Facts about the history of the Antwerp Zoo

I was also thinking something similar but I found a photo from 1961 that shows a red river hog in front of the Pig House. It may be that red river hogs were kept in the Egyptian temple in 1950 and later moved to the Pig House. A 1920 map does mention "water hogs" or capybaras in the Egyptian temple, but a 1933 map mentions capybaras in the Pig House. The 1950 map, however, does not mention capybaras, so these may also be 'swamp hogs'. However, I would find it odd that they would choose 'swamp hogs' rather than 'water hogs'. Another type of boar that is commonly found in swamps is the Feral pig, which is sometimes called 'swamp hog'. I don't know of any of these if it is the 'swamp hog' we are looking for, for now I think the most logical option are red river hogs.

 

Nubian wild ass: At the backside of the building were 2 enclosures. The right one (seen from the facade) served for the giraffes. The left one served for Nubian wild asses and dromedary camels, among others. Antwerp Zoo kept 2 (1.1) Nubian wild donkeys. When the animals arrived is unknown, but they left for Zoo Berlin in 1897.
Saiga: In 1878, Antwerp Zoo had saigas for the first time. The number that were kept is unknown. These saigas were housed in the Egyptian temple, on the left side of the building.
Anoa: In 1892, anoa's arrived at Zoo Antwerpen. Judging from photos, these were 2 specimens. The 2(?) anoa's lived on the left side of the Egyptian temple, next to zebra's (species unknown). The anoa's (or at least 1 specimen) were still present in 1902, the date on which the last animal died or left is unknown.

Northern white rhino: Northern white rhino Chloe (the last Northern white rhino of Zoo Antwerpen) lived in the former black rhino enclosure of the Egyptian temple, from 1978 until her death in 1985. The Rhino Building had 2 outdoor enclosures, 1 for Chloe and the other for the pair of Southern white rhinos. However, in 1978, Indian rhinos came to live in the building for a while, forcing Chloe to move to the building right across from it, the Egyptian Temple. After the Indian rhinos left, the 2 outdoor enclosures of the Rhino Building were merged and so Chloë stayed in the Egyptian temple until her death in 1985.
Eland: There were 2 types of elands in the collection during this period: the Eastern giant eland and the common eland. There are photos of elands in the Egyptian temple, the Moorish temple and the Bovine building. However, the photos of the Cattle Building are from e.g. 1934. Those from the Moorish Temple, however, are about the same age as those from the Egyptian Temple, so perhaps one species was kept in the Egyptian Temple and the other in the Moorish Temple. Exactly when they came into the collection is unknown, the oldest photo I could find of elands in the Egyptian Temple was from 1961, where a young eland and mother can be seen in an outdoor enclosures of the Egyptian Temple. Here information about the 2 species:
Common eland: In 1973, there were 2.3 common eland present in the collection. In 1978 there were 2.4.
Eastern giant eland: In 1973 there were 4.5 specimens present in Zoo Antwerpen, in 1978 there were 3.3.
Besides the rhinos, elephants and giraffes there were no permanent species and all these species were only kept there temporarily.
Saiga: From 1972 to 1989, saigas again lived in the Egyptian temple. Antwerp had 3 breeding successes. A total of 2.1.1 saigas were born in Antwerp, of which 2.1 survived. Here more information about the saigas in the Antwerp Zoo:
History of saiga in captivity
Dwarfzebu: I found photos from the 1980s (of the 20th century) where a dwarf zebu can be seen in the enclosure to the left of white rhino Chloe. They probably didn't live here long, as they were mainly housed in the Cattle Building.
Kulan: In 1978, there were 3.4 kulans present in Zoo Antwerpen. Where these were kept is unclear but most likely this was the Egyptian temple.
I hope I have now covered all species. If you discover another species or wonder if the species lived in the temple, post it.

 

Looking on ZTL there’s a chance the “swamp hogs” were Congo forest hogs, which Antwerp held from 1902 to an unknown date. I am not pretty knowledgable on the layout, but from what I’ve read maybe they were kept in the pig house you’ve mentioned?

