Temple. Thanks for the idea.

 

We will finally start with the first part of the history of the Egyptian temple. I will split the 'story' into 2 posts, otherwise the post will be too long.
1856-1901:
The Egyptian Temple, 1 of the most impressive and beautiful zoo buildings in Europe. When the building opened, it was THE crowd-pleaser of the Antwerp Zoo, the 7th oldest zoo in the world and the best-preserved 19th-century zoo in the world. While with many buildings the "wow effect" disappears after a while, this is not the case for the Egyptian Temple, which still exudes its former glory and the same beauty as when it opened. And after 165 years, the building still stands and is the oldest building in the entire Antwerp Zoo and also historical heritage, just like the entire Antwerp Zoo. The building even became an example for other zoos, such as the famous Antelope House in Zoo Berlin, a zoo that, by the way, is only 1 year younger than Zoo Antwerpen.
This first section will cover the period from 1856 to 1900. I divide the post into 2 parts: the building itself and the animals that inhabited the building.
Building:
On 19/8/1856 (day/month/year), the Egyptian Temple was officially opened to the public (although only the richest and fanciest people could enter the zoo). After 165 years, this building still stands, making it the oldest building in the entire Antwerp Zoo, and the oldest zoo building in Belgium. Although the Bird of Prey Cages (or Bird of Prey Aviaries) was probably opened earlier than the Egyptian Temple, I consider the Egyptian Temple to be the oldest building, since the original Bird of Prey Cages were demolished in 2013, then in 2020 the building was reopened on another place in the park, but this is not the original, so the Egyptian Temple is the oldest building. But now back to the Egyptian Temple. The then director Jacques Kets had long wanted a building for a.o. the elephant Jacqueline, the first elephant of the Antwerp Zoo, so he asked architect Charles Servais, together with Guy Demoor, Luc Fornoville, Robert Landois and Emile Thielens to design a building. Servais would go on to design many buildings for the Antwerp Zoo in the years that followed, such as the Bird of Prey Aviaries, the Moorish Temple and many more, and with the help of Robert Landois, he would also design the Hippo building. Servais chose an Egyptian structure, based on the temples of Dendera and Philae. In the middle of the 19th century there was a true 'Egyptomania' in Western Europe. France, through its foreign policy, was at the forefront, and soon many Egyptian-looking structures were opened in Paris. Soon the trend blew over to Belgium. The end result ended up being a 931 m2 brick building, with many white plasterings, columns and inscriptions and a semicircle at the back of the building. Inside the building were several pens for the animals and possibly even a sea turtle pond. Although you would expect the hieroglyphics on the front of the building to have been there from the beginning, this is not the case. For those who have never seen the temple from the inside, I will describe it briefly. In the center is a large space for visitors, with several separate inside pens around it along each side (except at the front where the entrance is). The building was originally built to house hippos, rhinos, giraffes and especially elephants. Elephants and giraffes still live in the building, so they have been living there for 165 years. Although you would expect an EGYPTIC temple to be home to Egyptian animals, this is not and was never the case, as the first elephant that lived in the building, Jacqueline, was an Asian elephant. On August 19, 1865, the building was inaugurated by the then Belgian King Leopold I, also the first king of Belgium.
In 1860 it was decided to paint murals on the building, this was done by Louis Delgeur (one of the few people in Belgium at the time who could read hieroglyphics), who worked with father and sons Stalin (not the dictator of the Soviet Union by the way). By October 1861, the paintings of the facade were finished. The paintings depicted/represent various scenes from Africa, mostly with animals.
In 1868, for the first and only time, pens are added inside the building. On either side of the building, 2 pens for the animals are added in the back.
Something the Egyptian Temple has become somewhat famous for over the years are the many maintenance works. As early as between 1870 and 1890, various maintenance works are carried out on the building.
In 1871, 1880 and 1888 the building is painted several times, admittedly with African scenes. In 1894, under the direction of Emile Thielens, the painting of the sides of the building is tackled by the painter H. Verbuecken. Only the paintings on the front of the building are still the original ones (although repainted several times). In 1901, they deviated from the African scenes through Henri Verbuecken. His approach was rather decorative and gave much more grandeur to the previously bare building.

