Parque de la Naturaleza de Cabarceno Parque de la naturaleza de Cabarceno

It's certainly... odd to say the least.
I wanted the park to do something similar to this for a very long while. The design choices are supposed to try and "imitate" the park's rocky structures, but other than in color I don't know if it achieves this... I'd much rather prefer a simple aviary that blends with the environment, properly furnished with plenty of climbing structures and vegetation and even glass viewing for guests. A fun fact mentioned in the announcement post is that they plan on refurbishing an old installation used when the park was an open-air iron mine to convert it into indoors housing. This style of architecture seems to start taking form since the new giraffe stables were built,
I also think it's funny that this is the first exhibit to be built from the ground up since the opening of the gorilla house in 2007. All the animals that have arrived since have occupied already existing exhibits.
Lemurs are a very weird pick for a zoo like Cabárceno, but I get the appeal and why they would decide to house them. There is a bunch of small mammals or even birds (they really need some birds) that I'd rather see at the park, but hey! New additions are always welcome. I'd also have preferred another species to give company to the ringtails but I guess we'll have to wait.
But in general, I'm not gonna complain, I'm excited to see what awaits in the future for the park. And by the way @Antoine and @Jana, if you guys want to see something ugly, heavy-looking and small, look no further! The farm area is just there!

 

A big spend of money for only ONE (common in zoos) Species?

 

Would be good to added say crowned or bamboo lemur too and more woody and succulent plants

 

I wish that was the case haha, but well. I guess the "Cabárceno experience" is expecting cool things for those cool things to just end in disappointment. Maybe in the future where the exhibit has been built and everything is established they could bring in a new species.
But imagine any other species being housed there, I'd kill for manuls or wolverines at the park.

 

Two interesting Species for zoo "freaks" like us, but not well know for the general public. And small size and mostly nocturnal.

 

Birth news:

- Two Guinea baboons (Papio papio) born at the park!
- Common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) calf born! 6th member of the park's current herd.

 

Birth news:
- Bennett's wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus) born at the park!
- Three Kafue flats lechwes (Kobus leche kafuensis) born at the park!

I also have some not-so-good news. Recently after a major flood in the cheetah and hyena exhibits, the cheetah exhibit got a renovation in which they included a expansion of the viewing points. To compensate for the space that the observatory took, the exhibit has been expanded by the area in which the hyenas were. The thing is that the hyena indoors housing was flooded to the roof when the flood first happened, and I'm afraid that the hyenas are no longer at the park... I'll wait for any official confirmation (Aka the removal of the hyenas in the zoo's webpage, I doubt they'll respond if I ask), but I'm afraid this species is no longer at Cabárceno.
In other bad news, the gemsbok population at the park as for now consist of a single male. The park got a group of three individuals in 2019, two females and a young buck, and one of the females passed away last year for unknown reasons. The second female was showing clear signs of pregnancy last autumn, but apparently her and her offspring have also passed away due to labour complications, leaving the young male all by himself. I hope they get him out of the park, get him in an exhibit where he can sozialice with other antelope or get in more gemsboks to get him company, but I'd guess this will take a very long while... A real pity.
Information provided by Iker Olmedo in the zoosdelmundo forum.

 

Birth news:
The year's first Common eland (Taurotragus oryx) calf was born at the park! As per usual, other females should start giving birth soon or later.

 

Development news:
Cabárceno's sea lion facility is gonna be reworked and the show the park used to offer will be suspended from now on. Instead of the traditional sea lion show, the park will now be offering educational talks.
These changes will mostly be done due to the advanced age of the park's four sea lions (Eco with 25, Lisa at 26, Deva and Pas at the age of 18) as well as vision problems in three of the four individuals. The stadium's bleachers will be retired so guests have a closer look at the animals with the inclusion of a ramp making it suitable for wheelchairs, and the pool will be modified as well.
These changes will be taken under the recommendations that EAZA keepers and veterinarians have given, and will supposedly be better suited for the park's elderly pinnipeds.
The last sea lion show at Cabárceno will take place on the 20th of March of 2022 at 13:00 and 17:00, and the exhibit will remain closed between the 21st and 25th of March for these changes to take place.
Parque de la Naturaleza de Cabárceno - Cantur - Cantabria - España - Cabárceno readaptará el recinto de leones marinos para orientar el modelo de visita hacia fines educativos y de bienestar animal

 

Births and Development:
- Three Bennett's wallabies (Macropus rufogriseus) have been born in the last weeks!
- Two more Common elands (Taurotragus oryx) have been born at the park.
- Watusi (Bos primigenius taurus) calf born at the park!
- Development of the sea lion exhibit has been finished, it hasn't changed much but the bleachers were retired as stated. The park will no longer realize sea lion shows.

