Join our zoo community

Facts about the history of the Antwerp Zoo

Discussion in 'Zoo History' started by Tiger, 23 Aug 2021.

  1. Tiger

    Tiger Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    1 Jul 2021
    Posts:
    288
    Location:
    Belgium
    Now that I wrote about congo peafowls in this thread I thought it might be a good idea to post about other rare birds that were once kept at Zoo Antwerpen. 1 of the rarest birds that must have ever been kept is the shoebill.
    But first some additions and corrections to my previous post:
    Between 'was' and 'there' I forgot to write 'bred'.
    An interesting fact is that a Congo peafowl appeared on a 1962 stamp and the congo peafowl was thus 1 of the many animals starred at stamps issued from Zoo Antwerp.
    And now back to the shoebills:
    The first shoebill(/shoebills?) arrived in 1926 and died in the 1930s. Where they were housed in the park is unclear to me, but judging from a 1933 map, it seems most logical to me that they were housed in the Great Aviary, at the location where the bison and watusi pens later came. Although I can't immediately find photos of a shoebill in the aviary, butt cranes, ducks, ibises, storks, spoonbills and many more did live there, making it seem plausible to me that shoebills lived there as well, but of course I'm not entirely sure, and the odds are just as high that they lived in the crane exhibits at the back of the (neo-)Louis XVI pavilion (now called Restaurant Flamingo), where later shoebills lived, or maybe in the Mirror Aviary (on the location of present-day Vriesland), or perhaps in the still existing aviaries next to the Hippo building (now known mainly for the ground hornbills), where shoebills later lived, on the map, however, the aviaries are referred to as 'pheasantry'.
    From 1949 to 1957, shoebill storks again lived in the Antwerp Zoo. I found photos from 1950 showing 2 shoebills, so it was probably a pair. The shoebills lived in the crane aviaries at the back of the Louis XVI pavilion.
    From 1958 to 1970, shoebills again lived at the zoo. This time they were housed on the African savannah built in 1957, along with sitatungas, okapis, black crowned cranes and more. They also had at least 1 or 2 separate aviaries at the back of the Savannah building (the African Savannah stables), where I think ground hornbills now live. Judging from photos, it were 2 shoebills.
    From 1971 till 1975, 0.0.3 shoebills were kept again in Antwerp Zoo. Where these were housed is not entirely clear to me but I found a color photo where a shoebill can be seen in a crane enclosure at the rear of the Louis XVI pavilion. These exhibits had merged into much larger enclosures with a moat since the last time shoebill storks lived there (from 1949-1957). On the map of Planckendael of 1976, one year after the shoebills disappeared from the animal collection of Antwerp Zoo, shoebills are shown in an aviary where marabous were housed a year earlier and where a part of the lemur enclosure is now located, so it seems likely to me that the shoebills moved from Antwerp to Planckendael. However, they are no longer listed on Planckendael's 1981 map.
    Although the shoebill stork had already disappeared from Antwerp Zoo's animal collection since 1975, a shoebill strangely enough still appeared on posters from 1977 to 1982 and in 1985.
    So much for this piece on shoebills in Zoo Antwerp.
     
    Last edited: 7 May 2022
    Kalaw and FBBird like this.
  2. Tiger

    Tiger Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    1 Jul 2021
    Posts:
    288
    Location:
    Belgium
    And again I present you a piece about a rare bird that Antwerp Zoo once had on its list of species: the jabiru.
    As always, I begin with a few corrections/adjustments to my previous post:
    I found out that the 3 shoebill storks did indeed live in the aviaries behind the pavilion.
    I discovered that the manatee enclosure, which housed manatees until 1984, also housed congopaques for a period of time.
    And now the jabiru:
    The jabiru is not kept in any European zoo anymore, but Antwerp Zoo was lucky enough to house the species several times during its history.
    The species was always kept in the crane aviaries behind the Louis XVI pavilion, now better known as Grand Café Flamingo and where also the species of my previous post lived: the shoebill. These aviaries were merged into several larger enclosures with a moat around 1952.
    The species would have been in the collection as early as 1902, although Charles Victor Alexander Peel made no mention of the species when he visited Zoo Antwerp that same year.
    Sculptor Rembrandt Bugatti, the brother of the founder of the car brand Bugatti Ettore Bugatti, made 3 bronze sculptures of a jabiru between 1901 and 1912, 1 of a male and 1 of a female. Rembrandt lived in Antwerp from 1907 to sculpt the animals of the Antwerp Zoo, so he most likely sculpted the jabiru's of Antwerp Zoo. These sculptures prove that a pair of jabiru lived in Antwerp during this period and thus a pair was present in the garden in 1902. When these birds died is unknown to me.
    On photos from 1949 one jabiru is to be seen. In 1 of the photos from May 1, 1949, it says "animal transport," which seems to indicate that the jabiru arrived on that date.
    In 1978 there was a female jabiru present in Antwerp Zoo, it is possible that this was the jabiru from 1949, but most likely it was another jabiru. Antwerp Zoo kept jabiru's until 1991, when this female probably died.
     
    Kalaw, Randomname0183 and kiang like this.
  3. Randomname0183

    Randomname0183 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    3 Oct 2021
    Posts:
    213
    Location:
    Kent, UK
    One interesting thing I’ve noticed about Antwerp is that it has a decent history of multiple species, namely the last Masai Giraffes in Europe. Would you have information on Antwerp’s full history with this well-known ABC zoo species.
     
  4. vogelcommando

    vogelcommando Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    10 Dec 2012
    Posts:
    17,723
    Location:
    fijnaart, the netherlands
    I do remember the Louis XVI pavilion very well from my early visits to Antwerp Zoo in the mid-1970s. I did see both the Shoebill and the Jaribu, not knowing that I would take care of them a decade later at Walsrode.
    The Louis XVI pavilion was alsway the first enclosure I checked afther entering the zoo - it was very close to the entrance - because it alway housed a nice collection of intresting and rare birds !
     
    Tiger and Randomname0183 like this.
  5. Valvas

    Valvas Active Member 5+ year member

    Joined:
    20 Jul 2018
    Posts:
    40
    Location:
    Belgium
    Actually, Antwerp did not really have a long history with Masai giraffes. They only kept a single female individual from 2011 and 2015 that they got from Basel when that zoo decided to give up on the remnants of its former breeding group of the species. Antwerp does have a long and succesfull history with Kordofan giraffes though, but they have transferred their breeding group of the species in 2008 to their sister-park of Planckendael, where it still resides today. Since then on, Antwerp keeps a group of non-breeding female giraffes of different (sub)species. The single Masai giraffe from Basel was only a part of that group for a few years and it just coincidentally happened to be the last one of its kind in Europe.
     
    Randomname0183 likes this.
  6. vogelcommando

    vogelcommando Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    10 Dec 2012
    Posts:
    17,723
    Location:
    fijnaart, the netherlands
    Just found a photo of the last Masai giraffe in Europe which I made in May 2014 at Antwerp Zoo :

    20140527_113611 giraffe enclosure massai giraffe.jpg
     
    Haliaeetus, Tiger and Randomname0183 like this.
  7. Nix

    Nix Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    22 Nov 2020
    Posts:
    432
    Location:
    South Africa
    Would you happen to have images of the later manatee house?
    I've seen photos of African manatees in the gallery at Antwerp but never of the West Indian manatees.
     
  8. Randomname0183

    Randomname0183 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    3 Oct 2021
    Posts:
    213
    Location:
    Kent, UK
    I’d assume that if you look up manatee on the KMDA photo bank (mind you it must be spelt in Dutch) you might get some photos.
     
