Antwerp Zoo
Antwerp Zoo | |
---|---|
51°12′59″N 4°25′24″E / 51.21639°N 4.42333°E | |
Date opened | 21 July 1843 (180 years old) [1] |
Location | Antwerp, Belgium |
No. of animals | 5000 [2] |
No. of species | 950 [2] |
Annual visitors | 1,100,100 [3] |
Memberships | 38,000 |
Website | http://www.zooantwerpen.be |
Antwerp Zoo (Dutch: ZOO Antwerpen) is a zoo in the centre of Antwerp, Belgium, located next to the Antwerpen-Centraal railway station. It is the oldest animal park in the country, and one of the oldest in the world, established on 21 July 1843.
History
Since its foundation, the park has been controlled by De Koninklijke Maatschappij voor Dierkunde van Antwerpen, a society originally called Société Royale de Zoologie d'Anvers (The Antwerp Royal Society for Zoology). This also became the popular nickname for the zoo, "De Zoologie". The initial objective was to encourage
Throughout the years, it has encouraged
In its early years, the size of the park grew from less than 1.59 hectares (3.9 acres) to more than 10.5 hectares (26 acres). Notable buildings from that period are the Egyptian temple (1856) and the antelope building (1861) in Oriental style, which now houses the okapis.[1]
The zoo has also a cultural function. Originally, concerts were held in the garden of the zoo. The museum building was demolished to build a concert hall. The hall then became the residence of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, the symphonic orchestra of Flanders. The museum collections were moved to the second floor.[citation needed]
For the 1920 Summer Olympics, the venue hosted the boxing and wrestling events.[4][5]
After
On 1 January 1983, the animal park was classified as a monument. Ten years later, its 150th anniversary was celebrated. In 1997, Vriesland (Freezeland) was opened. It houses subantarctic penguins and in the past also Alaskan sea otters. In spring 1999, the elephant compound was expanded. In 2003, many animals, including hippos, Malayan tapirs, and a number of swamp birds received a new home in Hippotopia.[citation needed]
Animals and exhibits
Together with its sister park Planckendael, Antwerp Zoo houses over 7,000 animals of about 950 species. Over 1.6 million people visit the zoo and Planckendael each year, and the zoo has around 200,000 supporting members.[6][7]
Some exhibits and species in the park include:
- Vriesland with king penguins, macaroni penguins, and gentoo penguins. A couple of sea otters has also lived here, but they were replaced by seals after the last one died.
- Aquaforum with California sea lions, used to house bottlenose dolphins up to 1999.
- Reptile house, renovated in 2005 with many species of snakes, lizards, turtles, and frogs, as well as caimans
- The over a century old renovated aquarium, with renovations completed in 2015, housing many species of saltwater and freshwater fish
- Savannah aviary with ibises and Abdim's storks
- Egyptian temple with Asian elephants, Hartmann's mountain zebras and giraffes,
- Aviaries and bird house with many birds species including Songbirds.
- Hippotopia with Coypuand a couple of bird species
- Bearcanyon with spectacled bears, and coatis
- Cat enclosures with Amur leopard, lion and jaguar
- Flemish garden
- Kangaroo house with koalas and a tree-kangaroo
- Moorish temple with okapis
- Monkey house with Black Lemur
- Ape house with chimpanzees, western lowland gorillas and the world's only eastern lowland gorillain captivity outside of Africa.
- Birds of prey including snowy owl, spectacled owl, crested caracara, Kea and several vultures
- Other enclosures featuring harbour seal, bongo, meerkat, red panda, North American porcupine, American flamingo and African penguin
All the animals in the zoo and Planckendael combined consume about 41 tons of fish, 52 tons of meat, 37 tons of apples, 36 tons of carrots, 128 tons of hay, 4,000 litres of milk, 23,000 eggs, and 10,000 loaves of bread [in what period?].
The zoo used to have a dolphinarium called the Aquaforum. At the time of its building, one of the most modern of its kind. Over the years, however, the infrastructure was considered far too small and dated. The zoo's urban location prevented any expansion and meant the society could not build a new one. In 1999 the two dolphins were relocated to the Duisburg Zoo in Germany because of the new national standards for exhibits, with the exhibit too shallow to keep housing dolphins. The Aquaforum now hold sea lions, which are much less demanding.
Architecture and garden
Antwerp Zoo is one of the oldest zoos in the world, established in 1843. Many buildings are very well preserved. Some of them have received new functions throughout the years.
- Entrance of the zoo (1843)
- Egyptian temple (1856)
- Moor temple (1885): it still houses okapis. Antwerp Zoo became the world's first zoo with okapis in 1918.
- Bird building (1948)
- Nocturama (1968)
- Reptile building (1901): this building looks like a Greek temple.
- Aquarium (1910): designed by Emile Thielens.
- Winter garden (1897): a tropical greenhouse.
On 1 January 1983 the entire park (architecture and garden) was listed as a monument.
Breeding programmes
Antwerp Zoo has played its role in preservation and
Centre for Research and Conservation
The Centre for Research and Conservation (CRC) is an important research department of the Royal Zoological Society of
Affiliated parks and domains
- In 1952, the society in control of the zoo bought the
- In 1956, the same society bought the Domein Planckendael in Muizen, near Mechelen. It covers an area of 40 hectares (99 acres) and has become a full-grown animal park.[9]
Notes
- ^ a b c "History". zooantwerpen.be (in Dutch). Antwerp Zoo. Archived from the original on 18 May 2010. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
- ^ a b "Zot van dieren". antwerpen.be. City of Antwerp. Archived from the original on February 9, 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
- ^ "About Zoo Antwerp". zooantwerpen.be (in Dutch). Antwerp Zoo. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
- ^ "Boxing at the 1920 Antwerpen Summer Games | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com". 17 April 2020. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Wrestling at the 1920 Antwerpen Summer Games | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com". 17 April 2020. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Nieuw record: 200.000 abonnees!" (in Dutch). 1 July 2014. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- ^ "ZOO Antwerpen-Dierentuin" (in Dutch). 4 April 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- ^ Zeggeold.zooantwerpen.be (in Dutch) Archived April 5, 2018, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Kasteeldomein Planckendael".