 

I checked the zoo's Image Bank again, I couldn't find any pictures of some kind of hog in the Egyptian temple. Although the section off pigs and boars is very cluttered and probably the worst part of the Image Bank I could find pictures of Congo forest hogs and Southern bush pigs, however both in the Pig Building diagonally across the back of the Egyptian temple, but both could qualify as "swamp hogs". Southern bush pigs were not present in the collection in 1950, however, according to the same source, neither were Congo forest hogs ever in the collection, which would not be correct since Congo forest hogs were present in the collection from 1919 until an unknown date and back a couple from 1955. Red river hogs, however, were present in the collection in 1950 with certainty, which only makes it more likely that the "swamp hogs" were indeed red river hogs. However, the possibilities are almost endless since white boars and Feral pigs are also sometimes called "swamp hogs".

 

Hello I take the liberty to add to the discussion the guides already presented on my page. Others will come soon


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1984-2009:
Here is a new section on the history of the Egyptian temple. I've been busy last time but I decided to finish this probably penultimate section today. First I want to correct some things from my previous post or make additions.

I discovered that the South American tapirs continued to live in the Egyptian temple until the 1984 to 1988 renovation.

I discovered that on June 14, 1949, 3 (2.1) giraffes arrived in the port of Antwerp: Climax (1.0), Chadi (1.0) and Clea (0.1).
Building:
I ended at 1983 in the previous part to start this part with the biggest and longest renovation the Egyptian Temple experienced, the one from 1984 to 1988, no less than 4 years.
Something important I forgot to mention was that the Egyptian Temple became a protected monument in 1983, as did many other buildings of the Antwerp Zoo.
The Egyptian Temple went through many small-scale renovations, repaints or additions in its history, but now the temple is being done very thoroughly, under the supervision of the Monuments Trust.
At that time, several animals lived in the building, namely 0.3 Asian elephants, giraffes, tapirs (probably South American tapirs), antelopes (elands and saigas) and Northern white rhino Chloë.
Chloë would eventually not see the renovated building as she died on August 7, 1985.
The biggest problems were animal urine and seeping rainwater. To solve the last one, the Antwerp Zoo chose to build a new roof bed in 1986. The walls were also sanitized for rising damp, which meant that even the plaster had to be removed. Only the facade was spared and so these are still the original paintings, although these also received a new coat of paint. Much of the original painting of the entire temple was even restored and made more resistant. There was also a new type of heating system that was not disturbing to people and was not dangerous to animals. The ground anchoring of the fences on the inside was also crumbling, so the stables were also renovated. The appearance of the stables remained largely the same, although a slightly sloped floor and tiles were added. The fences of the large giraffe stable at the back of the building were replaced with strong glass.
On April 29, 1988, the building was inaugurated by the Belgian Prince Philip (now King Philip), Flemish Minister of Culture Patrick Dewael, Antwerp Mayor Bob Cools, President of the Flemish Parliament Leo Tindemans, Representative of the people Ward Beysen, KMDA Director Fred Daman and many other important people. Among other things, there were speeches and guided tours.
After the renovation, there were only 4 animal species left to admire in the building: Asian elephants, giraffes, Arabian oryxes and ostriches. The ostriches were kept on the left side, on the place where white rhino Chloë lived. The Arabian oryxes were kept between the giraffes (end of building) and ostriches, as well as on the left side.
In 1999 the elephant enclosure was totally renovated. The enclosure was almost doubled in size and extended towards the Cormorant Pond. Instead of a dry moat, fences were now used. There was a much larger pool and also a lookout point for visitors. This was required by the new standards in 1999. The enclosure was called Hathi-Mahal, or Elephant Palace. Although this enclosure is still there, it is no longer called Hathi-Mahal by the Zoo.
