Harpij 1 2008
Bioparc
Valencia: a unique zoo in a sunny and green city
Koen Brouwer
Historically, Spain had few major zoos compared to many other European countries. This has been changing in the last few years, and the third largest city of Spain, Valencia, is getting its due with the opening of L’Oceanografic in 2002 and of Bioparc Valencia in March 2008. Bioparc is the successor of the Viveros Zoo, a very small zoo in the center of Valencia that was open to the public between 19 June 1965 and 31 July 2007. The company Rain Forest S.L. (which recently rebuilt Fuengirola Zoo) won a competition by the city of Valencia to build a new zoo, and construction of Bioparc Valencia commenced in 2004. This facility is situated in Cabacera City Park at one end of the 10 km Turia gardens, and is accessible by foot, bicycle, metro, bus and car.
The first phase, presenting savannah and rainforest biotopes in Africa and Madagascar, constitutes 10 ha. Rainforests of Southeast Asia and South America will be constructed later.
Bioparc Valencia employs the “immersion” concept throughout its entirety. Vegetation grows well in the warm Valencian climate, and the zoo’s extensive plantings are important in helping to create the illusion that the visitor is actually in an animal’s habitat. Nocturnal, crepuscular and diurnal animals are exhibited in unique and exciting ways that offer visitors different experiences according to the time of day. Approximately 4000 animals in 250 species should be housed at Bioparc by the end of 2008. The collection will be managed by 30 keepers, two veterinarians and a zoological director. To date approximately 50 animal transports have taken place, with naked mole rats, white rhinos and spot-necked otters coming from as far as South Africa.
A total of approximately 70 full-time personnel will be employed to run the various other facets of the zoo, including two restaurants and gift shops. Education has a main role in the zoo, and research and conservation are also addressed. Fuengirola Zoo and Bioparc have joined forces to create the nature conservation organization “Instituto del Trópico”. Valencia, with its many parks, coastline and famous Albufera wetland is a very green city with diverse cultural, recreational and architectural highlights. With the presence of L’Oceanografic, Europe’s largest aquarium and the unique Bioparc Valencia in one city, Valencia could be considered the “San Diego of Spain” and well worth visiting!
Flying above Rotterdam Zoo
Harald Schimdt
Rotterdam
Zoo
Discussions
about the possibility of having a
free flight demonstration
(bird show) for the public were initiated in 2003 at
Rotterdam Zoo. The decision to have one depended on a number
of stipulations: the demonstration must be done by zoo
employees and would involve birds owned by Rotterdam Zoo,
rather than any third parties. The birds may only display
natural behaviours, handling
of the birds in front of the public must be minimized, and
education must always be the foremost objective. Possibly
most importantly, all of the birds must have their own
enclosure, or one shared with conspecifics, rather than
being tethered throughout (a part of) the day.
Building
up a suitable group
of birds to be flown in an educational demonstration costs
much time. Some of the birds in the Rotterdam Zoo
demonstration were bred at the zoo, some were acquired from
other EAZA zoos and some acquired from private breeders. A
large range of birds are flown, including (not exclusively)
the crested seriema, Von der Deckens hornbill, writhed
hornbill, sulfur- breasted toucan, two species of macaws and
birds of prey such as the burrowing owl, barn owl, eagle owl,
black kite and white-backed vulture.
Training
of a few birds began in 2005, an experience that validated
the idea that roomy and safe housing for the birds was
necessary. A 34 X 12 m complex with 24 aviaries was built in
2006 to house the birds in the demonstration. The aviaries
face south, to capture as much sun as possible. The tropical
birds are moved into heated quarters elsewhere in the zoo
during the winter. A spacious training aviary was also
constructed. The public area, built in 2007,
can seat approximately 600 people.
Weight
management of some of the birds is cautiously approached. It
is often the case that a bird does not perform as wished for
other reasons than the frequently stated conclusion that the
bird is too heavy. The effects of weight management on a
bird’s physiology will be investigated at Rotterdam Zoo
using blood tests this year. Hand-rearing is not necessary
for training many birds, and in the case of birds such as
parrots, may negatively affect their behaviour. There are
some species that are more easily trained if hand-reared but
generally these are the species
that are not adversely affected by hand-rearing. It
is hoped that the show will be expanded and fine-tuned in
the future.
Hand-rearing of a two-toed sloth at Antwerp Zoo
Bart Brebels
Zoo
Antwerpen
A
two-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus) was born at the Antwerp
Zoo on 19 June 2007. None of the nine other sloths born
to the mother “Wina”
and sired by “Quasimodo” had survived. This young, a
male named “Inueve” was removed for hand-rearing after
three days, when it was clear that Wina was not producing
milk, a problem encountered in past births as well.
Information
gathered from
rescue centers in Peru and Columbia and from Dortmund Zoo in
Germany was helpful in developing a hand-rearing protocol.
Some aspects of Inueve’s development, feeding and
husbandry regime are discussed in this article. The baby was
initially fed a milk substitute every three hours between
7:00AM and 23:00PM (six times a day), and began eating
cooked carrot puree after just two weeks. He received a
different vegetable each week when three months of age, and
began eating fruit at four months of age.
Inueve had his first excrements when almost two weeks
of age, and at five months of age still hangs on a keeper to
accomplish this, similar to the natural situation, in which
a young animal hangs on its mother to excerete wastes.
Inueve weighed 538
g at 3 days of age, 620 g at one month, 760 g at two months,
1000 g at three months, 1260 g four months and 1580 g at
five months of age.