 

Animals:
And now for the part of the animals that inhabited the building from 1856 to 1901.
The building was built for hippos, rhinos, giraffes and elephants.
One of the main reasons for the building was to give Indian elephant Jacqueline a dignified home. The elephant arrived in Antwerp from Myanmar on July 21, 1852, in honor of the 9th anniversary of the zoo. At first she lived in one of the farm buildings on newly acquired land from the zoos, which was full of farm houses, of the farm where Jacqueline lived there are pictures on the Image bank of the KMDA. The giraffes also lived in that same building. The building had a high 'tower' on the side of the building to act as an indoor enclosure for the giraffes. All of the outdoor enclosures were equipped with lattice fences. All of these fences were in a square shape, except the one for the giraffes, which was semi-circular, so the fences around the building had a rectangular shape with a large semi-circular arch at the end. The Egyptian Temple was revolutionary for the zoo, as the enclosures were considerably larger.
Elephants: Jacqueline was the only elephant in the Egyptian Temple until she was joined by a young African savannah elephant in 1862. On January 31, 1880, however, Jacqueline dies after 27 years of living in the Antwerp Zoo. Her skeleton is set up in the Egyptian Temple, which was a familiar sight in the temple for many years, until her skeleton was removed in 2015. I still hope that one day her skeleton will return to the Egyptian Temple. After Jacqueline's death, however, it won't be long before Zoo Antwerpen has Asian elephants back in its collection. On 12/5/1880, the female Asian elephant Sultane arrived from the Zoo of Brussels (which had been closed since 1878) (I will explain the story of how she came to Antwerp shortly), along with a male African elephant, who died shortly thereafter, however.
Giraffes: the giraffes clearly felt at ease in the new temple, as the first giraffe was born there on June 10, 1871. This was the 3rd breeding success of a giraffe in a zoo ever, since then the Antwerp zoo regularly bred giraffes and even became known for its breeding successes with giraffes.
Hippos: In 1878 the first hippos arrived, they came to live in the Egyptian Temple.
An 1876 map shows that an enclosure for hippos and deer was planned on the site of the Hippo Building, which opened in 1885. In 1881, a new pair of hippos was purchased, named Julie (0.1) and Broek (1.0). These lived in the temple for 4 years until they moved to the Hippo Building. However, there is mention of hippos in Antwerp Zoo as early as 1861, but the Image Bank contradicts this by mentioning 1878 as the arrival year of the first hippos and then giving a description about a new hippo couple arriving in 1880/1881, which is completely correct. Dwarf hippos were first housed in Antwerp Zoo in 1884, so they may have also lived in the Egyptian Temple for a while before moving to the Hippo Building.
Rhinos: A black rhinoceros was first seen in Antwerp Zoo in 1858, and also lived in the Egyptian Temple. This rhino probably lived very short, as there was no rhino in the collection in 1861.
In 1861, another rhino comes to live at the temple, this time an Indian rhino. Already in 1868, a fatal accident occurs in which the Indian rhino crushed a caretaker. Finally, after 37 years of living in the zoo, the Indian rhino dies on September 7, 1898. In 1879 and from 1898 until sometime between 1903 and 1910, another rarer species of rhino lived in the temple: the Sumatran rhino, to which I devoted an entire post.
Tapirs: In 1896 a Malayan tapir arrived from the now closed Tiergarten Nill in Germany, coincidentally this was also the first Malayan tapir ever born in a zoo. This one came to live with a South American tapir in the Egyptian Temple. Like the Sumatran rhinos, they were regularly let out onto the elephant bed.
Zebras: From 1858-1860 the Antwerp Zoo probably had Burchell's zebras for the first time, in 1858 there was even a first breeding success. These lived in the Egyptian Temple. From 1862 until an unknown year, the Antwerp Zoo again had Burchell's zebras, again this time in the temple. From 1861 to an unknown year, the Antwerp Zoo also kept Cape mountain zebras. From 1899 until an unknown year (probably no longer in the collection in 1902) Antwerp Zoo kept a 3rd zebra species: the Chapman's zebra. There are also reports of steppe zebras in Antwerp Zoo in 1861, which lived in the Egyptian temple. From 1861-1867, Antwerp Zoo had 4 quaggas living in the Egyptian Temple.
An 1858 greeting card shows the inside of the temple with a black rhinoceros, camels or dromedaries and zebras. The Egyptian Temple would appear on greeting cards just about every year from its opening, from which you can clearly infer that the building was a major crowd pleaser and the most impressive building in the entire zoo.
Dromedary/Camel: As already mentioned, there was either a camel or a dromedary in the Egyptian Temple in 1858. In 1861, both dromedaries and camels (how many is unknown) were present in Zoo Antwerp. However, no photos of camels in the Egyptian Temple can be found in the Image Bank of Antwerp Zoo, but there are of dromedaries.
Sea turtles: It is possible that there was a sea turtle pond in the middle of the building, where Jacqueline's skeleton was later found. However, this was removed because maintenance was too difficult.

