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Artis Royal Zoo Historical notes from Artis

Discussion in 'Netherlands' started by vogelcommando, 1 Dec 2018.

  1. vogelcommando

    vogelcommando Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Thank you very much for these photos and info @JurassicMax !
     
  2. JurassicMax

    JurassicMax Well-Known Member

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    No problem, do you think that the photo's were taken inside the Wolvenhuis/ Herberg Eik en Linden or somewhere else in the zoo?
     
  3. vogelcommando

    vogelcommando Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Not sure about that. Artis used to have also a large row of enclosure in which carnivores were housed and its well possible that the photos were taken there.
     
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  4. vogelcommando

    vogelcommando Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Did some more research and found a note that Artis had prob. the World-first breeding with this species ! In the winter 1916/1917 2 cubs were born and raised !
     
  5. Tim May

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

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    Definitely not a world first breeding.

    Major Stanley Flower (1929) records that "about fourteen" striped hyaena were born in London Zoo between 1840 and 1919.

    And in his book "Where the Lion Trod" Clin Keeling states that the 1841 Liverpool Zoo guide records striped hyaena were born there.
     
    Last edited: 19 Nov 2020
  6. vogelcommando

    vogelcommando Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Oke, thanks for this intresting and new information Tim !
    Then it will be at least a Dutch first breeding and maybe a European continental first breeding ?
     
  7. vogelcommando

    vogelcommando Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Penguins at Artis :
    Artis has a long history with penguins and even now it has a special role in Penguin-husbandry and conservation because it manage the EEP for the African penguin.
    As far as I was able to find out Artis has kept 9 different species in its history :
    - African penguin : ZTL mention " at least since 1947 " but I found a newspaper-article in which the arrival of 10 African penguins is noted in 1906. This is the only species still to be found at Artis and a huge colony is living in a large enclosure next to the Aquarium-building.
    - Humboldt penguin : the only information I found was from ZTL which say " 1961 20 animals kept and breeding.
    - Rockhopper : ZTL mention "from 1961 onwards till at least 1980"
    - Tristan ( Northern rockhopper ) penguin : no further information
    - Macaroni penguin : info from ZTL : "1961 till 1964"
    - King penguin : ZTL mention " ca. 1959 till at least 1980 ". Here I found that the first King penguin arrived already on July 30 1936 and a second in Dec. of that same year. In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s several eggs have been laid by this species but they never hatched. The last King penguin died at Artis in 1986.
    incubating king pinguin artis 1956 infirtile.png
    Incubating King penguin - Artis 1956

    - Gentoo penguin : ZTL-info " 1961 till at least 1980 ". In 1935 a single specimen was already in the collection and I found a newspaper-article from 1986 in which the species is said to be still at Artis.
    - Fjordland penguin : the info on ZTL only said " 1920 - 1940 ".
    - Chinstrap penguin : a reference to a newspaper article is all ZTL has to offer but I found out that in 1935 at least 2 animals of this species were kept at Artis.
    kinband gentoo en andere pinguin artis 1935.png
    Chinstrap - Gentoo and 2 other penguins at Artis -1935

    On the photo above there is another penguin-species which is called "Goudhaar pinguin" in the article. Being some kind of fatasy-name the species could be a Macaroni, Fjordland or Rockerhopper penguin or one of the other species with yellow / golden feather-tuffs.
    Could find information on 3 Penguin-enclosures which have been at Artis.
    The first 10 African penguins in 1906 were housed in the enclosure near the capybaras between the large aviary and the carrier pigeon-station.
    In 1935 a brand new enclosure was build special for penguins and I found a nice drawing and a nice photo of this one :
    penguin enclosure dec 1936 artis.png
    Artis pinguins aug. 1935.png

    In 1961 again a new enclosure was taken in use and this is the one which is nowadays the home of the large African penguin-colony :
    new peguin-enclosure 1961 artis.png
    New Penguin-enclosure - 1961
     
    Last edited: 20 Nov 2020
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  8. Kifaru Bwana

    Kifaru Bwana Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    The 1935 photograph ... is that a macaroni penguin?

    Also, did not the original enclosure - the architecture palace - not persist beyond 1961 as a zoo exhibit (or am I wrong)?
     
  9. vogelcommando

    vogelcommando Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Indeed the Penguins at the 1935 photo could be Macaroni but also Fjordland or Rockhopper penguins. Esp. the Fjordland comes to mind because this species should have been kept in the period 1920 - 1940 ( if we can believe ZTL.
    Don't know if the old penguin-enclosure existed long after the new penguin-enclosure had taken in use.
     
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  10. MennoPebesma

    MennoPebesma Well-Known Member

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    Artis recently also wrote a story on facebook about the old penguin enclosure. Also with old photos. After the construction of the new enclosure, the old enclosure was used as a playground for children.

    Artis - Facebook
     
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  11. vogelcommando

    vogelcommando Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Thank you @MennoPebesma ! Don't follow Artis on Facebook and didn't know this story. Thanks for bringing this to my attention !
     
