A mountain bongo was born at Planckendael on Saturday January 14th. According to Planckendael's e-mail newsletter the calf is male.
I went to Planckendael today and I have a couple of updates. Some of it might already be known. Oceania: They will receive import of Tasmanian devils. The amount gender and timeline of arrival are currently not known. The imported individuals will first arrive and quarantine in Copenhagen Zoo before coming to Planckendael. So, with Prague getting a breeding pair maybe there's hope. Way of in the future a new echidna may arrive from a new sub-species or species but that is even more iffy. Africa: They were working on refurbishing the aviary near the Grevy's. As well as breaking down the Antelope stables. No new stables are currently planned to being build. Instead, they will expand the outdoor enclosures. The bongos are currently kept behind the scenes near the cheetah enclosure. There was a detour straight ahead from the giraffe paddock instead of crossing the stream. You could still view the Barbary macaque's and the Somali wild ass. Giraffe paddock: One of the Mountain zebras died (Laya) this week and their body is sent to the University of Gent to perform the autopsy. Even tho she wasn't that old about ten years she had plenty of health issues. And the keepers know she had an abscess. Her daughter Tarana remains who also has issues. Since no zoo wants her, they are looking for another mountain zebra to join perhaps. But that is more uncertain. Today they also introduced the new Mohr gazelle Fidel to Tarana and I took a couple of videos of the introduction to give you a taste. Since it went well, they put the giraffes on as well. Of the Mohr gazelle herd the names of the remaining individuals are Siebe, Theo, Dex and Goort. Siebe will soon depart to another zoo and another gazelle will join. Specifics are currently unknown. Asia: Snow leopards both individuals were on display so I assume they might breed since this is within their window. ( Not confirmed) Elephants May Tagu is still a bully. Kanvar will depart and another bull will come, but no specifics are said. So, in the meantime Kanvar is allowed to breed with May Tagu and Kai Mook, if their young are close to cycling Kanvar will be separated. So not much changed. Orangutans: Still haven't gone outside. Paquita (gibbon) looked well and was kept with Bagus, Kila and Ombak. Paquita was playful and is still the only one that goes outside. They also worked on the Sulawesi macaque site. But when that will be finished is not known. The Sulawesi macaques are still kept in the old shop behind the scenes. America: Not much news, plenty of swaps in aviaries with the bird flu legislation. So that even the Malines and turkeys are in one on display. The pelicans are kept in the aviary behind the scenes you can spot them from the mara enclosure. Or if you look over the wooden panels. I also put some pictures of the finished work in the mara enclosure. Europe: No news I didn't spot the Badger. Behind the scenes: I didn't spot Zora(Jaguar). Zamora and Tinka were kept together and very active (Spectacled bear). Aviaries and breeding centre looked full but not my specialty.
Th rest of the pictures and the video links. 20230210_113944 Streamable Streamable I hope you enjoyed my little update!
Thank you very much for the updates @Perseus6 ! Is the Slender-horned gazelle still visible? I saw her 1.5 years ago together with the Arabian Oryx next to the Bongo exhibit. I believe this area is under construction now, correct? What about the Dorcas gazelle ? Do you know what is the plan for them ?
Thank you very much for sharing these updates, some substantial developments for sure. I'm not sure when I'll be visiting again, but I do hope at least the antelopes and African aviary will be finished relatively soon (and I hope that aviary will house at least a few more species again also). With regards to the antelopes, do you perhaps know what species will be staying? I hope they will continue with at least the bongos, given the recent breeding. I remember reading at the Laafsekikkers that Planckendael isn't allowed to breed snow leopards as they have only one large main outdoor exhibit and a small off-show outdoor cage. I have (I believe it was in 2020) also seen the snow leopards together once or twice, but I'm not sure what is going on with that. I'm glad to hear they are working on the area near the muntjac island. I'm still hoping we will see the return of the macaques. Although I guess that will mean moving around those muntjacs again, I don't think they should be mixed with macaques. The badger is rarely on show anyway, and badgers naturally stay in their dens most of the winter anyway. I did see it sleeping in one of the viewable dens in late 2022. That animal must be pretty old by now also. During my last visit in 2022 I saw a gazelle in a paddock next to the new building and the Somali wild ass paddock, which I don't think was the last slender-horned gazelle. But I was too far away and the pictures I made are too blurry to be certain.
