Here is a very brief review of this animal collection i visited a few months ago. Campinas is a city in sao paulo state,about an hour and a half from the capital Sao Paulo. it has a population of about a million and a half people. The state university is very well known in latin america. In the city center there is a large park known as Bosque de Jequitibas. The park or forest was once a coffee plantation and the vegetation is quite striking. The Bosque de Jequitibas has the city zoo, natural history museum and a small aquarium. Most of the zoo animals are rescued or confiscated from the illegal trade and have been donated by the brazilian enviromental authorities. There is a lamentable lion exhibit which really is not needed nor does it serve any purpose, unless the lions were also confiscated. There is a female hippo next which has an acceptable exhibit. There is a very large waterfowl lake with a nice island for brown capuchin monkeys and also a family of tapirs. Another area held turtles and broad snouted caiman. A large aviary held blue and yellow macaws,seriema,currasow and chachalacas. other aviaries held different parrots and parakeets all confiscated according to the signs. There were also peacocks, touracos and mute swans. One pen held rhea and a grey brocket. A very nice exhibit held an active pair of neotropical river otters. Other brazilian mammals were tayras, ocelots and coendu in acceptable exhibits. The forest has free ranging agoutis, common marmosets and three toed sloths, the last sadly i did not see. At the center of the forest there is a building which seems to have been the coffe growers residence. this now holds a interesting natural history museum which has mostly brazilian specimens, including a large mounted marsh deer. It also had a small aquarium where the highlight was a saddled bichir. A small reptile house was closed because the snakes had actually been stolen. I saw some new animals enclousures under construction so the zoo will continue to grow. However the lions really should go to another collection and this zoo should continue to exhibit rescued brazilian fauna that need a home.
Thank you very much for this short review carlos55 ! Do you have a more specific species-list of the collection esp. the species of parakeets and parrots would be very intresting. Also I would like to know if the zoo keeps - next to the touracos you mentioned already - any softbills ( tanangers, cotingas etc.) ?
If you see the Photos in the gallery the lion cage is terrible, while the other exótic species have adequate exhibits, most notably the hippo. Vogel,, next to the touracos was a crested myna. No native softbills.The psittacine collection was interésting indeed and i will post a species list later. There were signs for great anteaters at the zoo but they were a no show,though the museum had two mounted specimens in a sinister defensive position.
Visited the institution last sunday, and they no longer keep lions, otters nor brocket deers, but have added seriemas, crested caracaras and crab-eating foxes to their collection. All the big cat cages have been emptied, wich was a smart decision, IMO. The aquarium and reptile house were closed due to the pandemic, and most of the exhibits seem to be the same since Carlos' visit.
You're welcome! It was great to see your photos too, so that I could compare some aspects. Did the zoo keep other big cat species besides lions when you visited it? By the way, I got sad to know they no longer keep otters. I checked your pictures before visiting, and looked forward to see them interacting in that considerably good enclosure, wich is nowadays being inhabited by various species of sliders.
I only saw the lions, but a sign mentioned that jaguares had been kept before. There were mounted jaguares in the museum. It is a Pity that the neotropical otters are gone, they were very interesting to see.
Yeah, I saw a sign about previous keeping of jaguars indeed. Anyway, those cages are too small for them too. I wonder if joining the four of them in one larger cage would be a nice idea. Maybe transfer their ocelots, and they would have one large exhibit for these guys.
The Aquarium I understand that it is a facility outside the Zoo, with a separate entrance. And the reptile house that closed is also outside the Zoo?
No, they are all in the same territory, wich is the park named Bosque dos Jequitibás. The place consists on a pathway that circles a considerable fragment of atlantic forest, being the aquarium and reptile house the first stop (They are located in the same building). Behind them, there is a natural sciences museum, wich was also closed during my visit (None of them was closed permanently, afaik) after you pass through these, you reach the zoo part. I'll leave the link for the institution's map that I posted here in zoochat, so that you can better understand what I'm saying. Zoo map - Campinas zoo (BDJ) - ZooChat
