Garden dormice, a suitable forest and a moving date. What else do you need to bring an endangered species back to nature? Quite a lot, as it turns out. The garden dormouse is endangered in Flanders, and its habitat is disappearing fast. Every opportunity to help the species counts. But returning animals to nature involves much more than simply moving them to a suitable location.
Science never stands still in our parks. Every day, researchers, keepers, vets and curators deepen their understanding of the animals we take care of and protect – both here and in their natural habitats. It’s time to reflect on a year of findings that truly impact animal welfare, conservation and species management. And, as always, our scientists are already looking forward, because there are still so many questions waiting for answers.
Asiatic lions are extremely rare, and highly vulnerable. Only about 350 remain in the wild. This makes the species particularly at risk, and maintaining a healthy reserve population in zoos is vitally important. Every Asiatic lion plays a crucial role in safeguarding the future of the species. At Planckendael ZOO, we do everything we can to protect these endangered big cats. That’s why young Yarzar recently underwent an extensive medical examination, including both an MRI and a CT scan.
The okapi – a mysterious inhabitant of Congo’s forests – has been inextricably linked to Antwerp ZOO ever since 1919. Today this link remains as strong as ever. Together with its conservation branch, the Antwerp Zoo Foundation (AZF), Antwerp ZOO continues to fight for the survival of the okapi. Its efforts are now expanding to a new part of the okapi’s natural habitat: the Rubi-Télé region in Congo. A feasibility study is currently being carried out to explore how okapis in the wild can be better protected.
How do you work out who fathered a baby chimpanzee when there are five adult males in the group? And why does it matter? A single hair sample and DNA analysis not only establish paternity, but are also crucial for breeding policy, parentage studies and genetic management in the European breeding programme. Find out how genetic material is collected, analysed and interpreted at Antwerp ZOO.
The Vietnamese pheasant has not been spotted in its natural habitat since the beginning of this century, which is why Antwerp ZOO is taking action. Thanks to an international breeding programme and reintroduction project, this remarkable bird will soon have a new chance to thrive in the forests of its native Vietnam. Genetic research by our own scientists also revealed that one of the Vietnamese pheasant pairs bred at Antwerp ZOO is a perfect match for reintroduction into their native habitat in Vietnam.
Planckendael ZOO is offering the slender-horned gazelle, one of the most critically endangered gazelle species in the world, hope for a secure future. The ZOO has been supporting a vital breeding programme in Tunisia’s Sidi Toui National Park by providing financial aid, sharing its expertise in population management, and donating several of its own carefully bred and raised animals.
It is, of course, something completely different. Our scientists often venture beyond their familiar laboratories and typical zoo environments, but they seldom put themselves in the spotlights at an international film festival. In the Dutch city of Nijmegen, two of our experts enthusiastically joined the panel discussion following the viewing of a documentary on the San Diego Zoo’s Frozen Zoo.
The corona pandemic doesn’t only affect humans, but animals as well. In collaboration with the University of Antwerp, we searched for the presence of the COVID-19- virus in 1.116 manure samples from the mammals of ZOO Antwerp and ZOO Planckendael.
ZOO Antwerp has set up a Biobank for European zoos. As a co-initiator, our scientists collect biological samples from as many animals from European zoos as possible in super freezers.
It appears that Sulawesi is not as old as it was previously believed to be. Four million years ago just the central part of the island was above water; it was only two million years ago that the rest of the island was formed. This has been revealed by animal DNA analysis.
First ever pair of black vultures to adopt two chicks at once. Scientists from Antwerp ZOO & Plankendael ZOO have also succeeded in analysing DNA from dried out blood vessels in a hatched egg shell of a black vulture.