Animals:
Asian elephants: A total of 0.7 Asian elephants were present in Zoo Antwerp during this period, and 1.2 were even born, more on this later. Before the total renovation of the enclosure, 3 elephants were kept: Dumbo, Dora and Duvel, all since 1976. Duvel died on June 7, 1996, Dora left on June 30, 1998 for Zoo Barben, where she still lives, and Dumbo left on November 17, 1998 temporarily for the Rotterdam Zoo. On 31 August 1999, Dumbo returned to the Antwerp Zoo, where she was joined by 0.4 other elephants named Bombay, Daisy, Dina and Jana, all from Berlin Circus Union. This new enclosure finally ended the long habit of visitors feeding the elephants from their hands. Bombay and Jana already left on July 4, 2003 to Zoo Amiens Métropole. Bombay died there on February 17, 2005. Jana is still alive and has been living back in Belgium since December 6, 2017, this time however in Pairi Daiza. Daisy and Dina left for Zoo Maubege on April 17, 2006. Dina died on July 31, 2019, but Daisy is still alive. These 2 left because Zoo Antwerp receveid a new breeding group from Port Lympne Wild Animal Park on May 2, 2006 , of which the already present Dumbo became the matriarch. On March 17 and July 1, 1996, 2 elephants were born with Dumbo as mother and the famous Siam from Zoo de Vincennes as father. Dumbo went to Zoo de Vincennes for 2 years (from May 12, 1993 to May 12, 1995) for this purpose. However, the elephants were a stillbirth. It wasn't until May 17, 2009 that it finally happened, for the first time a living elephant was born in Belgium, named Kai Mook. Mother was the now deceased (Khaing) Phyo Phyo and father was Alexander. Because of Alexander's stay at Zoo Antwerpen, the elephants were also kept in indoor enclosures on the other side off the temple. Kai Mook received massive media attention and Antwerp Zoo received the highest number of visitors in its entire history that year, namely 1,335,000 visitors. There is no point in going into more detail here, as the impact of her birth will require at least an entire post.
Giraffes: One species that benefited greatly from the renovation were the giraffes. Not only did they get a glass window to their indoor enclosure instead of bars, but the fence outside was torn down and the enclosures at the back of the building were merged. The fence was replaced with a moat. The main species kept after the 1984-1988 renovation was the Kordofangiraffe, of which a breeding group was kept. In 2008, the Kordofangiraffe breeding group was moved to sister park Planckendael. Since then, giraffes have been kept which were not suitable for breeding, e.g. because they are a cross between two giraffe (sub)species. The first new giraffes were 0.2 (mother and daughter) giraffes from Belfast Zoo.
Arabian oryxes: In 1972 the Arabian oryx became extinct in the wild, after breeding successes Arabian oryxes could come from the United States to 3 European zoos in 1979, Antwerp Zoo was 1 of these 3, together with Tierpark Berlin and Zürich Zoo. In 1989 new specimens arrived in Antwerp Zoo. That same year, an Arabian oryx was born for the first time in Antwerp Zoo, after which several births followed, until the last animals went to Montpellier Zoo in 2005. Just like the ostrich enclosure next door, this enclosure also had a glass fence. Antwerp Zoo helped in a big way to save this almost extinct species. I don't know what happened to the enclosure after the Arabian oryxes left, but the indoor enclosures were used for elephants. I can only remember giraffes and zebras on the location of the oryx enclosure, if you know what happened to the (outdoor) enclosure, please post it.
Ostriches: An enclosure for ostriches, completely enclosed by glass, came in the place where the rhino enclosures were first. It is possible that South African ostriches lived there for a while, as there were 1.2 specimens present in 1978. The ostriches left in 1996.
Lowland anoas: After the ostriches left in 1996, anoas came to live in the enclosure in 2006. In 2011, the anoa moved to the building across the street, the Rhino Building, which had not housed any rhinos since 2001. After the leave of the anoas in the Egyptian Temple, Dusky pademelons came to live in their enclosure in the Egyptian Temple.

Judging from the background, it is interesting that the Greater slow loris first lived in the Reptile Building before they moved to the Nocturama.