I mean new species is very unlikely, and it's all very iffy right now so don't count on it. Since they don't really intend to import themselves.
Normally all species of Antelopes will stay. The Saharan Dorcas is visible at the back of the Somali asses. The other antelopes were placed in the old enclosures along the detoured route. The Oryx came out, but the Slender-horned gazelle didn't. The Slender-horned gazelle is still on display but adjusting to the new enclosure. As well as it was cold so... The plan is all species will stay how they will be divided along the enclosures is not known to me yet. About the snow leopards I couldn't ask a keeper, but their mating window is from January till march it's on a info display in the hut as well. And both were kept together. I also heard about them not being allowed but it's due to the separation cage behind the scenes that is subpar. (You can spot the cage from the elephant lodge it's white). As well as other facilities I've seen actually are worse that still breed, so it wouldn't be abnormal. Plus, the Jubilee perks in Antwerp are being worked on so maybe that's why... Again, purely speculation I just think it's strange 2 individuals are kept together otherwise. And I haven't seen this in Planckendael otherwise unless it was a mother and cub. The Sulawesi macaques return will probably still take a while since they just dug a little and weren't really working on it. And I usually do spot the badger, it’s a rescue animal and she's quite old so I fear she might be gone but it might be an overreaction.
I visited Planckendael today. I did not notice any large developments compared to Perseus6's update above, but I will be adding some updates to the largest ongoing projects (including some attached images). Some small updates/remarks: Several dozens European white storks have already returned, they have already started preparations for the new breeding season. A pair of wild grey herons seem to be attempting to nest in the top of a tree in the wet forest area between the European area, the Leuvensesteenweg and the staff access road. The oriental white storks also seem to be preparing for another nesting attempt, one of the animals stayed on the nest, and I also saw an attempt at mating. It is quite impressive to see both Antwerp's American flamingos and Planckendael's Chilean flamingos in the aviary together, however, the lawn in the aviary seems to be suffering from the increased number of birds and has become damaged and quite muddy in some areas. Looking at the off-show breeding aviaries from the Australian area, I saw two birds which I think might be Egyptian vultures. The two giant anteaters were in the same exhibit, they were both asleep in the viewable indoor exhibit. This indoor exhibit has also had a new privacy window decal with viewing holes applied, in a different material than the previous one which didn't last long. Very little seems to be happening next to the muntjak island. Unless something changes big time soon I doubt we will see a macaque house anytime soon. About the antelope area: Most of the old antelope house has been demolished, minus the basis brick walls, floors and foundation. The fencing on the hyena side (former Arabian oryx/gazelle paddock) has been removed, I saw what I think may be construction materials for something new, but couldn't make out what exactly those were. I also saw some ongoing ground work/digging in this area and perhaps some brick work as well, but I'm not totally sure this is something new. I saw some kind of construction site info sheet one one of the fences, which mentioned that this project is planned to take until the end of May. With regards to the normally off-show paddocks between the giraffe exhibit and the water treatment plant: I saw nothing in the first, the Arabian oryx and slender-horned gazelle in the second, and two male red kangaroos in the last (former donkey/deer/moose exhibit next to the treatment plant). I only saw the oryx and gazelle of the antelope area inhabitants, the bongos and Somali wild asses seem to be temporarily off-show. About the African aviary: The renovation seems to be mostly finished, new poles have been installed and the aviary is almost fully netted again. There still seemed to be some smaller renovation work ongoing.