 

1902-1939:
It took a little longer than planned, but here is the 2nd part on the history of the Egyptian Temple, this time from 1902 to 1939.
First, I would like to make some urgent corrections to my previous post:

I found out that there was indeed a sea turtle pond in the middle of the building. I'm not sure if they were sea turtles, but at least they were aquatic turtles. The sea turtle pond was indeed torn down because maintenance was too difficult. To replace it, a mosaic floor was constructed in 1901, designed by Emile Thielens. This mosaic floor is still in the building today.
Building:
What the Egyptian Temple has become more or less known for over time are the many restoration works, and this period is no exception.
In 1907, 1920, 1926 and 1929, restoration works were carried out on the building, under the direction of Henri Verbuecken and L. De Wit.
Animals:
Around 1936, the lattice fences of the elephants and hippos were gradually replaced by other types of fencing. In the case of the elephants in the Egyptian temple, the fences were replaced by a dry moat, dressed with rocks. However, there are photos of the elephant enclosure from 1937 where the enclosure still has the lattice fences, so they were probably replaced first at the hippos. The 1st World War did not directly affect the animals of the Egyptian Temple or the temple itself, but after the war only 19% of the pre-war animal collection remained. Below is a list of the animals that lived in the building between 1902 and 1939 with accompanying information:
Asian elephants: Elephants lived the whole time in the building throughout the period from 1902 to 1939. In 1902, Asian elephant Victoria arrived, a female elephant. In 1935, a new female elephant arrived, named Jeanni. This followed by another female elephant named Rani, it arrived on August 1, 1936. All of these elephants were wild-caught. Jeanni and Rani were still young when they arrived, as there is a photo from 1937 showing 4 young elephants, 3 of which were Asian elephants. Who the 3rd one (and also the oldest one) is is not clear.
In 1938, possibly 4 new elephants arrived, of which 3 were probably Asian elephants.
During this entire period, the Antwerp Zoo had no male Asian elephants. It is unclear when these elephants died, nor when Sultane died (a female elephant from the Brussels Zoo), which arrived in 1880. So during this period, the Antwerp Zoo had at least 0.3 Asian elephants.
African Forest elephants: In 1903, an African Forest elephant arrived from the wilds of Congo, then the Congo Free State, privately owned by the then Belgian King Leopold II. When this elephant died is not clear. On October 28, 1921, a new African Forest elephant arrived from the Congo, which had been the Belgian Congo since 1908, and thus no longer under personal ownership of the king. The elephant was named Maria, and was a female. Maria would eventually live at the Zoo (among the Asian elephants) until her death on August 31, 1935.
In 1922, a new elephant arrived from Belgian Congo. However, this one was depicted as a swamp elephant, a species whose existence has not yet been confirmed. The elephant died in the 1930s. This was probably still a young elephant because a photo from 1937 shows 4 young elephants, including 1 elephant with very rounded ears, but it is depicted as an African elephant.