 

thank you for that clarification

 

Another cool fact is that their two female hippos tested positive for Covid-19 in December.

 

sorry for the late reply can you send me a link for the ''online picture bank of the Antwerp Zoo'' because I cant find it

 

Here is the link:
Historische Beeldbank

 

I have been very busy last time but here it is, the final part of the history of the truly beautiful Egyptian temple:
2010-2021:
Now for the final part of the history of 1 of the most beautiful and famous zoo buildings ever: the Egyptian Temple.
Building:
After Zoo Antwerp presented their masterplan in 2007, there were plans and or rumors for the first few years that the Egyptian Temple would become a museum. Fortunately, these plans did not materialize and the choice was made to renovate the building (again) from 2015 to 2016. Among other things, the mosaics were painted over, as they were in poor condition. The giraffes had to move to the left side of the temple due to the work, on the site of the former ostrich and oryx enclosures, which had been serving for years for anoa and Dusky pademelons, among others.
In the summer of 2017, a new and larger enclosure was opened at the rear of the building for the giraffes and Hartmann's mountain zebras. The temporary giraffe enclosure on the left side of the temple was converted into a separation area for the zebras. This savannah continues up to the Llama Building (no longer used for animal housing) and the Pig Building, so it is no longer possible to walk completely around the temple.
Animals:
Asian elephants: In June 2012, the entire herd of 5 (0.5) elephants left for KMDA's 2nd zoo: Planckendael. In Planckendael, the elephants have a much larger enclosure, which is one of the best in Europe. Antwerp Zoo announced that in the future it would only keep young adult males.
On 7 July 2012, the first male young adult elephant arrived in Antwerp Zoo, named Budi. Budi came from Dublin Zoo.
Budi was followed on 12 July 2012 by Ming Jung, another young adult male. Ming Jung came from Cologne Zoo.
On June 22, 2013, Budi left on a transatlantic trip to Denver Zoo.
Ming Jung was joined the very next day (June 23, 2013) by the young male Kanvar, from Selwo Aventura.
Kanvar departed for Planckendael on July 5, 2017, as a result a new male elephant named Assam arrived on July 20, 2017. Assam was from Tierpark Hagenbeck.
After witnessing the departure of 2 other elephants, Ming Jung finally left for Whipsnade Zoo on October 28, 2019.
Just 2 days later, on October 30, 2019, a new male elephant arrived named Sam to keep Assam company.
Giraffes: As already described in my previous post, 0.2 new giraffes (mother and daughter) arrived from Belfast Zoo in 2008 after the breeding group of Kordofangiraffes left for Planckendael. Eventually 3 more female giraffes arrive, bringing the total to 5: Dana and Ballysallagh (mother and daughter), Clea, Buna and Dawa.
Ballysallagh is still alive anno 2022, but Dana died in 2017. Ballysallagh is 75% a Rotschild giraffe, as mother Dana was a hybrid between a Rotschild giraffe and a hybrid.
Clea is still alive and is a hybrid between a Rotschildgiraffe and an unknown (sub)species.
Buna is still alive and is a netgiraffe.
Dawa was the last Masaigiraf in Europe so far. She came from Zoo Basel and lived in Zoo Antwerpen from 2011 until her death in 2015.
Hartmann's mountain zebras: The Hartmann's mountain zebras lived temporarily in Planckendael from 2016 to 2017 due to the works on their new enclosure. Until 2016, the Hartmann's mountain zebras lived in the Cattle Building, which now houses white rhinos.
Anno 2022, 4 (0.4) mountain zebras live in the Egyptian Temple: Ulani, Luena, Laya and Tarana.
On February 27, 2018, Luena gave birth to a daughter named Tutama, the first birth on the Savannah opened in 2017.
Laya also gave birth to a daughter named Tarana on May 15, 2018. Tarana's father is Hero.
Ulani (0.1) was born in 2019 at Zoo Antwerpen, her mother is Luena and her father is Hero, who left before Ulani's birth.
Blue divers: After the departure of the anoa to the Beef building, Blue divers came to live in the former anoa enclosure (originally ostrich enclosure) in 2011. The blue divers left the collection in 2013.
Dusky pademelons: After the Blue divers left for the okapi enclosure, 2 (0.2) Dusky pademelons came to live in the former ostrich enclosure on the left side of the Egyptian temple in November 2013. The dusky pademelons moved to another zoo in 2015 to make room for the giraffes who temporarily inhabited the entire left side of the Egyptian temple until the opening of their new enclosure in 2017.
Future:
Of course, what the future will bring us is still unclear. However, some things have already been announced:
Zoo Antwerpen is in the process of integrating the 2 male white rhinos into the savannah of the zebras and giraffes. However, the white rhinos have their indoor enclosure in the Runder building.
The zebras' indoor enclosures would be moved to the Cattle Building. The current zebra stables at the Egyptian Temple would then be used to house ostriches again. These plans may have changed in the meantime.
There would also be antelopes and pigs on the savannah. The pigs would have their indoor quarters in the Pig Building while the antelopes would have their indoor enclosures in the Cattle Building. Again, these plans may have changed or been modified in the meantime.
So much for the series of the history of the Egyptian temple.