    Nix likes this.
  9. Nix

    Nix Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    22 Nov 2020
    Posts:
    432
    Location:
    South Africa
    Thank you! Very helpful site.
     
  10. Tiger

    Tiger Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    1 Jul 2021
    Posts:
    288
    Location:
    Belgium
    I can't find any pictures of West Indian manatees either, which is odd since they were kept until as "recent" as 1984. I could only find pictures of the building at the time when West Indian manatees (Antillean manatees) were living there, like this picture from the gallery: Manatee enclosure - 1984 - ZooChat
    As @Randomname0183 says the best way is to find photos of the building or other manatee species. Try searching on 'zeekoe', 'west-indische zeekoe' and 'zeekoebassin'.
    If I can find a photo or fragment of a west Indian manatee in Zoo Antwerp, I will post it here.
     
    Nix and Randomname0183 like this.
  11. Tiger

    Tiger Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    1 Jul 2021
    Posts:
    288
    Location:
    Belgium
    I hadn't time to post anything in this thread for a long time due to various reasons, but here's the next animal species. This species is a little less endangered than the previous ones, but it is still a rarity in zoos: the koala. Especially interesting is how koalas ended up for the first time in the Antwerp Zoo.
    The first time the Antwerp Zoo got koalas in its collection was in 1993, namely for the 150th anniversary of the park. On 8 (or 9) April 1993 therefore 2 koalas (1 of the koalas had the name Kirala, I don't know the name of the other koala) arrived from the San Diego Zoo, in this way Antwerp Zoo became the first holder of koalas in the Benelux. The koalas were housed in a greenhouse between the coypu basin and the Rhino Building, near the Egyptian Temple, on a spot where the Buffalo aviary is now located. Before the koalas arrived, the greenhouse was seriously modified, for example, eucalyptus was placed inside. The koalas left on September 30, 1993. During their almost 6-month stay in Antwerp they attracted a lot of visitors to the Antwerp Zoo, also from other countries, since koalas were very rare in European zoos at that time, since besides the Antwerp Zoo at that time only the Lisbon Zoo had koalas in its collection.
    In 2015, after almost 22 years, Queensland koalas returned to Zoo Antwerp(en), this time however not in the greenhouse but in 2 of the 3 enclosures of the renovated Kangaroo Building, with a Goodfellow's tree kangaroo in the third enclosure of the building. In April 2015, Zoo Antwerpen received a breeding pair of koalas named Goonawarra (1.0) and Guwara (0.1) from Planckendael, where they kept koalas since 1998.
    However, in January 2016, the 11-year-old Goonawarra died, leaving Guwara alone.
    In April 2016, a koala was born for the first time in Zoo Antwerpen, the mother was Guwara and the father was Goonawarra. Although the latter had died 3 months earlier this is not uncommon as koalas can prolong their pregnancy. However, the joey already died in May 2016.
    In October 2016, the new breeding male Omaroo arrived from ZooParc de Beauval, however he died of cancer at the age of 11 in July 2017. He was temporarily replaced by a pademelon while waiting for a new koala.
    In June 2017, a koala was born for the second time, a female named Sydney. The mother was Guwara and the little one's father was Omaroo, who died a month later.
    In 2018, the pademelon that replaced koala Omaroo's place left again for his peers in Planckendael, and this enclosure was inhabited by the Antwerp-born and then almost 1.5-year-old koala Sydney.
    On April 17, 2019, Sydney, the first koala born in Zoo Antwerpen to reach adulthood, left for Zoo Dresden.
    That same month, a new koalaman arrived from Planckendael, named Maka.
    That spring no less than 2 new koalas arrived from Planckendael in the Antwerp Zoo, one of which was Sassafras, who had problems with her grip and therefore with climbing. Because of these 2 new animals the number of koalas in Antwerp Zoo rose to 4 (1.3). However, the koalas only stayed there temporarily until their enclosure in Planckendael was renovated, so the 2 koalas returned to Planckendael later that year.
    In 2020, Planckendael-born koala Tin-Tookie arrived in Antwerp from Planckendael.
    Also in 2020, the female koala Guwara, who had been living in the Antwerp Zoo since 2016 and took care of the first 2 baby koalas in the Antwerp Zoo, died. This left 2 male koalas in Antwerp: Maka and Tin Tookie.
    In 2020, koala Maka left for Planckendael again, leaving Tin Tookie alone in the Kangaroo building of the Antwerp Zoo.
    In 2021, koala Tin-Tookie was exchanged with the female koala Alinga from Planckendael, resulting in a new breeding pair in Zoo Antwerp. However, already on 25 October 2021 koala Alinga died of a tumor on her cloaca. As far as I know, they are still looking for a new female koala to pair with Maka.
    So far this piece about koalas in Antwerp Zoo.
    It seems that I post the most in this thread, so feel free to post anything if you want to contribute something about the history of the Antwerp Zoo to this thread or have suggestions for animals to cover in the future.
     