Another African forest elephant arrived in 1938, when the elephant died is unknown.
Giraffes: I couldn't find much about the Antwerp Zoo's giraffes of this period, but this is what I could find:
On June 20, 1934, a giraffe arrived at the port of Antwerp, logically destined for the Antwerp Zoo. Judging by the spots it was probably a Nubian giraffe, although there is a chance it was a Rotschild's giraffe as well.
Okapis: Antwerp Zoo's first okapi and the first okapi in a zoo, named Buta, arrived in August 1919 from the Belgian Congos (as did all the okapis mentioned here). This one came to live in the Egyptian Temple. However, the animal dies as early as September 29, 1919. On May 15, 1928, a new okapi, named Congo I, arrives. However, the okapi dies as early as May 28, 1928.
On September 15, 1928, okapi Tele arrives; it lives much longer and survives until October 25, 1943.
On August 19, 1931 and August 17, 1932, 2 new okapis arrive.
Until 1965, the okapis of Zoo Antwerpen lived in the Egyptian temple, then they moved to the Moorish temple, and later also to the African savannah.
I won't go into further detail about the okapis, as I have a whole post dedicated to the history of okapis in Antwerp Zoo.
Rhinos: As already mentioned in the previous section, the last Sumatran rhino died between 1903 and 1910.
In 1902 an Indian rhino is mentioned in the Antwerp Zoo.
From April or May 1907 to 1910, an Indian rhino lived in the Antwerp Zoo, and thus in the Egyptian Temple. This specimen came from Nepal and was purchased for 25000 francs, or 620 euros ($690).
On July 21, 1931, the skin and skeleton of a black rhino from Antwerp Zoo arrived at the Museum of Natural Sciences in Brussels. So a black rhinoceros lived in Antwerp Zoo until July 1931.
Tapirs: The park map of 1908 mentions tapirs in the Egyptian Temple. As already mentioned in the previous post, a Malayan tapir arrived from Tiergarten Nill in 1896. This Malayan tapir came to live with a South American tapir. So at least 1 of the 2 lived until at least 1908.
Capibaras: The park map off 1920 mentions capibaras in the Egyptian temple.
Dromedary camels: Park maps from 1908 to 1933 mention dromedaries in the Egyptian Temple, after this they moved to the Rhino Building, which had previously housed moose and wallabies, and from 1950 rhinos, and later to the Panorama Park.
Zebras: Every map of this period mentions zebras in the Egyptian Temple. There is mention of Burchell's zebras in 1902, and also Cape mountain zebras, 1 of which was heavily pregnant. In 1899, Chapman's zebras arrived at Zoo Antwerpen. There are photos from 1934 showing a Chapman's zebra in an outdoor enclosure of the Egyptian temple. Photographs from 1934 and 1935 also show a Chapman's zebra with her young. In 1922 Grant's zebras arrived at Zoo Antwerpen, they lived until an unknown year.
So far this part.

 

1940-1983:
This part also took longer to make than I thought it would, but here it is, the 3rd part of the history of the Egyptian temple.
First a correction on my previous post:

I found out that this Eastern black rhino did not live in the Egyptian temple but in the Hippo Building.