 

The Hartmann's mountain zebras left Antwerp earlier this year.

 

From which source does this information come?, because I can't find anything about this and the Hartmann's mountain zebras are still listed as current holding for Zoo Antwerpen on Zootierliste.

 

I visited last Thursday and they were nowhere to be seen. I asked a keeper and they said the zebras had left.

 

Strange. It's also strange that they don't announce such a thing, unless they are changing the zebra group with a new group of Hartmann's mountain zebras.

 

Last week I came across a publication from 1902 with among many useful information about the Egyptian temple, especially regarding animal collection. I devoted another post to additional animals I had forgotten from this period, among others, but this is just mostly additional info. Here the additional information:
Building:
In the building would be the skeleton of elephant Jacqueline and a stuffed giraffe that was in the collection for 18 years (from 1880 to 1898).
Animals:
Asian elephants: There were 2 Indian elephants present. Although the names are not mentioned they must have been the 2 female elephants Sultane and Victoria (the latter arrived at the zoo in 1902).
Giraffes: Here the most information is given. There would be 4 giraffes present in the Antwerp Zoo at that time, namely a giraffe born in 1871 (the first giraffe born in Antwerp Zoo), 1 in 1873, 1 in 1875 and the last one in 1876. Although it is not mentioned where these giraffes were born it seems likely to me that they were born in Antwerp Zoo itself. Also, in 1897 Antwerp Zoo would have refused a bid of 25000 francs (620 euros/672 US dollars) for a giraffe.
Rhinos: Indian and Sumatran rhinos would have been present. For those interested, here is a photo of a Sumatran rhino in the elephant enclosure of the Egyptian temple (they did not live together with the elephants but like e.g. the tapirs were sometimes left in the elephant enclosure):
Other animals: Other animals mentioned included camels, common zebras and Burchell's zebras.
I am not sure what topic I would dedicate a new post to in this thread, if anyone has a request, please post it.

 

Is there any information on the zoo’s African forest elephants you could share?

 