    Kalaw and vogelcommando like this.
  12. Tiger

    Tiger Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    1 Jul 2021
    Posts:
    288
    Location:
    Belgium
    In this next section we will see how hippos first came to the Antwerp Zoo, in the 19th century one of the rarest animals in zoos.
    This 'story' starts in 1859. The then vice-director (and later director) of Zoo Antwerp(en) Jacques Vekemans informed the Board of Directors that a hippopotamus was for sale in Egypt and that he and Thompson of the London Zoo had an option on the animal. At the time, the Antwerp Zoo had a good relationship with the diplomatic missions in that region (which had the ultimate goal of colonising the region, which ultimately failed). Vekemans therefore asked the Board of Directors to take 5 or 6 weeks off to look into the matter for the Antwerp Zoo or for himself in Cairo. At that time there were only a handful of hippos in zoos: Obaysch and Adhela at London Zoo and a pair of hippos at Jardin des Plantes in Paris, which produced the first hippopotamus born in a zoo in that same year (1859). Not only would a hippopotamus be a great addition to the already impressive collection of pachyderms at Antwerp Zoo, but they hoped to get the same effect as Obaysch did at London Zoo: make the visitor numbers explode. The same would probably happen in the Antwerp Zoo and a hippopotamus would therefore be a good thing for the zoo, which urgently needed money to finance the animal trade, of which Antwerp and London were the hub.
    In the end, this was the reason why the Board of Directors dropped the offer, as the society did not have enough funds to finance the purchase of a hippopotamus as well. They had clearly not yet thought of building a hippopotamus building (probably because they did not have the money for it), as they wanted to house the hippopotamus (if they were to buy it) near the ducks, near the crocodiles or maybe another location. The hippopotamus was probably eventually bought by Thompson of London Zoo, as according to the studbook a hippopotamus of unknown origin arrived at London Zoo in about 1860.
    Vekemans, however, went to Egypt at his own expense, and bought a lot of animals for the Antwerp Zoo, but no hippopotamus. Below a list for those who are interested of the animals Jacques Vekemans bought for the Antwerp Zoo on his expedition to Egypt:
    - 2 Hamadryas baboons
    - 2 (1.1) lions
    - 2 dromedary camels
    - 14 flamingos
    - 5 pelicans
    - 5 shelducks
    - 25 pigeons
    - Snakes, lizards and chameleons
    - 2 antelopes and 2 cranes as a gift from Said Halim Pasha
    All these animals together costed 9170 francs, or 227.3 euros ($231.6).
    Later, the idea of keeping hippos seemed to have resurfaced, as the first plans for a hippopotamus building were drawn up in 1876 on the park map, but these plans were not realised in the following years.
    When hippos were first seen in the Antwerp Zoo is unclear, the earliest year I could find is 1878, on the Image Bank of the Antwerp Zoo itself. Most sources, however, mention 1880 and 1881 as the year a couple of hippos arrived, but not necessarily that they were the first hippos, at most that they "came to enrich the collection" and that it was then that hippos were mentioned for the first time. The year 1878 is probably only mentioned in one source. The Image Bank of the KMDA is not the most reliable source either, but also in the studbook these hippos from 1878 are not mentioned, but neither are Antwerps hippos in the first half of the 20th century. So it seems to me that in 1878 one or more hippos arrived that were housed in the Egyptian temple, but lived only for a short time. By 1878, however, several zoos already had hippos, which made it not a sensation as it would have been if the zoo had had the money to buy a hippopotamus in 1859.
    What is certain is that on 12 June 1880 or 1881 (1880 according to most sources) a pair of hippos called Broek (1.0) and Julie (0.1) arrived, which made the construction of a hippopotamus building an even more urgent matter. Upon arrival, the hippos were housed in the Egyptian temple. The Egyptian temple was not made for hippos, but the Antwerp Zoo did not have the money to realise a hippo building.
    The hippopotamus couple Broek and Julie only brought benefits for the zoo, as these hippos gave birth almost yearly, so they could be sold at the animal auctions, which brought up 25,000 Belgian francs for 1 hippo, or 619.7 euros (631.5 US dollars), 2.5 times more than an elephant would bring up.
    Again according to the Image Bank, in 1884 one or more dwarf hippos arrived for the first time. However, the pygmy hippo(s) must not have lived very long, as no pygmy hippo seemed to be present at the opening of the Hippo Building.
    In 1885, however, a World's fair was organised in Antwerp, which meant that Antwerp Zoo had considerably more income and the construction of the Hippo Building could finally be started, which opened in 1886.
    The Hippo building was designed by Charles Servais, who had also designed the Egyptian Temple. Servais initially also designed the building for crocodiles, but they were never housed in the building.
    The building was build in neo-Babylonian style, with a colourful exterior and dark interior. When it opened, visitors could still walk around the indoor pools, which is no longer possible. The outdoor enclosure had a large outdoor pool at the far end, which must have been enormous for that time. The fence of the outdoor enclosure consisted of bars, which were removed in 1936.
    The 1908 plan shows that the single large outdoor enclosure was replaced by 3 outdoor enclosures, as more species came to live in the building.
    The building was eventually partly destroyed during the Second World War and covered with a fake rock in 1952, before being renovated to its present shape and appearance in 2003, with only the indoor basins remaining from the original building.
     
    vogelcommando likes this.
  13. Randomname0183

    Randomname0183 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    3 Oct 2021
    Posts:
    213
    Location:
    Kent, UK
    While I previously mentioned the Masai giraffe of Antwerp (which resulted to not have been a species held for long) you did mention the zoo had a long history with the Kordofan Giraffe. Would you have any information on this species at the zoo until the group’s transfer to Plackendael?
     
    Tiger likes this.
  14. Tim May

    Tim May Well-Known Member 15+ year member Premium Member

    Joined:
    16 Nov 2008
    Posts:
    3,150
    Location:
    London, England
    Apologies for digressing from Antwerp Zoo but the hippo London Zoo acquired in 1860 wasn't of unknown origin. This hippo, named "Bucheet", was obtained in Africa by John Petherick and transported to London with two shoebills which were (almost certainly) the first shoebills ever exhibited in a European zoo. The hippo "Bucheet" was subsequently shipped across the Atlantic and was, I believe, the first hippo in North America; he died in a Canadian circus in 1867.
     
  15. Tiger

    Tiger Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    1 Jul 2021
    Posts:
    288
    Location:
    Belgium
    I should have done some more research:confused:.
     
  16. Tiger

    Tiger Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    1 Jul 2021
    Posts:
    288
    Location:
    Belgium
    Sorry for the long waiting time, but here it is, on request of @Randomname0183 here a piece about Kordofan giraffes in the Antwerp Zoo. Giraffes aren't easy animals to post about, as often the (sub)species is not mentioned and I find it very difficult to recognise to which (sub)species a giraffe belongs on black and white pictures, especially as researchers do not yet agree on the classification of giraffes.
    Kordofan giraffes are one of the many success stories of the Antwerp Zoo, as they reproduced very often.
    The earliest info I could find dates back to 1949. I already mentioned this in my posts about the history of the Egyptian Temple, but I will go into it here in more detail:
    On 14 June 1949, 3 (2.1) giraffes, transported in wooden crates on the ship SS Mahenge, arrived in the port of Antwerp. They were the kordofan giraffes Climax (1.0), Chadi (1.0) and Clea (0.1). Besides the 3 giraffes, also a blue duiker, a monitor lizard and a pair of maned wolves (the first maned wolves of the Antwerp Zoo) arrived. The giraffes, still in a wooden crate, were transported by truck from the harbour to the zoo and entered the Antwerp Zoo via the exit at the Provincial Street (Provinciestraat in the original Dutch name of the street). There they were hoisted over their (then still barred) fence into their outdoor enclosure at the Egyptian temple.
    Through the years, the kordofan giraffes lived together or next to (there were 2 giraffe enclosures at the back of the Egyptian temple), among others, reticulated giraffes.
    In 1973, 1.5 kordofan giraffes were kept, in 1978 this number had dropped to 2.2. In 1999, there were still 4 female giraffes in the Antwerp Zoo. In the meantime, new kordofan giraffes were added, such as giraffe Maji (0.1) who arrived in 1988. Furthermore, I am not quite sure when kordofan giraffes were kept or added. Videos, guides and other sources show that kordofan giraffes were also kept in the 1960s, 1970, 1988, 2000 and from 2005 to 2008. Most of the annals do not specify the (sub)species, but judging from the spots they probably belonged to the Kordofan subspecies, although I am certainly not 100% sure. A giraffe pictured in a guidebook from the early 1980s looks more like a Nubian giraffe. A picture that can be found in a guidebook of Antwerp Zoo from 2000 also shows a youngster with its mother. Antwerp Zoo regularly had breeding successes with the species, giraffe Barbie was born there and to this day gave birth to the majority of the kordofan giraffes born in Planckendael.
    In 2008 there were 5 giraffes left: Baridi (1.0), Maji (0.1) and her 3 daughters Barbie, Sarah and Diamant. All 5 giraffes moved in June of that same year to a brand new enclosure in sister park Planckendael, where they shared their enclosure with several other savannah species, like since recently Hartmann's mountain zebras, also from Zoo Antwerp. Maji, the mother of the original giraffes and the breeding female in Antwerp Zoo, eventually died in Planckendael in 2010 after a fall. The male Baridi, together with his son Karega, left for Zoom Torino a few years later after he provided offspring in Planckendael.
    However, Antwerp Zoo didn't stop keeping giraffes and in that same year (2008), mother and daughter giraffes from Belfast Zoo arrived in Antwerp Zoo. In the years that followed, more giraffes of different species, such as the Masai giraffe, arrived. Mostly, the giraffes were crossbreeds between 2 species, like the 3 remaining giraffes that still live in the zoo today.
    There is remarkably little information to be found about kordofan giraffes, so there might come some additional posts with some more information in the near future. My priorities now are to update several posts in this thread. Especially my posts about the dolphins and the Egyptian Temple need urgent updating.
    Over time, more and more people asked me to post more and more about various topics, especially animals, so I had to work in a hurry on the topics, which is very noticeable in the additional posts and the additional posts of the additional post;) I had to make all the time. I will now try to handle my posts a bit more calmly (though a bit faster than this one) and skilfully, in order to post as accurate information as possible. Because I actually strayed from the essence of the thread, I will not write about animals in unrequested posts, but rather 'a story', such as I made of how e.g. white rhinos, okapis and recently hippos came for the first time in Antwerp Zoo, which are more correct than the posts about animals and the Egyptian Temple.
     