And now to the 1940-1983 section:
This part starts in 1 of the most bad parts of all human history: the 2nd World War. On May 10, 1940, it was Belgium's turn. At the beginning of the war, like 26 years before, 31 predators were preemptively shot, including lions, tigers and jaguars. In the winter of 1940, many more precious animals died from the cold. At the end of 1944 the Antwerp Zoo served as a British army base. For this, the Antwerp Zoo was rewarded in 1945 with 2 female Asian elephants named Monty and Ike. 40% of the animals survived the war, which is very high compared to the 1st World War. However, the buildings did not fare as well: the Aquarium, Reptile Building and Bird Building were hit by a flying bomb at the end of the war. The Bird Building had to be completely demolished, only the façade is still standing. In 1944, 16 bombs hit the Hippo Building, Natural History Museum and Winter Garden and, of the Hippo Building, thanks to the war, only the indoor pools remain from the original building. The Antelope building from 1861 and the Predator building were also completely destroyed and had to be completely demolished. All these buildings are only a fraction of what was destroyed during the war. And the Egyptian Temple was not left untouched either, as the roof with the beautiful glass dome collapsed. But the animals of the Egyptian temple also suffer from the war. For example, the 3rd okapi of the Antwerp Zoo, Tele, dies.
Building:
As already mentioned, the roof of the Egyptian temple collapsed. Therefore, in 1949, a restoration was done to the building, but again it was mainly painting works. This time the painting works were under the direction of P. De Troyer. The decoration of the side walls was completely changed, only the facade still has the original paintings. The elephants' pool was also damaged during the war. In 1964, fundamental problems were finally looked at, instead of repainting or minor restoration works, these major restoration works continued until 1965. The main problems were seeping rainwater and the urine of the animals, because of this, ventilation holes were installed. Under the direction of R. Landois, the appearance of 1861 was restored.
Animals:
Asian elephants: As already mentioned, in July 1945 the Antwerp Zoo received 2 Indian elephants (0.2) donated by the British Army because the zoo served as a British Army base. The elephants were named Monty and Ike and came from Allwetterzoo Münster. How many elephants were present at that time is very difficult to say due to the unknown dates of death. Monty was euthanized on May 10, 1957 due to her aggressive behavior. Ike, however, would live another 36 years, until November 9, 1981, she turned 45 years old.
In the meantime, 5 more Asian elephants arrived at the Antwerp Zoo:
The female elephant Kasia arrived from the wild in 1951. On 1/8/1951 she left for the Warsaw Zoo, where she died on 20 July 1956.
On an unknown date, the male elephant Romeo II arrived from the wild. He leaves on an unknown date for Tierpark Hagenbeck, where he died on January 19, 1965.
On April 6, 1967, the 10-month-old female elephant Urajah arrived, he left on April 25, 1969 for Soest Zoo, a holding and trading facility in the Netherlands.
On May 12, 1976, the young female elephant Dumbo arrives for the first time in the Antwerp Zoo, she moves once to Vincennes Zoo and twice to the Rotterdam Zoo. Finally she moves as matriarch of the herd to Planckendael in 2012, where she dies on May 19, 2020.
On June 11, 1976, young female elephants Dora and Duvel arrived from the wilds of Assam (India). Dora left for Zoo Barben on 30 June 1998 and is still living there. Duvel died in the Antwerp Zoo on 7 June 1996, 20 years after her arrival.
African Forest elephants: Also in this period, African Forest elephants arrived from the Belgian Congo.
In 1947, 2 elephants of an unknown gender arrived from the Belgian Congo, already in the same year they left the collection.
On July 30, 1952, female Forest elephant José, together with African plains elephant Willibadi, arrived at the port of Antwerp from the Gangala-na-Bodio Elephant Domestication Centre in Belgian Congo, keepers from Congo came with the elephants. José died on April 23, 1959. José was the last African Forest elephant of the Antwerp Zoo.
African elephants: In this period both African plains elephants and African savanna elephants were kept in the Antwerp Zoo.
As mentioned earlier, female African plains elephant Willibadi arrived on July 30, 1952 from the Gangala-na-Bodio Elephant Domestication Centre, a training station for elephants in the Belgian Congo. Although she was portrayed as a Forest elephant, she was in fact an African plains elephant, the only one Zoo Antwerpen ever had. She died on July 30, 1953.
