BioParque do Rio Rio de Janeiro Zoo (Bioparque do Rio)

This is the thread where we can discuss about the Rio de Janeiro zoo and its animals, as well as any other stuff related to the institution.

 

Firstly, I'd like to share some old videos I found on the internet. Each one of them shows parts of the institution , as well as some animals in different years. So, there we go!

 

Great, @Enzo , gonna try to move my previous posts to this thread, so that we can better discuss rio zoo's new era.

 

I'd also like to share two files that contain some more information about the institution and other zoos that existed in the city before the current one's opening:
http://www.unirio.br/ppg-pmus/jose_alberto_pais.pdf
http://www.rio.rj.gov.br/dlstatic/10112/5869572/4153815/TERMODEREFERENCIA.pdf

 

Today, I visited the park where the zoo is located (Quinta da Boa Vista) and I managed to see some of the birds kept at the biopark (those could be seen outside of the institution), such as macaws, parakeets (probably), a jay, a dove and a scarlet ibis (as well as a big unindentifiable bird). About the park, it's a nice place to spend your afternoon, with lots of open space, two big lakes where you can ride paddle boats, a big gazebo where you can have a nice sight of the place (including one of the lakes) and a small bit of the city and some picnic tables. It's a great place to go birdwatching, with various species of passerine birds, herons, egrets, as well as plain parakeets.

 

Quinta da Boa vista seems to be a wonderful park. As a big fan of history and an obvious zoo enthuziast, I would surely enjoy a visit to the place. Hope next time I visit Rio I'm able to walk through the imperial gardens of this beautiful historical area, besides only visiting the new bioparque.
In wich part of the zoo were these mentioned birds located? Also, could you see any part of the river safari and how the works are going? This area is right in the park's division with the back gardens of the national museum, isn't it?

 

If you visit the park, you'll surely enjoy it. You can see the birds if you walk close to the zoo's entrance. I didn't take any photos, but both my dad and I were happy and surprised to see them. The zoo's main doors were open and I was able to see a scarlet ibis there, as well as this unknown big bird. Yes, I was able to see the river safari, even though they covered the grids with some of sort of blue plastic; it has progressed a lot. About its location, you're right, it's right behind the museum (it does not have a back garden, but it has a nice green hill where people can have picnics). I thought I used to roll down the hill when I was young, but I actually didn't.

 

Ah, yes, I comprehend. Looking forward for more news from the zoo's crew. For what I can see, they seem to intend to reopen soon.
About the grassy hills, I imagine it has been a lot of fun for you to roll'em down in the past .
The Quinta seems to be surely a wonderful park, and holds what in my opinion is one of the prettiest zoo entrances I've ever seen.

 

I hope they both make partner plans available again and reopen the zoo soon, I'm looking forward to those. About that hill, I thought that I rolled down there when I was a kid, but I actually did not, since my parents proved me wrong. The entrance gate is indeed beautiful.

 

I understand you, sometimes we make up some memories in our minds that actually never existed ; maybe because we wanted so hard to do so, that our brains create it as a solid thought. I have a few ones like these, like, I remember being sited in those lion statues at BH zoo, near to the gorilla cove, but my parents told me they don't remember that, and wouldn't even allow me to do it. In the end, it's our complex brains and it's behaviour .

Looking forward for the reopening too. When they announce it, I might already start looking for flights to Rio.

 

I hope they are able to bring the giraffes, zebras and impalas to the zoo without any complaints from the so-called "activists". I would dislike having to go to another state just to see a giraffe or a zebra, even more if I had to visit another country. The giraffes, zebras and ostriches are the only animals that I'm 100% sure will live in the exhibit. There has been lots of confusion regarding antelopes and rhinos (some news websites say they'll have impalas, other say they'll hold wildebeest, others say they'll keep gazelles and many even say they'll bring rhinos). The impalas are the ones that will most likely be kept at the zoo because the institution's Facebook page points out that in the African savanna enclosure, there'll be giraffes, impalas, zebras and ostriches. Another information about the impalas is a post on Instagram from Marcos Paulo (a councilman from PSOL), which says the zoo is preparing itself to import giraffes, impalas and zebras from Africa. I don't think the zoo is planning to have rhinos in its collection at the moment, but I believe they'll probably bring some in the future.

 

I believe the impalas are most likely to come, as you mentioned they were refered in many news. wildebeests wouldn't be dificult to obtain, in my opinion, due to the presence of these animals at Serra Azul farm. They keep many kinds of antelopes.
I confess that this area would be kinda incomplete if it doesn't houses african iconic animals such as the zebras and giraffes. Keeping them will bring a lot of atention from the public, and might be really lucrative for the institution. This way, it would even bring more resources to be invested in conservation.

 

I agree with you. I'll be very pleased if they bring both the impalas and wildebeest, as I've never seen a blue gnu myself (I have seen black ones at Zoo Santo Inácio and black-faced impalas in Lisbon though).

 

Yeah, The structure they are developing seems to be pretty capable to hold a nice african biosphere including these species. Although not being native, they will surely help the zoo to increase it's public and attention.

 

Just like you said, they may not be native, but I'd love to see mores species of antelope being represented in Brazilian zoos. I'd like to see more than blackbucks, gemsbok or waterbucks. I was watching one of the podcasts/lives streamed by the zoo and they said the islands located in the safari enclosure would house meerkats and lemurs, I'm looking forward to those.

 

Some mammals native to South America I'd like to see being kept there include: big-eared opossums, red uakaris, black bearded sakis, black, golden-headed and superagüi lion tamarins, northern and southern muriquis, neotropical and giant river otters, white-tailed, marsh and pampas deer, red brockets, guanacos and vicuñas. The institution might already have some individuals of these species or plan to house some of them in the future.

 

Yeah, I know they have plans for giant otters, and more of these species may be still added. The only ones you mentioned that would be a little impossible to obtain, in my opinion, would be the superagüi tamarin and the northern muriqui, wich are not kept in any other zoo in the world.

Yeah, I've heard about the lemurs and meerkats too, and I'm curious to know how these islands will actually work. I've seen they added some safari theming there, like some huts, boxes, camping stuff, etc. Not particularly a fan of this kind of ambientation, but I hope the crew has nice plans for all this.

 

They could start a conservation program for both species, along with the Belo Horizonte, Sorocaba, São Paulo and Curitiba zoos by capturing some individuals in the wild.

 

Yes, I would also like if it happened. It would be pretty interesting if the major zoos in the country started a project for these two species indeed. BH zoo kept a lonely northern muriqui in the past, called "Zidane", and was intending to capture a hurted female in the wild. Unfortunately, the lonely individual died, and the capture didn't succeed. About the superaguis, I think no zoos ever kept them.

 

I found two other old videos of the zoo, one recorded between 1974 and 1981 and another recorded on an unknown date:


I'd also like to share a commercial from 2000 that shows a bit of the animals at the zoo. I also found it on Youtube:

The first video also shows a bit of the Antwerp zoo.