  17. lintworm

    lintworm Well-Known Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    27 Oct 2008
    Posts:
    5,498
    Location:
    Europe
    A helpful document would be the International Giraffe Studbook, just search for Antwerp and the whole Kordofan giraffe history of Antwerp can be found ;)
    https://www.researchgate.net/profil...99-2001-2003-2005-2007-2009-2011-editions.pdf
     
    Tiger likes this.
  18. Tiger

    Tiger Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    1 Jul 2021
    Posts:
    288
    Location:
    Belgium
    Very strange, I have been looking for this all the time:eek:. Thanks, I'll see if I can add it somehow, as I can no longer edit my original post. I will also see if I can now post about the other giraffe species, as I now have a huge information source.
     
  19. Tiger

    Tiger Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    1 Jul 2021
    Posts:
    288
    Location:
    Belgium
    After having found a lot of additional information, here is an updated version about kordofan giraffes in Zoo Antwerp(en), with additional information. In the future, more posts with updated information will appear in this thread, with more complete information.
    Compared to my previous post, the earliest info I could find about kordofan giraffes has shifted from 1949 all the way to 1850, which indicates that kordofan giraffes have been a more common species in the animal collection of the Antwerp Zoo over the years than previously thought.
    On 27 April 1850 a 1 year old kordofangiraffe arrived from London Zoo, its birthplace. According to what I can find, it is very well possible that this was the first giraffe in the Antwerp Zoo. This giraffe was also depicted on several porcelain greeting cards, which were intended for the members of the zoo.
    At the time of arrival of this giraffe, the Egyptian Temple wasn't been build yet, therefore the giraffes were first housed, just like the first elephant Jacqueline, in a former farm that was situated on land acquired in (probably) 1848. The farm was equipped with outdoor enclosures for the two animal species. A higher stable was built onto the farm especially for the giraffe, so that the giraffes with their long necks could enter. The roof of this higher stable caught fire in 1853, but the giraffe and the rest of the building were spared. When this giraffe died is unknown to me. However, there used to be a stuffed giraffe in the Egyptian Temple, behind the skeleton of the first elephant Jacqueline. Since the most important animals (like Jacqueline) were stuffed and the then director Jacques Kets was a well-known taxidermist, it is possible that the giraffe was stuffed and exhibited in the Egyptian temple. The giraffe's spotting pattern also most closely resembles that of a cordofan giraffe. Very few of Kets' stuffed animals have survived, which explains the lack of information. However, I don't know when this giraffe was mounted, so it could also be a different (non-kordofan) giraffe.
    The last additional information about kordofangiraffes in Antwerp Zoo before 1949 (from which year the earliest information in my original post came) is from 1948. The giraffes were part of the post-war reconstruction of the animal collection, which had been lost for 60%.
    In the aforementioned year, on 15 July 1948 to be precise, 0.2 kordofangiraffes named Beryl and Babin arrived along with a giraffe of an unknown genus belonging to an unknown species. The giraffes were from Khartoum (originally from the wild), where for example the first (Northern) white rhinos Paul and Chloe came from.
    The animal, of an unknown genus and species, which had an unknown origin (it is, however, high likely that this giraffe also came from Khartoum) died already on 8 October 1948.
    In contrast to the Kordofangiraffe which arrived in 1850, these giraffes were housed (all the time) in the back of the Egyptian Temple, as well specially built for the giraffes. However, in the period of these giraffes, the giraffe enclosure were divided into 2.
    You can find a detailed description about the arrival of 3 kordofan giraffes in my original post. Some additional information: the giraffes, like the 3 giraffes in 1948, also came from Khartoum, although they were originally from the wild. While the KMDA Image Bank mentions that the giraffes arrived on 14 June 1949, the studbook mentions the arrival of the giraffes as 15 June 1949. Which source is correct, however, is difficult to ascertain.
    Additional information about the specific giraffes:
    The male Climax was captured in the wild in October 1947, which made him 2 years old upon arrival. Climax gave birth to no less than 18 giraffe calves in the Antwerp Zoo, the last 3 of which were born after his own death. Climax also had calves with one of the other giraffes that arrived in 1949: Clea. This high number of giraffe calves (not all of which survived their first years of life) illustrates the great success with this species. Climax himself died on 1 February 1965.
    Clea was caught in the wild in July 1948, which made her about 1 year old on arrival in Antwerp. Clea gave birth to 8 giraffes in Antwerp Zoo, mostly with Climax as father.
    The last giraffe, a male named Chadi, already left on 17 April 1952 for the now closed Dierenpark Wassenaar.
    So far the part about Climax, Clea and Chadi.

    On 23 April 1953 Babin, a kordofan giraffe from 1948, died in Zoo Antwerpen. On 28 or 29 April 1953, the first young of Climax was born, named Gloria. Its mother was Babine, who arrived in 1948. Gloria will later have young of her own, together with Climax.

    On 7 March 1955, the next young of Climax and Babine was born, a male named Ira.
    On 6 November 1955, the first young of Climax and Clea is born, a female named Irene. Irene died on 1 July 1957 at the age of one.

    On 26 August 1956 Jolanda was born, a daughter of Climax and Babine. On August 3, 1957 Jolanda leaves together with Ira for Prague Zoo. They died there after respectively 10 and 20 years.

    On 19 August 1957 Clea gives birth to another youngster named Kentie (0.1). The father is again Climax. Kentie dies already on 15 March 1958.

    On January 14, 1958 Lucky was born, a son of Climax and Babine.
    On March 11, 1958 the female Lisa is born. This time Gloria is the mother. Again Climax is the father, besides Lisa also father of Gloria. Lisa leaves for Artis on 26 November 1958, where she died on 20 January 1983.

    Lucky, born in Antwerp, goes to Knies Kinderzoo on 20 February 1959. Lucky is, as far as I can find, the only kordofangiraffe that Knies Kinderzoo ever had in its collection.
    On 27 July 1959 Mil, a son of Climax and Clea, is born, followed by Mia on 31 August 1959, a daughter of Climax and Babine. On 11 October 1960 both giraffes leave for Avicentra Belgium, a now closed institution about which I cannot find enough information. Therefore it seems most logical to me that it must have been an animal trader.
    In the meantime, on 4 October 1959, Molly (0.1) is born, with again Climax as her father, the mother is Climax's daughter Gloria. Molly however dies before her first birthday, on 11 January 1960. The same happens to the next youngster, a male named Obdullah, calf of Climax and Babine and born on 5 August 1961. This kordofan giraffe also dies within its first year of life, on 24 May 1962 to be precise.

    The next calf of Climax and Clea, a female named Orana, will have a longer life. She is born on August 6, 1961. On June 26, 1962 she goes to Tierpark Hagenbeck, where she dies 15 years later.