From 1921 until about 1960 several African savanna elephants lived in the Antwerp Zoo, it is not known which ones.
From 27 June 1947 until 1949 African elephant Api lived in the Antwerp Zoo, but this one lived in the Hippo Building.
Giraffes: As already mentioned before, Zoo Antwerpen used to be known for its breeding successes with giraffes, and this period is no exeption. At the time, the back of the Egyptian Temple, where giraffes still live today, was divided into 2 enclosures, of which the right one served for the okapis. Here is the information I could find:
In 1946 giraffe Babinne was born.
In the spring of 1949, 3 giraffes arrived in the port of Antwerp, destined for Antwerp Zoo. The 3 giraffes came from the Belgian Congo. Besides the giraffes, many other animals arrived for Antwerp Zoo, including a monitor lizard, a dibatag antelope and a pair of maned wolves from Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).
On 28 April 1953 giraffe Gloria was born.
On March 7, 1955, reticulated giraffe Babin gave birth to a son named Ira.
On July 27, 1959, giraffe Clea gave birth to a son named Mil. The father is giraffe Climax.
In 1965, Gloria herself, born in 1953, gave birth to a daughter named Soraphe. Soraphe was born on August 3, 1965. But also Clea, who still gave birth to a male in 1959 again has a son named Seventeen. Seventeen was born on August 4, 1965. Although Gloria was depicted as a reticulated giraffe at birth, she is now called a masai giraffe like Clea, however, they look neither like a reticulated giraffe nor a masai giraffe.
Okapi: Until 1965 all okapis of the Antwerp Zoo lived in the Egyptian temple, 2 okapis however lived on the African savannah. After this they moved to the Moorish temple which is now the bongo area. Thanks to veterinarian Agatha Gijzen, the Antwerp Zoo became the okapi's studbook keeper in 1959 and succeeded in breeding okapis.
Here information about the okapis that lived in the Egyptian temple:
On October 25, 1943, female okapi Tele dies of malnutrition because of the war, after living in Antwerp Zoo for 15 years.
On May 28, 1948, male okapi Besobe and female okapi Ekate arrive from the Okapi Wildlife Reserve near the Epulu River in the Belgian Congo, like all okapis of this period. Ekate dies as early as May 29, 1948. Besobe dies on July 22, 1958.
On May 1, 1949, the male okapi Butembo arrives. Butembo dies on May 27, 1949.
On September 29, 1950, the female okapi Dasegela arrives. She dies on July 27, 1971, at the age of 23.
On September 18, 1954, Dasegala gives birth to a son named Hoka. The okapi's father is Besobe.
On June 30, 1955, female okapi Isangani arrives. She dies on October 23, 1962.
On August 10, 1955, another okapi arrives, this time a male named Imayala. Imayala dies on January 29, 1972, at the age of 17.
Dasegala and Besobe have another calf on July 3, 1956, however, the female calf dies the same day, and thus was possibly a stillbirth.
On January 22, 1958, however, a successful birth does take place. This time Dasegala gives birth to a female, named Lipumbe. Once again, Besobe is the father. Lipumbe, however, turns out to be not so healthy and attempts are made to raise Lipumbe by hand. Veterinarian Agatha Gijzen also takes care of the okapi, but the okapi already dies on February 4, 1958.
On April 24, 1959, however, it is a greater success. Again Dasegala gives birth to a female, named Mafuta, the father is again Besobe. Mafuta dies on February 2, 1961, at the age of 1. Until then, Mafuta was housed on the African savannah, along with sitatungas, marabous, shoebill storks and more.
On September 12, 1961, the female okapi Nyeusi arrives. She dies 5 years later, on January 28, 1967.
On January 22, 1958, Dasegala again gives birth to a daughter, this time named Lipumbe. The calf's father is again Besobe. However, the calf dies as early as February 4, 1958.
On April 24, 1959, Dasegala gives birth to another daughter. This is the last child of Besobe, who died 9 months earlier. The calf is named Mafuta. An attempt is made to raise Mafuta by hand but Mafuta dies on February 2, 1961, at the age of 1.
On June 1, 1960, Cheik (1.0) and Kebu (0.1) arrive. The okapis are the last okapis to be shipped from the Belgian Congo, as the country became independent on June 30, 1960. The 2 okapis left for Tierpark Hagenbeck on October 1, 1960, where both animals died already on October 10, 1960.
