Trying to pick up some bits and pieces about this new zoo opening in Valencia, designed by the same people who designed Fuengirola zoo. 2.0 African elephant from Colchester 0.2 African elephant from Moscow 1.1 fossa from Duisburg 3 drill from Hanover 3.1 Mongoose lemur from Besancon (pair and 2 sons) Grants zebra from Halle and Emmen 1 White rhino from Barcelona 1.0 African lion from Thoiry 1 spotted hyena from Beauval 6 ring tailed lemur from Fuengirola 0.1 Rothschild's giraffe from Prague 1.0 Rothschild's giraffe from Aalborg 1.0 Aardvark from Prague 0.1 Aardvark from Arnhem 0.1 Alaotran gentle lemur from Overloon Banded mongoose from Aqua zoo Frieslan Dwarf mongoose This info is from their website Bienvenido/Wellcome BIOPARC Valencia
Mere add ons: 1.0 white rhino ex the old Valencia Zoo (now closed down) (the Barcelona rhino is a young male) 0.2 adult unknown ssp/hybrid? giraffe ex the old Valencia Zoo 0.0.3 Grant's zebras ex Kobenhavn Zoo (probably all females) 1.1 Grant's zebras ex Halle Zoo 0.1 Alaotran Bambu Lemur ex Overloon Park (1.0 expected ex Jersey in next few weeks) 0.0.3 Drill ex Hannover Zoo 1.1 Fossa ex Duisburg Zoo 3.1 Mongoz Lemur ex Besancon Zoo
The 3 drills from Hannover are males. A young female from Port Lympne is expected to join them (or probably better one of them) soon.
Didn't the old pair of Gorillas- Catou and Dorle- from Duisburg Zoo go to Valencia? I believe they are to get another 1.2.gorillas also ijn the future...( possibly male Mambi from La Boissierre, France + 2 undetermined females...)
Affirmative. I also read - cannot remember where - another candidate female is due soon. Will look up who? (I know you love gorillas)
Yay! This IS exactly according to the latest EEP recommendations. The 2nd younger female should be Bikira from Belfast.... I'm pleased Mambi is being given the chance for a group. He is a fine male born at Twycross(Mamfe x Biddy) and lived in both Paignton and la Boissierre batchelor groups though he didn't integrate very well at the former. I'm guessing that Catou and Dorle will not be living with Mambi & co.
I`m keeping my fingers crossed for Mambie, is he mother-raised? What I don`t understand is why Frankfurt is giving away Fossey, she is perfectly integrated into the group and Matze will die in the not-too-soon future. Fossey would be just perfect as future breeding female for a new silverback, together with Ruby (who still has no baby from Matze...).
Mambi. No, Mambi was handreared. He lived at twycross with his older halfsister 'Asante'(now 23, the female they've never tried to breed from) and the unrelated male Sekondi(who died early this year) Sekondi and Mambi were same-aged but Mambi was a much better specimen than Sekondi. They sent him to Paignton as they didn't need him- he integrated into the batchelor group with difficulty as he had poor social skills and wouldn't defer to the adult male(pertinax ) - then suddenly he(Mambi) grew rapidly and matured into a very impressive silverback! and they had to remove him from the group. They set up the La Boissiere male group with Mambi as the oldest male, knowing his individual temperament would suit that role better. I don't really understand Fossey's move to Valencia from Frankfurt either. I would have thought they would want her as a new breeder themselves as a new male must be brought to replace Matz sometime soon- and a new house is being designed too(when?) Still, maybe they will receive another female from elsewhere if they part with one of their own... the other female Bikira, to go from Belfast to Valencia, has not bred at Belfast and they will get a replacement if she goes..
Presumably that means Port Lympne won't be starting a 2nd group anytime soon They have two young females in the group of six who are daughters of the breeding male(Gorbi) so maybe they'll be sending both these out to other collections...
Sounds as though Valencia is going to get a world class zoo to match their world class aquarium, which last year saw Europes first beluga whale calf born, from the species mentioned above it looks to be a very exciting collection. When is the park going to open and do we know of any other species going to Valencia?
Yes, it certainly sounds as if it will be a major player... worth following its development on this thread if anyone knows more....
Bioparc Valencia is the brainchild of Koen Brouwer, the former director of EAZA. Just like his predecessor he has gone into opening a new zoo (Gaiapark!). Bioparc Valencia is a zoo that will certainly bring Spain into the fold where it comes to a modern attractive zoo with the emphasis on its inhabitants (rather than for human consumption). Bioparc Valencia is now due to open early March 2008. Essentially phase I with an African savannah, Congo rainforest and Madagascar (CA. 8 ha). Phase II will take shape from 2008 onwards and focusses on Asia and South America (but will be much smaller). I have the map somewhere, but have mislaid it .... Gorillas: I guess a new gorilla troupe under Mambie with females Fossey, Bikira and hopefully a third young female. I am confident that taking Mambie out of Twycross and into a bachelor group situation has helped him gain the vital experience to lead (I mean he has gained social skills in dealing with well-socialised blackbacks). Being an impressive silverback he will make a direct impression on the females. It will be interesting to see how he reacts to members of the opposite sex here.
Don`t get your hopes too high about the bioparc... the company which owns it is the same which owns and runs the Fuengirola Zoo, and Fuengirola looks nice for visitors but is mostly awful for the animals. Lots and lots of mock rock and glass but very few space for the animals. The bioparc is much bigger then Fuengirola but still a very small zoo for all the big animals they house - elephants incl. a bull, rhinos, giraffes, 2 groups of gorillas, zebras, lions, hyenas... I have great doubts and fear that most of these animals will have to live in (too) small enclosures which are substandard compared to dutch and english zoos and not much if any better then the spanish "concrete" zoos. And all the mock rock on the pictures on the website doesn`t help to give me a better impression. The collection is going to be very interesting, certainly.
Yes, I think Mambi has quite good prospects. Although handraised, he lived with the two other young gorillas at Twycross from an early age. They later sent him to Paignton because he tried to dominate Sekondi(whom they wanted to keep) but he had a bit of a difficult time settling in there. I think he's got a dominant nature and also hadn't seen older gorillas before.. It will be very interesting to see how he relates to females again after this long spell as a batchelor.