    Almost one month after the departure of Orana (the giraffe from the previous paragraph), on 22 July 1962, Princess is born, daughter of Climax and Gloria. On 13 May 1963 Princess leaves for Far East Animal Company, a relatively short-existing zoo in the Dutch city of Tilburg.

    On 20 September 1963 another kordofan giraffe is born, named Quietus (1.0). The giraffe's father and mother are respectively Climax and Babine. Quietus will live his whole life in the Antwerp Zoo and will eventually give the zoo 16 calves. Six days after Quietus, Quindici is born, a son of Climax and Clea. Contrary to most of his Antwerp-born contemporaries, Quindici left the European continent when he left for Jardin Zoologique du Quebec, a closed Canadian zoo, on 12 July 1964. Quindici became the last young of Climax to be born during his own lifetime.

    On 1 February 1965, breeding male Climax died. Climax gave birth to no less than 18 giraffe calves.
    On 3 August 1965 Soraphe was born, daughter of Gloria and the now deceased Climax. Before his death, breeding male Climax sired a few more calves, which were born after his death, Soraphe being the first. Although the KMDA Image Bank lists Soraphe as a masai giraffe, it is clear that this was not the case. What happened to her after her birth is unknown.
    Soraphe will soon (after only one day) have a half-brother, namely Seventeen, the seventeenth young of the now deceased Climax, and the second born after his own death. The mother of the animal on 4 August 1965 was Clea. On 21 April 1966 Seventeen left for Erlebnis-Zoo Hannover. The last young of Climax, Sabine, was born on 23 August 1965. The mother of the female giraffe was Babine.

    After Climax's death his own son Quietus becomes the breeding male, and he will be almost as successful. His first calf is Badyl, a male giraffe, born on 29 July 1967. Badyl's mother is Clea.

    On 20 August 1967 Uso (1.0) follows, this time the mother is Babine, as is the mother of father Quietus. Uso leaves on an unknown date to BioParque do Rio, possibly together with giraffe Ulona (see next paragraph).
    18 September 1967 brings the birth of Ulona, daughter of Quietus and Gloria (siblings). On 12 June 1968 Ulona (also called Carolino) is exported, after which she arrives at BioParque do Rio on 24 July 1968, where she takes care of 4 cubs (of which only half reach the adult age) together with Uso (see previous paragraph), another giraffe from Antwerp. She dies there on January 9, 1978.

    On 12 June 1968 Badyl, the first young of breeding male Quietus, leaves for Poznan Zoo in the then Polish People's Republic. Badyl died there on 31 March 1976 after digestive toxicity.

    The next birth in Antwerp was that of Waltara, a daughter of Quietus and Babine. Waltara was born on 10 August 1969. Waltara will spend her whole life in Antwerp, where she will give birth to 7 youngsters.
    On 25 August 1969, a male is born, Wendy, son of Quietus and Clea. However, he does not live as long as Waltara. The little giraffe dies already on 29 March 1970. Wendy is followed by Wilma (a good example of the KMDA tradition of starting an animal with a different first letter each year, which is still used) on 1 November 1969, as the daughter of Quietus and Gloria. But just like Wendy, this youngster does not live long and dies on 10 August 1970.

    Clea, one of the giraffes that arrived from Khartoum in 1949, dies on 18 September 1970. Clea gave birth to 8 calves in her lifetime.

    The trend of early deaths continues. The next giraffe born in Antwerp even lived so short that it did not get a name. The giraffe in question was born on 1 August 1971 and was the son of Quietus and Babine. The giraffe died on 3 August 1971.
    A better fate was reserved for the next giraffe calf, Yux (a rather Japanese looking name, I think, maybe a reference to the Japanese emperor who visited the zoo that year), born on 9 August 1971. This male was the son of Quietus and Gloria. The next giraffe calf was Youssef, born on 2 September 1971 as the son of Quietus and Sabine. Youssef was Sabine's first calf, born in Antwerp.
    Youssef and Yux left together on 29 March 1972 for the now closed Dierenpark Wassenaar, where the two stayed until the park closed in 1985. In the meantime, they took care of several giraffe calves.

    After 1 year without any giraffe calves, the next kordofan giraffes calved on 12 June 1973, with the birth of Adrienne, daughter of Quietus and Babine. Not much later (on 26 July 1973) follows Antoon, son of Quietus and Gloria. Unfortunately young Antoon died 2 days later.
    Babine, one of the three originally wild giraffes that arrived in 1948, died on 16 October 1973. Babine gave birth to no less than 12 (6.6) calves.

    On 8 January 1974 Adrienne, who was born in Antwerp not yet one year old, leaves for Dierenpark Wassenaar where she will be in the company of two other giraffes from Antwerp: Yux and Youssef. Just like Yux and Youssef Adrienne will take care of some youngsters, among them Maji, who will later not only move to Antwerp Zoo but also to the new enclosure in Planckendael.
    On 12 October 1974 Antwerp-born Gloria died at the age of 21. Gloria took care of 8 giraffe calves in her lifetime. Gloria may have been the first Kordofangiraffe born in Antwerp Zoo.

    After another full year without calves, Chris followed on 24 August 1975, son of siblings Quietus and Sabine.
    On 3 October of that same year Cesar was born, son of Quietus and Waltara who was also born in Antwerp. Not only do Quietus and Waltara have the same mother, Waltara is also a daughter of Quietus. On 2 June 1976 Cesar leaves for Le Pal.
    On 8 June 1976 Chris, born in 1975, also left Antwerp Zoo to Zooparc Corten in Westerlo (Belgium). In all probability it was an animal trader.

    On 20 September 1977 Edward was born, son of Waltara and, you guessed it, breeding male Quietus. Edward did not have a long life either. The little giraffe was sadly euthanised on 6 December of that same year.
    Edward was followed by Elvis on 23 September 1977 and is the son of Quietus and Sabine. Elvis continued to live in Antwerp his whole life.

    On 10 July 1979 the next youngster is born, and again this one will not live long. This one was a male, the son of Quietus and Waltara. It lived so short that it was not given a name, although according to annual tradition it should have a name beginning with the letter G. The calf lived only 16 months. The calf lived only 16 days. This calf was the last calf of breeding male Quietus, who died on January 11, 1980. Quietus had been breeding male since the death of his father Climax in 1965. Quietus took care of 16 calves in total. His son Elvis will take over the task of breeding male from him, although he will not be as successful.

    After a few infertile years for the giraffes, on 20 February 1982 a giraffe was born again, named Joske (a typical Belgian name). Joske is the first young of the new breeding male Elvis, who was born in Antwerp. Joske's mother is Waltara, half-sister of father Elvis. Joske stayed in Antwerp her whole life.

    However, the next youngster will not be as successful as Joske was. On 8 December 1983 a female giraffe is born, with Elvis and Waltara as her parents for the second time in a row. The giraffe lives only 10 days and again, due to the short life span, does not get a name, although the name should start with the letter K according to annual tradition.

    On 16 October 1985, a little giraffe was born, daughter of Elvis and Waltara. The calf, however, died the same day (or was possibly a stillbirth). The (stillborn?) calf was the last offspring of Elvis, who died only 2 days later. Elvis cared (as breeding male) for only 3 giraffe calves, of which only one reached adulthood (namely Joske).

    Because of the closure of Dierenpark Wassenaar on December 1, 1985, 2 of the giraffes of the park, Maji and Roy, came to Zoo Antwerp(en) on 5 May 1986. Maji and Roy were also born in Dierenpark Wassenaar on respectively 5 January and 5 May 1985, so they were just 1 year old when they arrived in Belgium. Maji was also one of the giraffes that moved to Planckendael in 2008 (as can be read in my original post), while Roy stayed in Antwerp Zoo for the rest of her life.

