Diergaarde Blijdorp


Diergaarde Blijdorp, officially Rotterdam Zoo, is a zoo located in the northwestern part of Rotterdam. It is one of the oldest zoos in the Netherlands, and has been operated by the Stichting Koninklijke Rotterdamse Diergaarde. Divided into several zoogeographic regions, the Blijdorp Zoo boasts 562 species. It also has a shop, multiple cafes, and an information centre.
The zoo is a member of the Dutch Zoo Federation and the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria. In 2007, it celebrated its 150th anniversary.

History

In 1855, a garden was set up for pheasants and waterfowl in the center of Rotterdam, near the Kruiskade. It was a success and on May 18, 1857, the 'Rotterdamsche Diergaarde' was opened as a sequel. The first director was the animal trainer Henri Martin. The same year the 'Vereniging Rotterdamsche Diergaarde' was founded. In 1932 it was decided to reorganize the zoo. In 1937 it was decided to move the zoo to a new location. The zoo exchanged land with the municipality: the municipality received part of the old zoo for free, the rest they had to pay for. In exchange, the zoo became the owner of two-thirds of a new site in the Blijdorp district, while one-third of the new site had to be leased at one guilder. On October 26, 1938, the 'Vereniging' was dissolved, and the 'Rotterdamsche Diergaarde Foundation' was established. The Rotterdam Zoo moved to its new location prior to the bombing of Rotterdam in World War II, which destroyed most of the city centre. The original zoo had been heavily damaged in a bombing two days prior to the Blitz, but it had not been touched by the main bombardment on May 14, 1940. Some street names, such as Diergaardesingel, still recall the old zoo. The new zoo at Blijdorp was rebuilt slightly to the north, where it opened to the public in its current location on December 7, 1940. The new zoo was designed by Dutch architect Sybold van Ravesteyn, who designed the central railway station of Rotterdam as well. In 2001, Blijdorp became almost twice as large when it opened a new western part, which includes the Oceanium aquarium. In 2007, the zoo was declared a rijksmonument.
In May 2007, the zoo appeared in the news when Bokito, Blijdorp's silverback gorilla, escaped from his enclosure and seriously injured a female visitor. Before the attack, the woman was a regular visitor of the zoo and claimed to have a special bond with Bokito, regularly touching the glass between her and the gorilla, making eye contact with him and smiling at him.
In October 2010, the city of Rotterdam decided to reduce its yearly funding of Blijdorp from nearly 4.5 to about 0.8 million euro until 2015. The zoo and its supporters protested the decision, claiming it is unclear if the zoo can continue to operate with the reduced budget.
In March 2014, the zoo made headlines when a giraffe licked a former zoo cleaner whose last wish was to revisit the zoo, as he was dying of terminal brain cancer. The video went viral worldwide quickly.
In 2019, a conservation centre was opened with the first animals being Lesser Antillean iguanas brought over from a plane from Sint Maarten with Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte.

Breeding programs

Diergaarde Blijdorp participates in about 70 breeding programs and studbooks, and coordinates a number of these, including the international breeding program for red pandas, EEPs for Asian elephant, Komodo dragon, red-crowned and Siberian crane, Visayan warty pig and Egyptian tortoise, and the ESB for the crowned pigeons.

Botanical garden

Blijdorp also houses a botanical garden and manages both the Dutch National Bromelia Collection and the Dutch National Primula Collection.

Oceanium

The Oceanium is an aquarium that opened in the zoo in 2001. The Oceanium lies in the expansion area of the zoo, which includes a new entrance and parking area, and was the biggest project to date for the zoo. The area around the Oceanium was home to projects depicting the Americas. However since 2020, Blijdorp wanted to designate this area to tropical Africa.

Animal list

Asia

; Chinese Garden:
  • Tufted deer
  • François' langur
  • Eurasian otter
; The Amur:
  • Greater flamingo
  • White stork
  • Amur leopard
  • Northern hawk-owl
  • Dalmatian pelican
  • Great cormorant
; Malaysian Forest Edge & Asia House:
  • Visayan warty pig
  • Visayan spotted deer
  • Lion-tailed macaque
  • Fishing cat
  • Banteng
  • Blackbuck
  • Wreathed hornbill
  • Indian eagle-owl
  • Bali myna
  • Crested partridge
  • Black-naped fruit dove
  • Roti Island snake-necked turtle
  • Amboina box turtle
  • Komodo dragon
  • Indian cobra
; Asian Swamp:
  • White-naped crane
  • Demoiselle crane
  • Sulawesi crested macaque
  • Little egret
  • Black-headed ibis
  • Painted stork
  • Milky stork
  • Woolly-necked stork
  • Black-crowned night heron
  • Pied imperial pigeon
  • Fulvous whistling duck
  • Green peafowl
; Mongolian Steppe:
  • Bactrian camel
  • Pallas's cat
; Taman Indah:
  • Indian rhinoceros
  • Asian elephant
  • Indian python
  • Malayan tapir
; Tiger Creek:
  • Sumatran tiger
; Other animals:
  • Red panda

    Europe

  • Finnish forest reindeer

    Africa

; Gorilla exhibit:
; Congo:
  • Crested guinea fowl
  • Guinea turaco
  • Okapi
  • Red river hog
  • Eastern bongo
  • Northern carmine bee-eater
  • Several other bird species
; Savanna:
  • Reticulated giraffe
  • Chapman's zebra
  • Greater kudu
  • Common ostrich
  • Marabou stork
  • Hamerkop
  • Grey crowned crane
  • White-backed vulture
  • Rüppell's vulture
  • White-headed vulture
  • Hooded vulture
  • Spotted hyena
  • Serval
  • Yellow mongoose
  • Black-headed weaver
; Crocodile river:
; Others:
  • Western plantain-eater
  • Superb starling
  • Crowned lapwing
  • Pygmy hippopotamus
  • Black rhinoceros
  • Mhorr gazelle
  • Gelada

    Rivièrahal

  • Toco toucan

    South America

  • Vicuña
  • Darwin's rhea
  • Southern pudu

    North America

; Prairie:
  • Plains bison
  • Black-tailed prairie dog
; Arctica:
  • Polar bear
  • Arctic fox
  • Steller's sea eagle
  • Raccoon

    Oceanium

; Bass Rock:
  • Atlantic puffin
  • Common guillemot
  • Black-legged kittiwake
  • Common eider
; North Sea:
  • European lobster
  • Nursehound
  • Small-spotted catshark
  • Blonde ray
  • Thornback ray
  • Herring
  • Atlantic mackerel
  • Thicklip grey mullet
  • Different species of wrasse
; Atlantic Ocean:
  • Nurse shark
  • Green sea turtle
  • Hawksbill sea turtle
  • Southern stingray
  • Great barracuda
  • Atlantic tarpon
; Caribbean:
  • Green moray eel
  • Scribbled filefish
  • Slender seahorse
; The Antilles:
  • Desmarest's hutia
  • Plumed basilisk
  • Red-bellied piranha
  • Black pacu
  • Cuvier's dwarf caiman
  • Cownose ray
; Falklands:
  • King penguin
  • Gentoo penguin
; Galápagos:
  • Galapagos giant tortoise
; Sea of Cortez:
  • Gila monster
  • Colorado River toad
  • Fire salamander
  • Fish

    Other animals

  • Asiatic lion
  • Meerkat
  • Swamp wallaby