The aviary behind the scenes do contain 2 Egyptian vultures. They are easily spotted when leaving the penguin aviary and looking past the barrier on the left. And it will take a while. A bonobo researcher was hopeful because they dug up the path back to the foundation. But they don't really count on it. Priority is now the antelope project and probably the Jubilee complex. You can still spot them with a little luck when you Africa to Europe you can look inside the old shop and sometimes you spot an individual. When I was there you could still access the Somali wild asses enclosure and they were still on show, with the Saharan Dorcas in a partly fenced off part of their enclosure. You could sport the Bongos from the path to the cheetahs looking at the off show enclosure on the other side of the new antelope stable. But with the construction going on I guess this might become difficult. I can confirm all the other news.
I saw the vultures from between the cassowaries and the Australian terrarium house. There you can see the last few of the off-show aviaries relatively well, at least when the trees don't yet have their leaves. I understand that they would give priority to the antelope house, given the size of that project and the fact that quite a few large animals have been temporarily displaced to other exhibits or in smaller spaces than usual. I could see the Somali wild ass paddock from near the macaques, but no animals were out in the main paddock or the side paddock. I did see an attempt at screening that area from the demolition site, so it is possible there are still animals here but they were just not outside. Yesterday visitors were allowed to walk the path next to the normally off-show paddocks, and I did not visit the cheetah exhibit from that side, as I went to see the cheetahs and hyenas via the passage between the African and American sections. Do you by any chance know which species will be housed were in the future? Because I've been thinking that the wet forest area where the bongos were until recently housed isn't really suitable for any of the other species, but to connect it to the new building, it would probably be required to move the Somali wild asses? Or is there something I am not seeing?
Interesting but very possible. For now that will be the detour with the works. When speaking to the curator on my visit, she told me that there wont be new stables build anytime soon. That right now they would just expand the outside enclosures. She was also clear no species left and all animals were doing fine with some being kept behind the scenes. But I assume they would house the animals all in the new stable and use the outside enclosures for the Bongos and the Dorcas. With the Somali wild asses staying where they are. Leaving the bongos where they were and the Dorcas at the old oryx enclosure and I assume the Oryx and Slender-horned gazelle will stay where they are which will turn to behind the scenes. But this is all assumption and is in no way confirmed. Also I think it's clear that the Arabian Oryx and Slender-horned gazelle will disappear from the collection once the animals die.
Apparently Planckendael is planning a test project with butterflies in the orangutan greenhouse, according to a recent job offer for a horticulturalist. The post mentioned Atlas and monarch butterflies. Although butterflies are nice, I would personally still prefer to see free-range birds in the greenhouse again. But unfortunately I do understand the reason why they are not doing that again. Laafsekikkers
It was mentioned at the Laafsekikkers that a lot of the birds previously kept in the greenhouse had abnormal fattening (which can lead to liver failure and other complications in birds) due to being fed with inappropriate human foods by visitors, despite it been clearly stated that was not allowed.
Gazet van Antwerpen published an article detailing developments at Planckendael. The renovation of the antelope area is going into its final weeks. The old building has been demolished, new exhibits are being developed. The existing bongo paddock is being renovated and will be divided to create two large outdoor exhibits, which will house bongos, Somali wild asses, dik-diks, ostriches and Dorcas gazelles. This suggests to me the bongos and dik-diks will get a paddock on the hyena side, with the asses, ostriches and gazelles getting an exhibit on the Barbary macaque side - although I'm not entirely sure I understand the article completely correctly. The muntjaks have moved off the fifth island in the orangutan project (the island not connected to the greenhouse), a new indoor exhibit for the Sulawesi crested macaques is going to be constructed, allowing this species to return to being on-show. In the fall they hope to start construction on a new services center with different animal-related facilities and technical work spaces, at the back of the park, near the Leuven-Dijle canal. After protest from local residents against earlier plans, they have had conversations with local residents and changed the plans to address their concerns and the permit application is now in its final phase. Because the new services center is given priority, the plan to build a new, larger entrance has been postponed indefinitely. ZOO Planckendael bouwt nieuwe verblijven en dienstencentrum: “Maar werken aan ingang stellen we voorlopig uit”