    On April 29, 1988, the completely renovated Egyptian Temple, was reopened. One of the adaptations is the enclosure for the giraffes. Outside, the barred fence of the enclosure was replaced by a 40 cm (15,7 inch)-deep moat and the two separate giraffe enclosures were merged together. Inside, the grating was replaced by a glass wall.

    On 4 October 1990 a new male giraffe called Ag(u)ir(e) arrived from Vincennes Zoo (Paris). Aguire was just under one year old when he arrived in Antwerp.

    On 21 November 1991, after a long time (the 80's were less fertile than the decades before for the giraffes) another kordofan giraffe is born, called Sarah (0.1) the first young of Maji and Roy, the giraffes who arrived in 1986 from Dierenpark Wassenaar. She (and her mother) also moved to Planckendael in 2008 (as can be read in my original post).

    Roy, 1 of the 2 giraffes from the nowadays closed Dierenpark Wassenaar, died on March 12, 1992. Roy became only 6 years old.

    Vincent followed on 13 July 1994. Vincent was the first offspring of Ag(u)ir(e), who arrived in Antwerp a little less than 4 years earlier. The mother of the animal was Maji, who gave birth to a young for the second time. Vincent did not have to wait as long for a companion as Sarah, as on 3 October 1994 the female giraffe Valere was born. Valere was Ag(u)ir(e)'s second child and the last child of Waltara, who, contrary to Agu(i)r(e), was also born in Antwerp. Mother Waltara tragically died more than one month later, on 18 December 1994. Waltara was 25 years old and gave birth to 7 calves.

    On 25 April 1996 Maji gave birth to a third youngster, Xsina (0.1). The father of the newborn was Aguire.
    On 8 May 1996 Vincent, born in Antwerp, moved to the now closed Zoo de Pont-Scorff. On 16 September of the same year Xaida, daughter of Aguire and Joske, was born.

    On 25 November 1997, the one-year-old Xsina moved to the now closed Zoo de Pont-Scorff, while the equally old Xaida moved to Parc Animalier de la Barben, where she died on 3 July 2009 due to a reproductive trauma. Xsina, however, has met a worse fate. She already died in Zoo de Pont-Scorff on 8 February 2001.

    After no less than 2 giraffe calves in 1996, a stillbirth unfortunately occurred on 13 June 1998. The stillborn calf, without a name, was the son of Aguire and Joske.

    On 17 July 1998, a female calf was born; its parents were Aguire and Maji. On 20 June 2000 this giraffe moved to the Zoo de Pont-Scorff. Zoe I lived there until 1995, that's why this giraffe was called Zoe II. That Zoe II already had this name in Antwerp is therefore unlikely.

    As already mentioned in my original post, Barbie, the mother of a large part of the giraffes born in Planckendael, was born in Antwerp. To give some more information: she was born on 31 March 2000 as the daughter of Aguire and Maji, 2 giraffes who were born in another zoo than Antwerp. She grew up in the Egyptian temple before she and her mother Maji moved to Planckendael in 2008, where she gave birth to her first youngster, Kianga, just one year later. On 22 November of that same year, Benny was born, son of Aguire and Joske, and also half-sister of Barbie. Benny was the last young of Joske.

    On 14 August 2002, Joske (0.1) died, the only 'successful' young of former breeding male Elvis. She took care of 3 youngsters in her life, 2 of which survived to adulthood.
    While 10 days earlier a giraffe had died, on 24 August 2002 it was already time for new life. On that day Diamant was born, who, just like her sister Barbie, provided for youngsters in Planckendael after moving to there in 2008. Diamant was the last young of Aguire (who died 1 year later) and also the last young of Maji, who died years later (which you can read in my original post).

    As already mentioned, on 6 April 2003 giraffe Aguire, also known as Agire or Aguir, died at the age of thirteen. Of course Aguire did not die of old age but an autopsy showed that Aguire died of eating a wild chestnut that had fallen into his enclosure.

    On 10 July 2007 the last time (at least until now) a Kordofangiraffe arrives in Antwerp Zoo. It is Baridi, born in 2002. Baridi is a male and as you can read in my original post he moved together with Maji, Sarah and Diamant to Planckendael the next year.

    As mentioned earlier, the entire herd of 5 giraffes left to Planckendael and were replaced by hybrid giraffes shortly afterwards, together with a masai giraffe named Dawi in 2011, who is no longer alive.
    I think this post highlights the great breeding success of kordofangiraffes in the Antwerp Zoo. I can get more primary information about kordofangiraffes in Antwerp Zoo, but these are only online available for (too) high amounts of money, so my apologies if this information is too little further than the general information. When I have more information at hand, maybe some additional posts will follow.
    Next item on my agenda is to update my post about dolphins.
     