As requested is here a chapter off the African forest elephants that Zoo Antwerpen kept in its history. It is very difficult to list African forest elephants specifically, since African savanna elephants and African forest elephants were considered one species in the past. This makes it difficult to say whether a certain elephant was a forest elephant or a savanna elephant.
Here is a chronological list of the elephants mentioned in at least one source as being forest elephants.
The african forest elephants lived in the same enclosure as the Asian elephants (namely on the right side of the Egyptian temple). The elephants were also used for elephant rides and also the keepers often rode on the backs of the forest elephants through the park.
(0.0.1): In 1903, an African forest elephant arrived from the Congo Free State, the forerunner of the Belgian Congo. The KMDA's Picture Bank contains a greeting card from 1903-1904 depicting a young elephant with a keeper with relatively round ears (an important characteristic of forest elephants). Antwerp Zoo obtained its elephants through animal trading or they were temporarily housed in the zoo. The latter seems also to be the case for this elephant, which left at an unknown date.
Maria (0.1): Maria is almost certainly a forest elephant. Maria was born around 1886 in the Belgian Congo, a colony that would provide Antwerp Zoo with many more animals. She was captured in February 1905. Maria arrived at Antwerp Zoo on 28 October 1921 from the Api Elephant Domestication Centre in the Belgian Congo. She was given to the then Belgian King Albert I (although some sources say that the king donated the elephant to the Antwerp Zoo). Maria died at Zoo Antwerpen on August 31, 1935.
(1.0): In 1922, another African forest elephant arrived from the Belgian Congo, although the elephant was described as a swamp elephant. The elephant was reported to have died in the 1930s. According to 1 of my sources, there were 5 forest elephants present in Zoo Antwerp in the 1930s, including Maria. 2 of them only arrived in 1938. 1 of them named Colly, cannot be found anywhere and died in 1931. However, another elephant (a forest elephant according to this source) I can find and was called Jenny, she was however a female and was an African savanna elephant (although this may not be correct because of the taxonomy at the time). Therefore, Colly (although I can't find him anywhere) seems the most likely to me, which would mean that this elephant died in 1931.
(0.0.1): In 1938 another African forest elephant is said to have arrived at Zoo Antwerpen. However, according to 1 of my sources, 2 forest elephants of an unknown gender would have arrived in 1938. However, I could not find any additional info, so I do not which of these 2 statements is correct.
(0.0.2): In 1947, 2 elephants of unknown sex would have arrived from the Belgian Congo. They would have left that same year. However, in 1947, the female elephant Api arrived (probably named after the Api Elephant Domestication Centre). According to one of my sources she was a forest elephant, most say Api was an African savanna elephant and she lived in Antwerp Zoo until her death in 1949 and did not leave in 1947. If Api really was one of these 2 elephants, here is a little extra info: she was born in the wild in 1944 and lived in the hippo building, unlike most elephants.
José (0.1): José is always referred to as an African savanna elephant except for 2 sources, even by the KMDA Image Bank and also her ears are very similar to those of an African elephant and she arrived at the same time as African plains elephant Willibadi, because of this I very much question that she was a forest elephant (although in my series on the history of the Egyptian temple I have referred to José as an African forest elephant). Although not sure of her species I will mention them anyway. José arrived in the port of Antwerp on July 30, 1952 from the Gangala-na-Bodio Elephant Domestication Centre. The disembarkation of the elephants in the port attracted public interest. José and Willibadi were often taken on walks through the zoo with their caretakers. Elephant rides for the public were discontinued around 1950 after an incident. Willibadi died as early as 1953 and was portrayed as a forest elephant during her time at the zoo. José died among the Asian elephants on April 23, 1959, as the probably last African elephant of Antwerp Zoo.

1 of my sources mentions other forest elephants with unknown names and names like Mustaphé. In this source there are hopelessly many errors and I can find nothing about this Mustaphé. If 1 of you can find more information about this or find a good source, be sure to post it or send it in a private message.

 

I recently found out about Antwerp’s good history in the breeding of the Congo Peafowl, would you have information regarding the program’s history?

 