Parque de la Naturaleza de Cabárceno - Cantur - Cantabria - España - Cabárceno reabre mañana el recinto de leones marinos

 

New species!:
Yesterday an Instagram user posted a picture of three Cape buffaloes (Syncerus caffer caffer) in Cabárceno! What an amazing species for the park to have! It's been theorized in the zoosdelmundo formun that they might be at the gemsbok holding paddocks. These are definitely unexpected but well-received news! I'm wondering if any zoo has sent away some cape buffaloes recently? I'll be waiting until the park does an official statement.

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New species!:
The park has officially announced the arrival of a breeding herd of Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer caffer) to Cabárceno!
The herd consists of four young cows of 18 months to 5 years of age as well as a single bull at the age of 19 months (1.4). The herd arrived from the Lisboa zoo on the 30th of March in a move coordinated by the EAZA.
The herd will temporarily be housed in the former gemsbok paddock (I guess the last male is no longer at the park...) so they get used to feeding hours and proper management from keepers, but the plan is to move them to a 3 hectares exhibit (I don't know which exhibit it could be because I doubt they'll build a new one).
The park wants to run a breeding program, being the only Spanish zoo breeding this subspecies of African buffalo.

Detalle - Gobierno - cantabria.es

 

Does onyone know a bit about the way the brown bears are managed in their huge area? I was there last week, saw several cubs from I gues last year but also at least one animal who looked more like a cross-breeding between a big dog and a ploar bear instead of looking as a brown bear. Do they use contraceptives? Are there indoor enclosures (I didn't saw one)? ...

 

I hate to break it to you, but the answer to your question is: they don't manage the bears.
Keepers roll in their jeeps and throw in a bunch of food to the animals, range around the exhibit to try and see if any animal has any injuries, and if they don't find anything strange the job with the bears is done!
There is no indoor housing for the animals and there is no massive breeding control, sadly. Apparently, the animals in the park do hibernate, and the amount of cubs born per year is always uncertain. The only way of noticing is by counting newborns once they start popping up after winter. I don't remember how many cubs were born last year but in 2020 at least six were born in the exhibit.

 

Births and Development:
- Two more Watusi (Bos primigenius taurus) calfs have been born at the park.
- First Chapman's zebra (Equus quagga chapmani) foal of the year born at the park!
- It's almost confirmed that the cape buffaloes will inhabit the current addax and dromedary exhibit. It's still unknown if the later species will be housed alongside the buffaloes, but it's being discussed.
-Apparently, the Monchino horse and cattle exhibit is now empty. It seems like there are other incorporations/animal movements pending (As well as the old wild boar exhibit).

 

Birth news:
- European lowland bison (Bison bonasus bonasus) calf born at the park! First calf of the year.
- The fifth Common eland (Taurotragus oryx) calf of the year was born at the park! With this newborn, the herd consists of 23 individuals.
- The European brown bear (Ursus arctos arctos) cubs have started coming out of their burrows. I sadly don't have a certain number of all the animals born this year.

 

Animal news:
One of the three female Southern white rhinoceroses (Ceratotherium simum simum) is leaving the park to be paired with a male over at TerraNatura Murcia. The park's rhino population is now of four animals, two bulls and two cows.

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Since 2015 "Mayayi", a female from Bioparc Valencia, has been in Cabarceno with the intention of breeding... Do you know if it is she or another female that has been sent to TN Murcia? Thank you.

 

Sadly I have no idea who that rhino is...

 

Animal news:
Three Western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) have caught COVID at the park. Tests were made back on Saturday because vets noticed that some of the animals were coughing and showing symptoms as well as losing their appetite and general lack of energy. Two females and a male have caught the virus, but the article doesn't specify which are their individual names (One of the female's viral load is very low).
It's theorized that the animals might have caught the virus from their keepers, so they will also be getting tests.

Tres gorilas del Parque de Cabárceno tienen covid