New in the Zoo are 3 Kea, which live in the renovated former Owl enclosure (The Eagle owls have left the zoo, I do not know what happened with the Spectacled owls). Neu im Zoo Basel: Keas, die Genies unter den Papageien 30 year old Chimpanzee male Tatu died unexpectedly, cause of death is still unclear. He had only been in Basel for a few months...
The coypu/nutria have now moved into the former wolf enclosure. Zoo Basel on Instagram: “Auf der ehemaligen Wolfanlage im Zoo Basel geht’s rund: 16 quirlige Nutrias sind eingezogen. Ein Besuch bei den Nagern lohnt sich auch im…”
At an age of over 35 years Sun bear Lotynka was euthanized at January 13th because of severe health problems (related to old age). It is not clear yet what will be done with the enclosure, but it won't hold bears anymore. Malaienbär gestorben
Sad news. Many of my childhood memories go with the Sun bears in Basle zoo, because their (nowadays of course outdated) exhibit was the first we went when my parents, my brother and I visited the zoo.
Was Lotynka the last sunbear of Frankfurt Zoo, coming to Basel in 2011 ? So no bear species left at the Zolli, but I guess, they will find another new species for the old bear grotto.
2 Geoffroy's Spider Monkeys were born as well as a male Somali Wild Ass. The latter birth is especially welcome as the sire is a young, hand-raised, male that arrived from Israel about 2 years ago. He is described as the genetically most valuable individual in the EEP. Klammeraffen und Somali-Wildesel – Nachwuchs im Zoo Basel
3 Ishigaki long-tailed lizards ( Takydromus dorsalis ) bred at Haus des Meeres - Vienna are now kept at Basel Zoo : Langschwanzeidechse: selten in Zoos und neu im Zoo Basel
The Basel elephant enclosure is featuring on a slow tv programme on Swiss television today. Viewers can also submit questions via email or WhatsApp to the curator Adrian Baumeyer which will be answered during the programme.
So I was on the zoo's website, and to my surprise, Woolly monkeys are part of a EEP. I'm surprised because I believed all the woolly monkeys in captivity in Europe were non species specific (something to do with the fact that a split between the species occured when they were already in zoos). I may be mistaking, therefore if someone knowledgeable than me on the subject, I'd be happy to learn more! Thanks
EEP's don't mean the animal in question is endangered (Red River Hog....) or are prepared for re-introduction. It does however mean that Woolly Monkeys are a taxon the European zoos want to invest in. Woolly Monkeys have been split by primatologists, but they split everything and recent genetic work indicates the different species should better be treated as subspecies (as was the case before). In that case Woolly Monkeys join the long list of species which are managed at a species level, but not subspecies level in a zoo...
I was at the zoo 2 days ago. Now is not really a great time to visit the zoo as the Bird house has been demolished and will not be opened again untill 2022. They're also working on the Antelope house, Okapis and Lesser kudus are not visible. Still a great zoo but it takes out two really big mammals highlights and many rarities that were exhibited in the bird house. It made the visit a bit underwhelming to be honnest. They do something with the otter (only saw one), they put in the morning this old-school weighing scale, one side is a pierced bucket full of ice, the other is food, and the otter has to wait for the ice to melt down to eat. For some reason, it was trying it's best to climb the scale, it would pick up rocks on the ground also and stand up next to the thing. Not sure I like this kind of enrichment as I didn't get what good it did to the otter, it's a bit sadistic in a way, the otter spent quite a while trying for nothing.
In October 4 Central European wild boars were born. https://www.instagram.com/p/CINl-OuDhOf/ The two little owls born in June have been sent to Nuthe-Nieplitz Nature Park, where efforts have been made to reintroduce little owls for 10 years now. https://www.instagram.com/p/CISgx4cAVeW/
On the 12th of March female Kalahari lion (Panthera leo vernayi) Okoa (19 years) was euthanized because of a sever liver disease. Okoa was an experienced mother, she gave birth 8 times with 5 litters at Basel Zoo. The lion family in Basel Zoo now consitst of the 19-year-old lions Mbali and Uma, and the two cubs from Okoa's last litter, Nyoma and Nikisha. Source: Instagram of Zoo Basel (17/03/2021) Login • Instagram
More sad news from Basel Zoo, female Western Lowland Gorilla Quarta (52 years!) passed away surrounded by rest of the gorilla group on the night of 18 March. She was the oldest member of the gorilla group in the zoo and the seventh-oldest gorilla living in a zoo worldwide. Quarta was born at Basel Zoo and gave birth nine times. Her daughter Faddama and her grandchildren Makala and Quaziba still live at Basel Zoo. Source: Website of Zoo Basel (22/03/2021) Gorilla Quarta gestorben
On the sixth of March a meerkat was born at the zoo. Source: Instagram of Zoo Basel (15/04/2021) https://www.instagram.com/p/CNrraPOgv19/