I certainly have information about the Congo Peafowls in Zoo Antwerp(en).
The Antwerp Zoo does indeed have an impressive history with Congo peafowls, which is necessary as the zoo is the international and European studbook keeper of the species.
The way in which Antwerp Zoo got its first Congo peafowls is quite an interesting story. It goes as follows:
The then director of the Antwerp Zoo, Walter Van den bergh, was not only director of the KMDA but also an advisory member of the International Scientific Foundation (a non-profit organisation established on the initiative of the then Belgian King Leopold III) and managed to get help from Mr and Mrs Cordier for the International Scientific Foundation. The Cordiers would track down and possibly capture the Congo peafowls, as they were needed for a new film/documentary by the International Scientific Foundation called Les Seigneurs de la forêt (although it sounds better under its English name The Lords of the Forest). This film/documentary was about the flora, fauna and population of Congo (then Belgian Congo). Mr. and Mrs. Cordier took advantage of their stay in the Belgian Congo to send Congo peafowls to the Antwerp Zoo. Mr. Cordier already had experience in catching Congo peacocks, as in 1947 he collected 6.1 Congo peacocks for the New York Zoological Society in Belgian Congo, the first Congo peafowls outside Africa.
The first Congo peafowl in the Antwerp Zoo finally arrived on 12 November 1957 and was a male. Antwerp Zoo thus became the first zoo in Europe to have a Congo peafowl. In 1959, 3 pairs of peafowls arrived in Antwerp Zoo. In 1960 another 3.4 pairs of peafowls were added, and finally in 1962 another 2 extra pairs arrived at the zoo.
With this valuable collection of congo peafowls in the Antwerp Zoo, Walter van den Bergh hoped to tackle the problems of keeping congo peafowls in captivity. They also wanted to improve the breeding chances and at the same time collect as much information as possible about the needs of the species, so a pair of congo peafowls was sent to Rotterdam Zoo in 1959 and a pair to Le Park de Cleres in 1960, on the condition that all information about the species would be collected and published by the KMDA, all other birds remained in the Antwerp Zoo and Planckendael. In 1961 the congo peafowls in Antwerp Zoo had their first clutch, but it did not hatch. Each pair of congo peafowls was kept in very different ecological conditions in the hope of gathering as much information as possible about the species.
However, only limited breeding success was achieved. Twenty eggs were laid in Antwerp Zoo and 12 in Rotterdam Zoo. Only 4 of the 32 eggs hatched normally. Two of the four chicks died after 8 and 18 days, the other two lived for over a month. In 1960, the Rotterdam Zoo achieved the first breeding success with the species worldwide, one of the two chicks, a female, lived for almost 6 months. At the request of the KMDA, the female was sent to the Copenhagen Zoo to be mated with the zoo's male Congo peacock. There the animal refused to eat and died after just one week. The next breeding success would only follow on 13 July 1961 in Antwerp Zoo, where one of three chicks from a litter hatched. The chick was cared for by its parents and was in good health for two months, until it was found dead in its enclosure on 7 August of that year. The autopsy showed that the chick died of parasites. Although these breeding experiments were not very successful, they provided a lot of information about the breeding, taxonomy, parasites and sexual behaviour of the species, that last one was mainly investigated in the Rotterdam Zoo.
Thanks to the help of director Walter van den Bergh, Antwerp Zoo started keeping the studbook of the Congo peafowl in 1962.
In 1973 there were 13.22.6 congo peafowls present in Zoo Antwerp, in 1978 14.15.6.
The congopods were kept at different locations in the park. In 2011, the first permanent residence for Congo peafowls was built in the Kangaroo Building, which was adapted to house mainly Congo peafowls, but also violet turacos, white-crested turacos, specled mousebirds, lilac-breasted roller and yellow-crowned bishops. It was also called the Congo Peafowl Breeding Centre, as the species was there before and behind te scenes. Prior to that, the congopaws lived in such places as the pheasant aviaries at the back of the Pig Building, where the enclosure for Cape porcupines and yellow mongooses is now located, and in the still existing pheasant aviaries behind the current bongo enclosure/former African savannah. In 2015, however, koalas and a Goodfellow's Tree kangaroo moved into the Kangaroo building. The congo peacocks therefore disappeared behind the scenes. In 2018, the Congo peacocks could be seen in front of the scenes in the large African outdoor aviary before moving to Planckendael that same year. After 2 years of absence, 2 congo peafolws arrived again in 2020, which were again housed in the large African outside aviary of the Bird Building. Hopefully, this gives enough information about the breeding programme of the Congo peacocks in Antwerp Zoo, which had enormous success but is now mainly carried out in sister park Planckendael.
If I have forgotten any information or if you have additional information, please post it.