Planckendael Planckendael News thread

You need to stay positive, also during these times.

The basics are good, they just need to follow-up these basics with the visitors. If you do this on several visibile keypoints, the visitors will remind (and understand) all these precautions better.

Just as they do in Pairi Daiza. I didn't encounter big problems there, thanks to the stewards and the visibile markings on the ground in the whole park. Or as they do in Monde Sauvage, with a very simple one-direction walkway and a lot of signs.

If you want to avoid any other people in a Zoo, the parks as Forestia or Caves of Han are maybe a good solution for you. Staying home forever isn't the solution if you want to stay healty. You also have to come out and enjoy!

 

I am not a very positive person at all and admittedly I am probably overly anxious over Covid-19.

If anyone has any suggestions for zoos to do better with the safety measures I suggest they send them to the zoo(s) in question, and hopefully they will be open to suggestions to ensure the safety of their visitors.

The suggestion for the wildlife parks in Wallonia is one I will take a look at.

I agree that it wouldn't be a good thing to stay home forever, however I really need to have as little stress as possible about going somewhere to be able to truly enjoy it. And it remains to be seen how that can be done with regards to zoos.

 

One horned rhino Johanna died.

 

A sad loss, but seen as she was the oldest or one of the oldest ones in Europe she has had a long (and good in my opinion) life.

 

Although it is natural for old animals to die at some point, it is extra sad for Planckendael to lose two of its iconic old animals during these difficult times with the deaths of elephant Dumbo and now rhinoceros Johanna.

It will be a bit weird not seeing her in the rhinoceros paddock next time I visit, like it was not seeing Dumbo anymore for the first time. And while it is sad to see an animal go, she did indeed live a good and long life, and she made her contributions to the breeding program, having served as the breeding female at Planckendael for years and having produced several calves.

In memory of Johanna, two pictures I took of her last year, posted from the gallery.

I last saw Johanna on June 12th - not long before her death apparently as a sign I saw photographed on Facebook said she died mid-June - and I might post those pictures soon.

 

An somewhat not expected loss. She helped a new generation of GOHR into the world, some of which have gone on to become breeders themselves. She reached a great age at 37 (b. August 1982).

 

Do you happen to know how many children she has had and possibly even where they live now? I also wouldn't say no to a total overview of her lineage if one would be able to give one.

 

After a little bit of Googling I found the following link that you might find informative:
Johanna #113 - Rhinos of the World

 

So four children of which three alive and 5 grandchildren of which four alive. That's quite a lineage for a female rhino.

 

List of calves: 3.3 (1.1) by female Johanna.

sire male Bheema (b. Whipsnade)
(0.1) stillbirth 1992
(1.0) stillbirth 1993
0.1 Winona (breeder at Lisieux - last calf in 2016) in 1995
(M Manas b. 2010 now breeder at Warsawa)
1.0 Zimon (died in 2016 at Amersfoort) in 1998

sire male Gujrat (b. San Diego WAP)
1.0 Fanindra (breeder at Rotterdam / (Touroparc - transferred in 2012)) in 2004
(0.2 arrived in 2016, both of which probably now at an age where calving will be more likely)
0.1 Jasmin (breeder at Nyiregyhaza - 2nd calf 2018) in 2008

 

When the last calf, Qabid, was born in 2015 I made the following list of Indian rhinoceros births at Planckendael for the Laafsekikkers, which I translated for ZooChat.

It was largely based on the (now dated) document linked below. I used the site linked above and the earlier posts in this topic to fill in some more recent updates.
RRC: International studbook for the greater one-horned or Indian rhinoceros, Rhinoceros unicornis, 31 December 2014

1) 03/11/1980, M, Yassam X Zutuma: No name, deceased 07/11/1980
2) 09/08/1982, F, Yassam X Zutuma: Johanna, lived at Planckendael until her death in 2020
3) 24/10/1986, M, Yassam X Zutuma: Nico, Now at Terra Natura
4) 03/02/1992, F, Bheema X Johanna: No name, stillbirth
5) 15/11/1992, F, Bheema X Zutuma: Teja, deceased in Lissabon, 2018
6) 04/08/1993, M, Bheema X Johanna: No name, stillbirth
7) 12/10/1995, F, Bheema X Johanna: Winona, now in Lisieux
8) 27/09/1997, F, Bheema X Zutuma: No name, deceased a few hours after birth
9) 21/09/1998, M, Bheema X Johanna: Zimon, deceased in Amersfoort, 2016
10) 23/09/2004, M, Gujarat X Johanna: Fanindra, Now at Touroparc
11) 28/02/2008, F, Gujarat X Johanna: Jasmin, Now at Nyiregyhaza
12) 12/12/2015, M, Gujarat X Karamat: Qabid, Now at Edinburgh

On a final note: as I believe has been mentioned here before, another calf is expected to be born later this year from Gujarat and Karamat.

