At the end of last year a male Cooper(2019) arrived from Opel-zoo to accompany the two females. News - Zoo Frankfurt
The Zoo had only 326.563 visitors last year-54 % less than 2019, but the collection has grown a little bit from 448 species in 2019 to 454 in 2020-Mammals 88 Species ( -1 ) Birds 75 Species ( + 3), Reptiles 62 Species( -3), Amphibians 22 Species (+ 3),Fishes 137 speices (+4) and Invertebrates 70 Species-the same as 2019. The Marabou storks have another egg and the male is breeding very well, the female Okapi calf was named"Elikia" and the zoo has now also the Artenschutz-Euro ( Conservation-Euro)-from march, it is up to the visitors, if they want to pay an extra euro, what is used for the six conservations projects the zoo is involved.
Some niceprimate-births at Frankfurt : Jan. 30 Bonobo born Feb. 6 Bonobo born Jan. ? : Northern white-cheeked gibbon
The Northern white-cheecked gibbon was born on January 15th. Interesting to know that Hanna (13 years) gave birth to the bonobo born on January 30th, her first child. Hanna was imported from Milwaukee (USA) in 2018, so good news for the breeding programme! Mixi (19 years) gave birth to the other bonobo, she is a more experienced mother and this is her third child. Source: News - Zoo Frankfurt
She killed the calf ? I know this is hardly unusual when it comes to hoofstock and particularly with highly stressed / strung species in captivity but how common is this kind of behaviour specifically with okapi ?
I personally have not seen so many zoos, but I have nevertheless made the experience that animals in zoos do not live in captivity and they can therefore not be stressed. This is not a new insight, which can even be read in books, but has not yet spread even in the zoo-enthusiasts-scene, where people still regularly ask whether cetaceans, elephants, apes or dwarf goats should be kept in captivity or not. Ps: What is the logical inverse of talking about animals in captivity in relation to zoos ? Yes, Antonia unfortunately killed her first calf, which is not so common in okapis, but still happens. Aggressive behavior of okapis towards other species kept with them, or towards other okapis and keepers, on the other hand, is not uncommon. I know okapis that have killed birds and duikers, and one very special killer okapi has also attacked keepers several times-unprotected contact is not possible with this animal. Another okapi has even attacked and chased wild rabbits that were hobbling around the enclosure....Okapis are not necessarily the gentle animals they are often portrayed as.
On March 6 a Kiwi-chick hatched and on March 30 an other one and a very special one, this was actualy the 50th. Kiwi-chick hatched at Frankfurt !
Last week another okapi was born, this time Etana gave birth to a male! The okapi that was born last year is a female and was given the name Elkia. Source: Facebook of Zoo Frankfurt (26/04/2021) Aanmelden bij Facebook
Unfortunately, this second calf had to be euthanized due to illness. Instead, two bongos were born in May, which are growing up well so far. Since 2019, 6 calves were born, before that there was a break of 14 years. The zoo was able to report the first breeding for Europe in 1973 and had a lot of bad luck with the bongos after that. The current breeding group is already the fifth ! At the end of June the acting zoo director leaves Frankfurt and goes back to his home country Spain. He was the 13th director of the Frankfurt Zoo, and that probably brought him bad luck, see Corona. Still no new about the duikers, but the male Walter is doing his best
The zoo director is leaving Frankfurt at the end of the month and going back to Spain, where he will again work at the Bioparc Valencia - presumably as zological director. And what all German zoos have had for a long time, there is now also in Frankfurt - a zoo support association - hard to believe. Their first project is to be the Grizmekhaus, without going into details. The aardvarks have offspring again. At the end of the year, work is to begin on the conversion and expansion of the lion enclosure, which is to be completed by Easter 2023.
There is not much new here, except that the Adra-Gazelles have recently moved to the savannah enclosure, which they now share with the Addax. This makes this enclosure much more interesting for the visitors, the gazelles have more space and their former enclosure is now also used for the bongos. Furthermore, "Walter" and "Dolly" have proven their breeding ability, unfortunately, the young lived only one day, but since the two are day and night together, I assume that "Dolly" is already back in good hope. With a little luck, there will be the next offspring in February/March. Oh yes, a huge sun sail is currently being installed over the fur seals' enclosure in order to finally get the animals' eye problems, which are caused by direct sunlight, under control. And since it was not mentioned here yet - in June the 14 years tiger male "Iban" was euthanized because of cancer. This means that the zoo currently holds no tigers. For the soon to begin reconstruction of the lion enclosure, the lions will be moved to the tiger enclosure, so that there will be tigers in Frankfurt again in 2023 at the earliest.