I went to Planckendael today. Below are my notes on updates, and I have also added a few images to support my updates. Smaller construction work, maintenance and general updates: Quite a few employees were busy cleaning walkways, including removing dirt from between the cracks of wooden bridges and walkways and sweeping up leaves and branches. In several places the worst holes and muddy areas of walkways had been filled up with new dolomite gravel. The site for the future crested macaque house has had the concrete walls, dirt and plants removed that were put on top of the concrete slab last year. Besides some metal beams there were so far no other signs of construction in this area. Near the tree-top walk a ditch had been dug, seemingly for some kind of work on utility lines. The orangutan family group was in the smaller second indoor exhibit, together with the female gibbon, and surprisingly the door to the two smaller outdoor islands was open. There seemed to be some maintenance work, including welding (I saw a gas cylinder and heard ongoing metal work), going on in the corner of the greenhouse, near the third indoor exhibit, which the animals didn't have access to. Two pied imperial pigeons in the pigeon/laughingthrush aviary in the orangutan greenhouse were busy building a nest on the highest ridge of the rock wall. Some additional wooden platforms were added on the orangutan island on the lion side, near the entrance and exhibit of the greenhouse. The dilapidated top of the entrance arch to the African zone has been replaced with a new one. The African aviary renovation has been completed and according to signage, nine species already have or will soon move into this aviary (again): Black-crowned night heron, Black-crowned crane, Pied avocet, African sacred ibis, White-faced whistling duck, Speckled pigeon, Purple heron, African spoonbill and Western cattle egret. I saw seven of these nine, the exceptions being the avocets and the purple herons. I did however still see the purple herons in the spoonbill aviary in the Asian zone they were previously moved to. It seems the two marabous are no longer in this aviary and are not planned to return. The customs post theming in and around the small shack near the Grévy's zebras was removed. A part of the Grévy's zebra paddock was fenced off with construction site fencing, right next to the off-show area with wooden fencing where the remaining addax are currently kept. Staff were using an aerial work platform to clean the high windows in the giraffe building. There was a sign stating that one of the Hartmann's mountain zebras is undergoing treatment for knee problems. However the animal depicted on the sign was a Grévy's zebra. I did not see any Hartmann's today, only the Kordofan giraffes and Mhorr gazelles were out on the savanna. With regards to the normally off-show paddocks between the giraffe exhibit and the water treatment plant: the first now housed three Chacoan peccaries (three other Chacoan peccaries were still in their normal exhibit), the second still housed the last Arabian oryx at Planckendael and Europe's last slender-horned gazelle, and the third was empty with no open stable doors or signage, suggesting the two red kangaroos may have moved. Somewhat surprisingly there was signage present stating that the Arabian oryx "Hadj" and the Slender-horned gazelle "Shafira" will soon be moving to another zoo. About the antelope area construction: Lots of active construction work on the new exhibits. A large part of the Bongo paddock has been split off, and it looks like this area will be added to the Somali wild ass/ostrich/Dorcas gazelle area. They seem to be filling up part of this rather wet area with a large amount of soil. In this area I also saw a construction with wooden poles that I'm not sure of the purpose of, but it might become a resting zone for the gazelles, as well as the foundation for what I think will be a new viewing area and of a potential feeding and shelter area near the building. Construction work on the other side, near the cheetahs and the hyenas (presumably the future new bongo/dik-dik exhibit), included recent ground work, some logs having being laid down and new fences being installed. I saw one of the Somali wild asses in a small paddock made of construction site fences near the building, and one mountain bongo in the paddock between the building and the cheetah exhibit.
I forgot to mention in my previous post that on Tuesday I spotted the Dalmatian pelicans in the holding aviary between the pond and the gift shop building. Perhaps with the postponement of the construction of a new entrance the pelicans have been returned to that holding aviary.
Two Asian-small clawed otters were born in the orangutan area, and have been named Yoshi and Yoda. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=5732724236855615
For the third year in a row the black lemur breeding pair Oreo and Kimmie at Planckendael have welcomed a baby. Planckendael verwelkomt voor derde jaar op rij kleine moormaki: “Belangrijk voor deze bedreigde diersoort”