    KevinB, Dylan and vogelcommando like this.
  20. Tiger

    Tiger Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    1 Jul 2021
    Posts:
    288
    Location:
    Belgium
    As I said earlier is here an updated version about dolphins in Zoo Antwerp(en). The most important point that missed in my original post were the breeding results, this due to a lack of information.
    To begin, some additional information about the Dolphinarium:
    The dolphinarium was designed in 1967 by architect René Grosemans and when it opened it was one of the most modern of its kind.
    As mentioned in detail in my original post, the dolphins, coming from Florida, arrived by plane in Brussels, after which they were transported by truck to their new home in Antwerp.
    However, in my original post it was mentioned that the dolphins arrived in 1969, this turns out to be incorrect. In fact, the dolphins arrived on December 19, 1968 (other sources mention December 20, although this is probably incorrect), making Zoo Antwerp(en) the 2nd Belgian park with dolphins. However, when the dolphinarium opened is unclear. Among other sources, the zoo guide lists December 17, 1969, as the as the inauguration date of the Jubilee Complex (Jubileumcomplex), the giant building for predatory and nocturnal animals of which the dolphinarium is a part. The book "the Garden Of Life" gives April 30, 1970 as the opening date of 2nd floor of the Jubilee complex, including the dolphinarium, not of the rest of the building. However, Walter Van den Bergh, director of the Antwerp Zoo at the time of the opening of the dolphinarium, gives December 20, 1968 as the opening date of the Antwerp dolphinarium, this seems somewhat more reliable to me as a primary source.
    The dolphinarium received many important visitors, for example, Minister Bertrand visited on 2 February 1969, and on 17 December 1969 the Belgian Prince, and later King, Albert inaugurated the Jubilee Complex.
    I already went into detail about the arrival of the first dolphins in my original post. Here, however, some additional information regarding the arrival of the first dolphins:
    The purchase of the dolphins was entrusted to Jerry Mitchell of the Brighton Aquarium & Dolphinarium.
    Jerry Mitchell came together with the dolphins to Antwerp, where ge gave the caretakers in Antwerp several weeks of training on how to train a dolphin.
    To go a little further on the dolphin enclosure:
    Besides 3 pools, there was also a grandstand, which faced the show pool (which alone accounted for a volume of 600m3) where the hugely popular dolphin shows were performed. One level down, visitors could see the dolphins in this same pool through 10 glass windows, here however underwater, this space was called the 'auditorium'.
    Not unimportant is what was behind the scenes. Besides 2 training pools, there was also a quarantine (basin), filter chambers for water purification and a laboratory for measurements, because heated (18-20°C, or 64-68° F) salt water demands constant care. The total amount of water to be filtered was 850 m3. The filtration is located under the basins. There was also a separate chamber for filtering of the quarantine pool, so that this pool could be isolated in every possible way. This quarantine pool (not visible to the public) had a moveable floor, so it was easier to treat the animals or to take them out of the water.
    Going even further into the Dolphinarium's appearance and functions would demand a separate post, so here is a link to an English article written by Walter Van den Bergh in 1970 about the Antwerp Dolphinarium.
    The full text can be downloaded here (the readable text is only most of it): The Delphinarium at Antwerp Zoo | WALTER VAN DEN BERGH | download
    Most of the article can be read here:
    https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1748-1090.1970.tb01269.x
    I already went into great detail about how the arrival of the first 6 dolphins went, but not about the dolphins themselves, therefore some more information about each dolphin as in order of my original post:
    - Bert (1.0) was born in the wild in 1968 so was still a young animal on arrival.
    - Gibi (0.1) was born in the wild in 1964, meaning she was 4 years old on arrival in Belgium.
    - Sonny (0.1) was born in the wild in 1962. Sonny was 6 years old on arrival.
    - Scooter (1.0) was born wild in 1964, meaning she was 4 years old on arrival.
    - Monique (0.1) was born in the wild in 1960, and was 8 years old on arrival.
    - Julie (0.1) was born in the wild in 1968, making her also only a young animal on arrival.
    My original post mentioned that a 7th dolphin died on the way to Antwerp of pneumonia, however, this does not seem to be entirely accurate. I could in fact find information about a dolphin named Chris, who died on 6 January 1969, I cannot find any other explanation. Indeed, it would also be rather strange for the animal to die during the flight from pneumonia it contracted that very same flight. Chris was born in 1965, making him 3 or 4 years old.
    Also in my original post, I mentioned that Zoo Antwerp kept not 1 but 2 dolphin species. Therefore, I give each dolphin species a separate section, starting with the main and most well-known species: the Atlantic bottlenose dolphin. I typed here all the information I could find anywhere and I never worked more intensively on a post than this one, therefore I am happy to present you a chronological spillover of events related to bottlenose dolphins at the Antwerp Zoo after the arrival of the first dolphins in 1968. However, I cannot assure you that all this information is completely correct, I'm therefore considering to consult Zoo Antwerpen itself, until then this post will surely suffice. If you find an error or doubt the correctness of something, please report it, all information is very appreciated:
    On 10, 12 or 13 February (13 February seems just a bit more reliable) 1972, extra dolphins arrived. After their arrival at the airport of Deurne, the dolphins were taken to Antwerp, where they were placed in a stretcher and they were examined for injuries before being placed in their basin. The dolphins were all born in the wild, below an overview of the dolphins:
    -Zolly was born in the wild in 1970. Zolly died as early as 26 February of the same year.
    - Ziska (probably 0.1) was born in the wild in 1967.
    - Zarin (probably 0.1) was wildborn in 1964.
    - Pat (probably 0.1) was wildborn in 1968.

    On 26 February 1972, as many as 2 dolphins died. As mentioned above, Zolly dies as well as Bert, 1 of the dolphins arrived in 1968.
    On an unknown date in 1972, a dolphin born in 1972 named Karin arrived and died on 23 July 1972 of the same year. Whether this dolphin also arrived in February 1972 is unclear. Indeed, another date in the same year is also possible, as another dolphin also arrived in October 1972. The strange thing about Karin, however, is that it is unclear where she was born, and certainly that she was born in the same year, but if she was born in Antwerp, I cannot find anything about this.
    On 12 April 1972, dolphin cow Julie died. She was among the first dolphins at the zoo and arrived by plane from Florida only 3 years earlier.
    As mentioned earlier, dolphin Dolly, born in the wild in 1968, arrived on 19 October 1972. Dolly, judging from the 1973 animal stock, was probably a female.

    On 13 April 1973, female dolphin Sonny died. Sonny was 1 of the dolphins that arrived in 1968. Sonny lived to be about 11 years old, of which she spent about 5 in Zoo Antwerp.
    On 30 April 1973, the first stillbirth took place among the Antwerp dolphins.
    On 16 December 1973, Gibi, 1 of the female dolphins dies. Gibi lived at Antwerp Zoo for 5 years and was at the time of her death about 8 years old and 2.39 metres long. Gibi was found to have 3 broken teeth and 4 broken ribs (oddly not something very abnormal in dolphins). Her skeleton went to the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels.

    On 24 January 1974, Scooter, the last remaining male dolphin that arrived in 1968, died.
    On 24 or 25 April (probably 24 April) 1974, 4 dolphins arrived from the now-closed Marseille Zoo. Which dolphins were involved is nowhere mentioned, strange as 1 of the sources relies on press reports, among others. Arriving at the airport of Deurne, they were carried off the plane with a forklift truck. Eventually, the 4 dolphins were reunited in Antwerp.
    On 25 April 1974, no less than 3 dolphins were born at Antwerp Zoo, the 1st time a non-stillbirth took place among the dolphins, although what happened to these dolphins is not much better. Indeed, the dolphins died after only a few days. Below are the 3 dolphins born on that day by chronological date of death:
    - Bobby died as early as 27 April 1974.
    - Ben and Brabo (both males) were possibly twins, as they are mentioned together. Both died on 28 April 1974.
    In April 1974, a 4th dolphin was born named Bill. On which date, however, is unclear. That this one was also born on 25 April would be a very big coincidence, but that 3 were born on 1 day is already a big coincidence. Bill's fate will prove to be a lot better, as the animal stayed alive for 20 years. Strangely, however, the animal was not mentioned in a newspaper article from 1988.

    On 14 September 1975, dolphin Ziska, one of the dolphins that arrived in 1972, died. Ziska lived to be about 8 years old.

    On 28 January 1976, Danny was born. Danny too was not granted a long life, as he already died on 27 February 1976.

    For a study publiced in 1977, 4 dolphin skeletons from the Dolphinarium of Zoo Antwerp(en) were used. However, I can find no further information about one of these dolphins, named Siska. It only raises the question of how many dolphins lived at Antwerp Zoo besides the ones mentioned in this post (for which I have scoured pretty much the entire internet). I cannot find any information about when the animal supposedly arrived, but this makes me suspect that she arrived in 1974, as I cannot find any information about the 4 dolphins that arrived that year. Siska had 3 broken ribs on the right side of her body.
    The same study featured an immature dolphin that had lived in the zoo for 1.5 years. Nothing can be found about this dolphin either, so my suspicion is that this animal too was among the 4 dolphins that arrived in 1974. At the time of death, the immature dolphin was 2.65 metres long. Several teeth were missing and 1 tooth was partially broken off, things that, according to the study, had probably happened before the animal arrived at the Dolphinarium, implying that the dolphin was wildcaught. Like Siska, this animal's skeleton also went to the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences.

    On 7 May 1979, Monique, the last remaining dolphin that had arrived in 1968, died. Monique lived to be 19 years old, 10 of which she spent in Zoo Antwerp.

    On 6 January 1980, Dick died. The dolphin lived to be 4 years old. It is unclear whether the animal was born at the Antwerp Zoo or elsewhere.
    On 30 December 1980, dolphin Zarin, who arrived in Zoo Antwerp in 1972, died. Zarin lived to be 16 years old and spent half of her life in Zoo Antwerp.

