A owl-faced monkey (Cercopithecus hamlyni) was born on 2 february to Jimmel en Kibo. There previous youngster Vince and an elderly brother of him live in the samen enclosure.
A male okapi calf, Xandor, was born on February 23rd to female Lindi and male Semuliki. For the male Xandor is the first offspring. Unlike most okapis he was born with a pink rather than bluish gray tongue. He was also a bit on the small side at birth, but seems to be doing well. For the first month he has stayed in the stable, after that he will only go outside if the temperature is above 15° Celcius. Okapi geboren in Antwerpse Zoo: Xandor heeft roze in plaats van blauwe tong Log in or sign up to view
According to recent posts on Facebook and at the Laafsekikkers forum, Zoo Antwerpen has recently received and now displays Giant Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma asio), Motagua Spiny-tailed Iguana (Ctenosaura palearis) and Cane Toad (Rhinella marina) in the reptile house. Log in or sign up to view Nieuwstopic Zoo Antwerpen (2022) - Pagina 7 - Laafsekikkers.be
Possibly species obtained via Artis - Amsterdam Zoo or direct import (Ctenosaura)? How many of them on exhibit?
All were photographed (see Facebook link) so presumably all exhibited publicly. No information on where the animals were sourced was mentioned at the links.
Three new frog species in the reptile house: - Mimic poison frog (Ranitomeya imitator), the banded morph - Variable poison dart frog (Ranitomeya variabilis) - Spotted poison frog (Ranitomeya vanzolinii) I saw one frog of each species, all in different terrariums where other amphibians are already kept. I recommend taking your time to look carefully, they are very difficult to spot in the pretty large enclosures.
The Smith's green-eyed gecko (Gekko smithii) passed away, not that anyone ever saw the animal in its massive enclosure. Still, a fairly rare species gone from the park.
African lioness Kira will be moving to Kristiansand Dyrepark in Norway, as she no longer gets along with male lion Nestor and a permanent separation has become necessary. It has yet to be deicided whether they will try to introduce another lioness. Nestor, their other lioness Tasa and their three cubs remain at Antwerp for the time being. Sprookje aan scherven bij leeuwen in Antwerpse Zoo: Kira (3) verhuist naar Noorse dierentuin omdat ‘koning’ Nestor geen twee vrouwen wil
A North American porcupine was born on April 5th, it is a male and he has been named Xavi. Parents are Humphrey and Indy. https://www.instagram.com/p/CdSiGnvtufG/
A pair of black-casqued hornbills (Ceratogymna atrata) is on show in the great avairy with the buffaloes.
New fish species on show: a flame hawkfish (Neocirrhites armatus) in the aquarium near the entrance of the building.
Some updates from today at Antwerp: The small animal exhibits in the ape house have been covered with window stickers, according to a sign they are being rebuilt. According to signage Eurasian golden orioles were added to the wader bird aviary, but I did not find any. Some of the southern bald ibises seemed interested in nests on the rocks around the buffalo shelter/cave. In the buffalo savanna aviary a new species sign has been placed. The sign with the maps of the buildings has however been removed and replaced with photos of Cape buffaloes. I saw the recently added black-casqued hornbills in the buffalo savanna aviary, they are a very nice addition. I did not find the also recently added African pygmy falcons, but ever finding those will probably be quite the challenge anyway. At least two meerkats now live with the Hermann's tortoises in the exhibit near the Egyptian temple. The former kangaroo exhibit next to the route from the aquarium to the reptile house is being renovated. A fence has been placed to create a separation paddock, red thorny bushes were being planted around that area. Bark chips are being applied to the exhibit's floor. It seems like this might become a nice exhibit for a pig species. The Madagascar partridges that were formerly kept in the ape house small animal wing are according to signage now housed in one of the small outdoor aviaries of the bird house, mixed with green woodhoopoes. I did not however see any. The Dusky pademelon is now housed in the former red panda and dik-dik exhibit at the edge of the jubilee complex, between the toilet building and the former bear exhibit playground. Probably the best exhibit this animal has so far been in at Planckendael or Antwerp. Some kind of renovation work is taking place in the entrance hall of the bird house. A scaffold was placed there. In the bird house I spotted a barred buttonquail chick and a juvenile turquoise tanager. A few swift parrots were added to the Australian indoor aviary (former macaw indoor aviary). At least one green aracari now lives with the crested oropendolas and grey-winged trumpeters in the American large mixed outdoor aviary of the bird house. The flower beds had been emptied of spring flowers. Near the bird house there were several racks with herb plants (lavender, sage, thyme, rosemary, oregano and lemon balm), it seems some kind of herbal garden is going to be planted somewhere.
Zoo Wuppertal has announced on its Facebook-page that their one-year old male babirusa Kedua is going to be transferred to Antwerp. They also state that Antwerp is going to keep a male bachelor group of the species. As KevinB already stated, the former kangaroo exhibit is currently being renovated to accomodate the babirusa. Log in or sign up to view
HLN recently published an article interviewing KMDA (Royal Antwerp Zoological Society) CEO Dries Herpoelaert about developments. Unfortunately the article is for subscribers only, so I will only be translating and paraphrasing the most important parts. Zoo en Planckendael bouwen weer aan toekomst na rake klappen pandemie: “Dierentuin is nooit af, maar ik zou ze toch eens graag helemaal gerenoveerd zien” The article contains a discussion of the plans for the development of the Jubilee complex. They are reworking the plans and hope to apply for a permit in early 2023, with construction starting later in 2023 and ending by 2025. According to the article, starting from the alpaca side, there will be an owl and crane aviary, snowleopards, spider monkeys, spectacled bears, turtles, Amur tigers and coatis. A jellyfish aquarium, said to "become something unique", will also be included. The existing three levels will continue to be used, as space is at a premium in Antwerp. The article is unfortunately not super clear about what will be constructed where. As far as I understand it a new spectacled bear exhibit might be built, with the Amur tiger exhibit taking the place of the former spectacled bear exhibit (current playground area). I also assume the turtles and jellyfish exhibits will be built in the former Aquaforum (sea lion building). I am wondering which turtles they will chose. Either large freshwater turtles (like Giant Amazon river turtles or the Branderhorst's snapping turtles they already have) with some large fish, or sea turtles with fish would be a very interesting option in my opinion, and one that has good conservation education opportunities. In terms of future projects the article mentioned the small monkey house, a possible renovation and partial return to an earlier architectural form of the bird house and the expansion of the elephant paddock.
The sea lion keeper I spoke yesterday said they would go for sharks and turtles. As well as that the sea lions are on a extinguishing policy waiting for the older individuals to die and then move the younger females to a new group.
Sea turtles and sharks certainly would be a nice way to use the Aquaforum building. By sharks I assume they will likely move their black-tip reef sharks and wobbegongs? Their current tank in the aquarium is not that large. With regards to the sea lions, I assume that means they will be staying in the harbor seal exhibit for some time to come?