 

Indian rhinoceros Karamat recently delivered her second calf at Planckendael. The calf is female. When the weather allows and the animals want to come outside the calf will be on-show, possibly already this weekend.

Planckendael posted the following footage of the birth.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=669936193591569

 

I took a day off from work today and I chose to use it to pay a visit to Planckendael.

The weather wasn't ideal as we had a few rain showers during the visit, which luckily were neither very heavy nor very long, so I think we spent the best hours of a not so great day weather-wise at Planckendael. Perhaps in part due to the fickle weather it wasn't very busy at the zoo and paying extra attention to the Covid-19 safety measures was really only an issues in the buildings and in covered areas (where face masks are already obligatory). My mother and I in fact spent at least five minutes all alone in the South America aviary, which we definitely enjoyed.

The most important developments I noticed are the following:
- The recaptured escaped ibis from the South American aviary are no longer in the European aviary, and the recaptured Inca tern were also no longer in the Australian aviary. For the first time since the escape I saw at least a few Inca terns and a decent group of scarlet ibis in the now repaired South American aviary again.
- In the Australian aviary a bush thick-knee was on show again, for the first time in I think several years.
- At the antelope house in the African zone the Arabian oryx and Scimitar-horned oryx have switched places. The Arabian oryx now lives in the paddock next to the mountain bongos, while one Scimitar-horned oryx was on show in the paddock near the small playground, next to the cheetahs.
- Two more Mhorr gazelles have arrived. In late June I saw three individuals, now there were five.
- I think some more signs have been added to indicate the Covid-19 safety measures and one-way traffic areas. I also saw a few more corona stewards.
- At the Indian rhinoceros exhibit barriers and a corona steward were present to ensure safety as visitors watch the rhinoceros calf. The steward, an elderly volunteer I think, kept a close eye, which helped in getting people to follow the rules, but in my opinion she could be a little more forward in calling people out or giving warnings. I saw the calf quite well and enjoyed that very much. Good to see that there is a rhinoceros calf again.
- Asian elephant bull Kanvar was with the female herd in the big paddock.
- The aviary near the snow leopards now only holds green peafowl, black-headed ibis and blue eared pheasant. There were no more signs for red-crowned cranes or cheer pheasants.
- The abandoned redevelopment zone around the Asian greenhouse is starting to look ever more sad as weeds shoot up more and more.
- One of the two camel foals born this year was in a small separation paddock next to the stable with its mother. It had spots of a green treatment spray on the front legs and shoulders, so it has likely been treated by the vet.
- In the African aviary I saw at least three juvenile African spoonbills.
- The lesser flamingos are still with the Chilean flamingos in the South American aviary, it is unclear to me why.

 

I forgot to add to my previous post and noticed while looking at my photos that I saw a capybara in the guanaco paddock. I think the capybara was a juvenile individual, there were still two adult capybaras in the main capybara exhibit.

 

How many Chilean and lesser flamingos do they maintain?

 

I don't know any exact numbers and Zootierliste doesn't give any.

However, as you can perhaps see in images in the gallery, the Chilean flamingo flock is quite larger, in the order of several dozens. They could easily have 50-60 Chilean flamingos, I think. They also breed Chilean flamingos, although I have not seen any nesting activity this year.

Of the lesser flamingos they only have a very small non-breeding group, probably only 5-10 individuals.

 

I would favour a larger lesser flamingo flock in a separate aviary within the African area (they used to be in a small wader/ibis aviary across from bonobo and overlooking the zebra yards.

 

The lesser flamingos were still in the African waterfront aviary last year, the move only happened recently. In fact lesser flamingos are still signed in the African aviary and unsigned where they are now. So presumably the move is temporarily, although I am unsure exactly why (are they hoping perhaps the lessers will breed when in a larger group?).

Your are not wrong that it would be nice if they had a large lesser flamingo group in a separate aviary in the African zone. I have actually yet to see a large breeding flock of lesser flamingos at any zoo, as all zoos that I have seen them in only kept small non-breeding groups. Are there in fact any zoos with large breeding groups of lesser flamingos in Europe?

 

Leipzig Zoo and another in the Czech Republic. Probably more breeding locations that other posters might know about.

 

Karlsruhe Zoo is breeding Lesser Flamingos every year ,but only one or two chicks.This year, it were two. According to a press release of the zoo, there are only three (zoo)breeders in europe, but I guess, they are being bred also in private collections.