On November 13, 1960, the female okapi Nduku was born, as a child of Dasegela (0.1) and Imayala (1.0). Nduku is the last calf of Dasegela and the first of Imayala. Again, the calf does not survive long, dying on December 31, 1960.
On May 6, 1961, the okapis Congo Ja Sika (1.0) and Bakeda (0.1) arrive. They leave for Bristol Zoo on 29 August 1961, becoming Bristol Zoo's first okapis. Congo Ja Sika dies the same day, Bakeda dies only 10 years later, on 13 August 1971.
On September 12, 1961, the 2 male okapis Okeusi and Mazanga arrive. Okeusi stays in Antwerp, but Mazanga leaves for Bristol Zoo on 15 December 1961, to join Bakeda (who also came from Antwerp). He had 12 children with different females before dying in Bristol on 27 May 1977.
On April 3, 1962, okapi Isangani gave birth to a cub for the first and only time. The father of the cub is Imayala, who will be a father for the last time. However, the cub dies on the same day, or was a stillbirth.
In or around 1965, the okapis Imayala (1.0), Dasegala (0.1), Nyeusi (0.1), and Okeusi (1.0) move from the Egyptian Temple to the Moorish Temple. However, Imayala had been living with okapi Isangani (died in 1962) on the Congolese savannah for some time. A 1966 photograph shows okapis Imayala, Dasegala, and Okeusi together on an outdoor enclosure of the Moorish temple.
Zebras: Just about every map from this period mentions zebras living in the Egyptian temple. All zebra species lived in the Egyptian temple. Here the zebra species of the time+extra information:
In 1978, there were 1.4 Burchell's zebras present in Zoo Antwerp.
The Chapman's zebras lived in the Egyptian temple until they moved to the current kangaroo enclosure somewhere between 1971 and June 1972. On April 12, 1954, a Chapman's zebra was born in the Egyptian temple. In 1959, the/a stallion in the group was a Chapman's zebra named Jimmy.
Hartmann's mountain zebras lived in the Egyptian temple (they still do) from 1934 until an unknown year when they moved to the current kangaroo enclosure, where the Chapman's zebras previously lived and they continued to live until 2012.
Rhinos: Since 1950, rhinos came to live in the Rhino Building, right across the left side of the Egyptian Temple. However, these were only (Northern) white rhinos (the first outside Africa) and in 1978 Indian rhinoceros. The black rhinos, however, continued to live in the Egyptian temple. Below is information about the Eastern black rhinos that lived in the Egyptian temple:
On September 22, 1949, 1-year-old rhino Cona (also called Bona) arrived at the Antwerp Zoo from the Belgian Congo. She died on March 7, 1956.
On June 26, 1953, the almost-1 year old male black rhino Grando arrived from the British colony of Kenya. Grando died on February 21, 1964 as the last male black rhino of Antwerp Zoo.
On August 3, 1956, female black rhino Jessica arrived from the British colony of Kenya. She died on November 5, 1969 and was the last black rhino of the Antwerp Zoo.
The black rhinos lived in the 2 rightmost enclosures on the left side of the Egyptian temple (right across the Rhino Building and now right across the Buffalo aviary). The rightmost enclosure did not have an access gate to the indoor enclosure (it was next to the building façade and is now part of the zebras' separation area) and so a wooden fence was used to lead Jessica (who lived in the enclosure) to her indoor enclosure.
Jessica and Grando were regularly put together in the elephant pen, but without breeding success.
According to the image database, there was another rhino present named Yassam. On 1 picture Yassam and Grando can be seen together (with bars in between), but I can't find anything about this rhino.
Tapirs: Park maps from 1966 to 1978 show that tapirs lived in the Egyptian temple, and no longer in the Hippo building. A 1980 map shows that tapirs were again living in the Hippo building and no longer in the Egyptian temple.
The only species present in Antwerp Zoo at that time was the South American tapir. These were regularly let into the elephant enclosure but it seems they also had their own enclosure on the left side of the temple. In 1973 there were 1.1 South American tapirs in the collection. In 1978 there were still 1.1.
Others: A 1950 park map shows "swamp hogs" in the Egyptian temple. However, I have no idea what species this might be. If anyone knows, please let me know.
So far this section.

 

I think that might refer to red river hogs, as they are known to live near swamps and rivers. ZTL does list Antwerp as keeping that species from 1946 to 1976. Although I would have expected them to have been kept in the pig house.