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  12. AWP

    AWP Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    The 1988 guide book contains a photo of the old penguin enclosure, designed by Jaap Kaas ("Jack Cheese", very Dutch!), and some info:
    - the first penguin arrived in 1874 (Artis didn't know anymore where it was kept, according to the guide book);
    - around 1900 the penguins were kept together with sea lions and black-head gulls during the summer and in the hippo stable during the winter;
    - from 1936 to 1961 the penguins were kept in Kaas' enclosure in Bauhaus style;
    - from 1961 to 1988 hunderds of African and Humboldt penguins were born in the current enclosure.

    I can remember king penguins in the penguin enclosure during the 1980's from a documentary I saw as a child.
     
  13. Kifaru Bwana

    Kifaru Bwana Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    King penguins I can vouch for in person. I am not sure if they ever transferred them to other zoos, but certainly till some time mid 80's.
     
  14. Dassie rat

    Dassie rat Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    According to ZTL, Artis had king penguins from @ 1959 until @ 1980
     
  15. vogelcommando

    vogelcommando Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    As already mentioned the first King penguin arrived 1936 and the last died 1986.
     
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  16. Dassie rat

    Dassie rat Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    ZTL needs to be corrected
     
  17. Kifaru Bwana

    Kifaru Bwana Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    ZTL is a good database source, but not ye the be and end all of data sourcing and completeness. All the same, and despite some misgivings of some, it is as yet the most complete reference work for checking over animal collections, past and present.

    I still deplore the whacky decision to close up ISIS and now ZIMS to the general public. I would - as a strong believer in ex situ conservation breeding - be willing to take out a subscription and thus support their work with ex situ animal collections.
     
  18. Dassie rat

    Dassie rat Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I agree with you that ZTL, despite its flaws, is the only good database source for vertebrate species kept in Europe. I saw a dwarf lemur (greater?) at Funegirola Zoo in 1994. It isn't listed on ZTL and there was no sign for it in the zoo. I told someone at a Prosimian Conference at Chester Zoo and she was interested.

    I liked ISIS (the zoo database, not the Islamic fundamentalists) and it's a shame that it isn't open to the public. I have just started a standing order for Wikipedia, which I use a lot. I accept that it has mistakes, but there are many mistakes elsewhere in the media. I began the Wikipedia pages for various opossums and the crescent nail-tailed wallaby. I would have thought that zoo database sites would welcome subscribers.
     
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  19. Kifaru Bwana

    Kifaru Bwana Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    The main issue with Wikipedia is that it is not peer reviewed and independently verified, so (while I am a supporter of citizen science and open access to scientific data I am not sure we should be all that happy with what Wikipedia stands for. Consequently, both accurate information and hoax data and make believe stories remain equally in evidence on the Wikipedia site. Also, anyone can update and/or delete stuff.

    Your fulmination into "media" is just that ..., media are newspapers, broadcasters and news outlets and other opinion based information sources on everyday news, events and any other noteworthy news items to report on. No harm in that at all!

    In effect, it is for the reader to make up their minds while reading newspapers, listening to broadcasts or news outlets using the internet about these events and news items. This without resorting to crap like indulging in "fake news" and heavily politicised bot machines churning out biased information and having it presented as serious media.

    I would like you to consider and encourage you to balance and "nuance" your opinions better. Remain evidence based, balanced and mature enough to make up your mind on news as it happens, as you read it and as you listen to broadcasts. A talent quite a few people addicted to the internet, FB, Instagram, Twitter and what not seem to have lost ....
     
  20. Dassie rat

    Dassie rat Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Thanks, Kifaru Bwana

    I accept that there is duff information on Wikipedia, but I admire the fact that some contributors have access to information that is not easily attainable.

    When I mentioned the media, I was concerned about misinformation about subjects I know something about. I have heard eminent naturalists say that spiders are insects and that tuataras are lizards. Surely, somebody could have checked this information before the programme is broadcast. I also feel that some of the information on other programmes is probably also false, but I don't know enough about the subjects to determine the fallacies.

    Unfortunately, there are many people who believe what they want to believe and will accept 'fake news' and the like. I realise that various famous people complain about the way they are represented in the press and that some people alter Wikipedia pages to discredit people. I don't spend much time looking up information about celebrities. I spend time trying to check information about certain animals and I suspect that there are many people deliberately sabotaging those pages.

    I proofread items and try and notice mistakes so they can be corrected. Unfortunately, various programmes, books and periodicals don't seem to use proofreaders and the quality suffers because of this.

    I try to be balanced and fair about issues, but I cannot cross-check every single article or book I read. I don't have enough time. I know people who prefer to believe in alternative views to those offered by the establishment, 'experts' etc. I went to a talk by Ben Goldacre a few years ago. He complained about how many people don't listen to scientists. He was particularly concerned about parents who went against the MMR vaccine and didn't get their children vaccinated. There is a similar rebellion by some people against the coronavirus vaccine.

    When I read articles in Zoochat, I tend to believe the accounts of the contributors, especially if they have visited zoos that I haven't been to. I also accept that two people can visit the same zoo on the same day and come out with different opinions. I have been to several zoos, sometimes with people who don't like zoos. While the experience can be dispiriting, it is useful to see things from different angles.

    I'm surprised at your last paragraph. Yes, I make mistakes and misinterpret things, but I try to be fair. I'll take your advice on board. When I've been to the Netherlands, I've enjoyed talking with the people, many of whom seem to have a more practical way of solving problems than do many of the Brits.
     
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