Within three weeks after the birth of giraffe calf Chloë another giraffe was born. April 8th giraf Anne also gave birth. This means that the valuable breeding group of nettgiraffes in Rotterdam Zoo now consists of no fewer than 12 animals. This newcomer is a male called Fabian. The proud father of both calves is Banio who did his best because he will be the father of two more calves that will be born later this year.

Since spring is in the air at last all twelve giraffes will be allowed outside before long.
That will certainly provide unique pictures: twelve beautifully marked reticulated giraffes (unquestionably the most beautiful of all giraffe-subspecies) among others two foals galloping across the African savanna in Rotterdam Zoo!

Polar bears Eric and Olinka in Rotterdam Zoo are in love again. They clearly showed that last Sunday, a lovely sunny day.

From behind the big glass window in the polar bear enclosure the visitors were a witness of the impetuous lovemaking of our polar bears Eric and Olinka. And that only two weeks after months during which they hardly approached each other. No there was absolute  no ‘love in the air’, on the contrary they did their utmost to avoid each other. Besides Eric has been rather ill shortly.  During a few weeks  Eric and Olinka were separated.  However, when it became apparent that they were making eyes at each other they were allowed to share their enclosure again. With a wonderful result!
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In November gorilla mum Tamani gave birth again. The proud father is Bokito. He has already four daughters, this seems to be the fifth one but the keepers are not fully convinced as yet. Tamani is an experienced mum who loves to show her baby to the visitors, but she keeps the baby very close to her breast so that it is not yet clear whether it is a girl or a boy. Bokito is a very good father taking care that Tamani is not pestered by the other members of the family.

Our gorilla family consists of 10 members from 4 generations.  

In May primary school pupils from Rotterdam together with HRH princess Laurentien
have released three juvenile sturgeons in the river Maas in Rotterdam. A first move in the direction of re-introduction of the sturgeon in The Netherlands.

For years the World Wildlife Fund has been working on the return of the Atlantic sturgeon that had become extinct in The Netherlands since 1953. The WWF has coordinated forces with ARK (nature development), the Dutch National Federation of Anglers and Rotterdam Zoo which resulted in the accommodation of 3 North American sturgeons in the Oceanium in Rotterdam Zoo.

In the meadow volière it is clear that summer is approaching. The ruffs do their utmost with their plumage to outshine their male congeners in order to find favour with the rather inconspicuous females.

The redshanks are busy nesting and the lapwings and avocets have already chickens. So this is the right time to watch the fascinating behaviour of the many birds from one of the benches. 

The prairie dogs have young. These cute little rodents are very playful and enjoy attention from their parents as well as from the visitors.
Watch the cute video on the site >>

Little panda Olivia from Rotterdam Zoo will get a mate this week.  It is worth a small party because Olivia had a bad start. She was only a few weeks old when her mum died of pneumonia. The keepers hand-reared her, first of all she was bottle-fed, then they gave her a nourishing porridge and since a month she is eating solid food by herself. The male that will join her is Perry, a young flame from Aquazoo at Leeuwarden (the Netherlands). We hope they will like eac other and will have offspring.

This beautiful reddish brown little animal lived in  the Himalayas of India, Nepal and China. Rotterdam Zoo has a special bond with the little panda because for years now Rotterdam Zoo is coordinator of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) and of the European Endangered Species Breeding Programme (EEP) as well.
The European Endangered Breeding Programme for the little panda is very successful so that nowadays the little panda can be seen in quite a few  zoos. In cooperation with the Zoo in Darjeeling panda’s from Rotterdam Zoo have even been reintroduced in their natural habitat.

Shortly a large shoal of herrings is swimming in the big shark tank in the Oceanium in Rotterdam Zoo. The shoal consists of some 2400 so called false herrings from the Carribbean (‘false’ indicating the difference between herring found in the North Sea and herring from the Atlantic Ocean). This is the first time that such a big shoal of fish can be seen in Rotterdam Zoo. Living herrings are beautiful fish and a big shoal is fascinating to watch.

The shoal moves as one organism in the Oceanium while barracudas, tarpons, sharks and other predatory fish are swimming through the shoal. It is only a few weeks ago that the herrings joined the other fish in the big tank therefore every now and then they are retreating to a shallower part at the back of the big tank to take shelter.

There are  not many aquaria in Europe where these vulnerable fish can be seen!  On the youtube channel of Rotterdam Zoo you can watch the moment the shoal was released in the big tank: a breathtaking spectacle.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst named the two rare Sumatran tiger cubs in Rotterdam Zoo. This was a heart’s desire of Rotterdam Zoo. The naming took place during the second obligatory vaccination. Giovanni was allowed to take a few hairs from the cubs for DNA-research. Finally Marc Damen, director of Rotterdam Zoo, offered him a year’s membership so that he and his family may follow the progress of the little ones.

Rotterdam Zoo wished to name the tiger cubs after Giovanni to honour his special merits during the World Cup 2010 and as a veteran of the Rotterdam football club Feyenoord. This is the more appropriate because Giovanni, like these Sumatrian tiger cubs, is from Asian origin.