    In 1981, 4 (2.1.1) dolphins arrived, including Iris and Ivo, mother and son, who eventually became Zoo Antwerp's last 2 dolphins. The 4 dolphins were caught in the Gulf of Mexico in March 1981. It is certain that the 2 other dolphins, Ina and Ilias, arrived at the Antwerp Zoo on 3 March 1981, and thus probably Iris and Ivo as well. Below is an overview of the dolphins:
    As mentioned earlier, mother and son Iris and Ivo arrived. Iris was 13 years old at the time, Ivo, however, was still young, at around 1 year old.
    Ina was born in the wild in 1963, making her 18 years old. Ina gave birth to a calf barely 1 year after arriving.
    A still fairly well-known dolphin that arrived back then was Ilias. In fact, Ilias was 1 of the last dolphins in Antwerp. Ilias was born in the wild in 1973.

    As just mentioned, dolphin Ina gave birth to a son named Jantje on 30 January 1982. Jantje would sadly die not much later, on 9 February 1982 to be precise, from muscular dystrophy.

    On 20 or 21 May (probably 21 May) 1986, yet another living dolphin was born, namely Nicky, son of Ilias (1.0) and Iris (0.1). Nicky would eventually turn out to be 1 of the few dolphins born in Antwerp Zoo that stayed alive, as the chance of a successful dolphin calf in Zoo Antwerp(en) turned out to be only 25%, or 1 in 4. On 31 May 1986, Napo was born. Napo will not have an equally long life as Nicky, as he died on June 3, 1986.

    In 1987, 2 dolphins were born at the Antwerp Zoo for the 2nd time in a row. In the summer of 1987, Orfee (0.1) and Odin (1.0) were born. Only shortly afterwards, both dolphins died. Orfee died on 9 August 1987 from a perforation of the septum, or the partition between the 2 ventricles. Odin died 1 day later.

    8 September 1988 came with the birth of Princess. Princess remained alive for only 9 days and thus died on September 17 of the same year.

    On 19 September 1989, female dolphin Pat died, a dolphin that had been living at the zoo since 1972. Pat lived to be about 21 years old, 17 years of which she spent in Antwerp.

    Pat's loss was soon filled with yet another birth. When pregnancy was suspected, the dolphin in question was always subjected to ultrasounds. Following these ultrasounds, Querida, daughter of mother Iris and in all likelihood father Ilias, was born on 8 October 1989. Querida lived for 2.4 months and thus died on 20 December 1989.

    On 4 December 1990, Nicky died. Nicky was born in Zoo Antwerp(en) 4.5 years earlier and tragically his parents survived him. In 1990, a dolphin at Zoo Antwerp died of erysipales septicaemia, a bacterial infection. The year of death makes it likely that this dolphin was Nicky.

    On 1 May 1994, Bill died, born in Zoo Antwerp(en) just like Nicky. Unlike Nicky however, Bill did reach adulthood, as he lived to be 20 years old, the maximum lifespan of a dolphin in the wild.

    In 1995 or 1996 (1997 is also a possibility, although I consider it unlikely), Ilias, Zoo Antwerp's dolphin breeding bull, died. Ilias was born in the wild in 1973 and came to Antwerp in 1981. However, due to his unknown death date, it is not obvious how old the dolphin got or how long he spent in the Antwerp Zoo, although it did cover most of his life.

    In early 1997, female dolphin Dolly, one of the last dolphin of the Antwerp Zoo, died. Dolly was the same age as Iris (29 years), but she spent a considerably longer time in Antwerp, no less than 25 years!

    In 1998 or 1999, the last dolphin was born, which died after only a few days, which is not really surprising since the parents were Iris and Ivo, mother and son.

    In 1998, it was announced that the Antwerp Zoo would permanently stop keeping dolphins. This was a difficult decision, however, as the dolphin shows had for years been perhaps the biggest crowd pleaser of the Antwerp Zoo. It therefore received a lot of attention in the media. Scientific research showed that the basin was unsuitable and too shallow to keep dolphins any longer. In fact, the basin was only 3 metres deep, whereas it was recently required to be 5 metres. The enclosure was also found to be too small in terms of volume. This led to increasing criticism from home and abroad, further forcing the Antwerp Zoo to close or modify the Dolfinarium. However, expansion was not possible (the Dolfinarium was only a few metres from the Central Station) and renewal, like expansion, would be budgetary impossible. It was therefore decided to transfer the last 2 dolphins, Iris and Ivo. EAZA decided to send the dolphins to Zoo Duisburg. On 30 March 1999, Iris and Ivo, mother and son, left for Duisburg (Germany), where they were placed in a large group of dolphins. Especially for Ivo, this new location had advantages, as he was extremely suitable for the breeding programme and Duisburg had lost its breeding bull in 2000. Ivo therefore became the breeding bull shortly after arrival. Iris died there on 27 March 2003, at the age of 35. Ivo is still alive and can be recognised by his large size, dark colour and pink belly and throat.
    At Zoo Antwerp itself, the Dolphinarium was renovated for Californian sea lions and renamed 'Aquaforum'. More information can be found in an additional post on my main post about dolphins in this thread.
    To conclude, a section on the 2nd dolphin species kept in Antwerp: the Guiana tucuxi or Guiana dolphin, besides a sea turtle the only co-inhabitants of the bottlenose dolphins.
    In contrast to the huge number of bottlenose dolphins, only a few Guiana tucuxis were kept, which, unlike many other bottlenose dolphins, remained alive and were in fact much more suitable for the basin due to their smaller size. Below is a chronological list of events related to Guiana tuxucis at Antwerp Zoo:
    Zootierliste mentions a tucuxi in Antwerp that arrived in 1968 and went to Tiergarten Nürnberg in 1977. Which dolphin this is about is unclear, although there was a dolphin in 1968 named 'Dolly'. That this is indeed the tucuxi is unclear, but it would be rather odd to name a new dolphin 'Dolly' in 1972 when they already had a dolphin (of a different species) with that name.
    On 8 August 1977, not 1 but 2 (1.1) tuxucis arrived in Antwerp. Here some information about the 2 dolphins:
    - Evita (0.1) was born in the wild in Cispatá Bay (Colombia) and arrived at the Antwerp Zoo on 8 August 1977. 11 years later, on 7 December 1988, Evita left for Tiergarten Nuremberg.
    - Juan (1.0), also called Eros, was also born in the wild, specifically in Cispatá Bay (Colombia). On 7 December 1988, he and female Evita left for Tiergarten Nürnberg.

    A 1985 study on the swimming pattern of dolphins examined two dolphins from the Antwerp Zoo: bottlenose dolphin Dolly and a Guiana tucuxi called Eddie. This can be read about Eddie in the study:
    Eddie was a male tucuxi measuring 1.90 metres (6.23 feet) long (average length for a male Guiana tucuxi) and weighing 85 kg (187lb).
    I cannot immediately find more information about Eddie and it makes me wonder how many more tucuxis were kept in Zoo Antwerp(en).

    Last time I wrote that I would try to post my posts faster, however, this has not worked out so well. However, I'm glad that I was able to provide so much additional information, however it was challenging sometimes. In order to keep this thread active (for example, there is now no less than a little over a month between 2 of my posts), I also encourage others to post and contribute something in this thread, although I recommend posting more than 1 sentence, as it doesn't really contribute much information. I myself can collect a lot of additional necessary information this way.
    As mentioned before, additions and or corrections are much appreciated.
     
    Last edited: 28 Sep 2022
    vogelcommando and Moorhunhe like this.