History
When, just before WWII, the Dutch merchant Gerard van den Brink bought the mansion, including the estate 'Ten Rhijn', in the small town of Alphen aan den Rijn, located close to the river 'Oude Rijn' in the province Zuid-Holland, nobody could have expected that this would lead to the creation of the first zoo in the Netherlands dedicated to birds only. Gerard van den Brink was a successful entrepreneur in the millinery business, who owned several shops. His son, Gerard junior, would eventually follow his father's footsteps, but being a bird lover he kept some birds as a hobby.
In 1942, however, during WWII the family had to leave the mansion and the estate by order of the German occupiers. When they returned after the war only three trees of the original wooded park had survived the devastating period. These three trees still exist to date.
Gerard jr took up his former hobby after they returned to their estate in 1945, starting with a few aviaries at the edge of the park. The first birds in the collection were exotic white woodpeckers (Melanerpes candidus) that might have originated from Suriname - at the time still part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Gerard sr liked the birds very much and joined his son's hobby by investing in features such as a rose garden, ponds and bridges to introduce characteristics of a park on the rather bare estate. Father and son were passionate about their private endeavour, which was absolutely not intended to turn into a public bird park.
Nevertheless, while the family increased their bird collections, including exotic species, the sounds of those birds made the citizens of Alphen aan den Rijn curious. To satisfy this curiosity and at the same time give the people of this Christian municipality an alternative to their Sunday stroll, the mayor asked Van den Brink for once to open the estate to the villagers, in August 1949. In large numbers they came to explore the park and gardens, and their enthusiasm eventually led to a second public opening. Being a genuine businessman, Van den Brink realised that he could make some money when asking an entrance fee. Thus it was decided to make the estate an official bird park and Avifauna, the world's first bird park ever opened its gate to the public on 17 May 1950.
The first year turnstile numbers were as high as 500,000, but already a few years later the Van den Brink family wasn't able to maintain the park any more, on the verge of bankruptcy. The hobby of Gerard van den Brink got out of hand, literally. So Avifauna Bird Park was about to be closed. Fortunately, the town council of Alphen aan den Rijn stepped in, but wasn't able to make the park profitable too. With a loss of 200,000 Dutch guilders they started to look for a new owner. The town council wanted the bird park to be a visitor's attraction again, bringing tourists to the town, but foremost they didn't want to lose any more money.
How it started
Footage of the early days of the bird park, including Gerard van den Brink jr reminiscing about how it all began … (in Dutch)
Fortunately, already in 1956 a new family, a family business to be correct, was found willing to invest in the enterprise and take over ownership and management. This Van der Valk family - well-known for the many hotels and motorway restaurants they ran in the Netherlands and beyond - bought the bird park on leasehold from the municipality with a symbolic annual fee of 1 Dutch guilder.
Apparently the Van der Valk family was one of nature lovers and were prepared to invest in the bird park. They even decided to adopt the toco toucan (Ramphastos toco) that was used to adorn the posters of the initial opening of the park in 1950 as a logo for their family business. A logo that has identified the Van der Valk hotels and restaurants ever since, and is therefore familiar to every Dutchman.
The Van der Valk family extended the park and its children's playground, while they added a hotel and a restaurant as well for obvious reasons. Further to this several replicas of well-known Dutch buildings were introduced on the premises, such as the 'waterpoort' of Sneek in Friesland, a province in the north. Van der Valk together with some masons travelled to Sneek to see the 'waterpoort' for themselves and take pictures. Construction drawings were requested, bricks were bought from old farms, and they even baked bricks in Avifauna themselves, to build the replica on scale. The ‘waterpoort’ of Sneek was an eye-catching building right after the entrance until early 2022, when it was demolished because maintenance was too costly. Later, an indoors family entertainment centre was added and a shipping company was founded (Rederij Avifauna) that offered boat trips on the river, canals and lakes near Alphen aan den Rijn.
In the early days the bird collection comprised the usual suspects that were specifically attractive to the general public - colourful species that didn't require too complicated care and management. In the 1960s they started breeding endangered bird species. The first was the white stork (Ciconia ciconia) - at the time just about 12 white stork breeding pairs exist in the wild in the Netherlands. Other captive breeding successes followed, such as with several crane species, Double-wattled cassowary (Casuarius casuarius), Great white pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus), and hornbills (Bucerotidae).
One of the highlights within the range of new buildings that were established in the 60s and 70s was the 'Martinushal', a tropical hall that enabled the possibility to keep tropical bird species in the cold climate of the Netherlands.
After the 70s there was a standstill in the park's development, no new species were added to the collection and Avifauna wasn't a real bird park any more - primates, lamas, kangaroos, zebras and other mammalian species were found to be part of the collection in those days. Therefore, in the 1990s, it was decided that birds should be the main attraction again as to honour the name of the park.
A masterplan was developed which had its official start on 17 May 2000 when Avifauna celebrated its 50th anniversary. Old-fashioned small aviaries were turned into large and modern enclosures holding species in a more natural environment with specific biotopes and habitats in walk-through exhibits such as the Lori Landing, Tropical Hall and Madagascar Area. Furthermore, the size of many groups of birds was expanded. With a new masterplan presented to the town council in 2012 the Avifauna management showed they needed and wanted to continuously change and improve their park. Not only to provide the animals with the best conditions according the newest insights on keeping animals in captivity, but also to increase the visitor numbers. The envisaged future of the park contains an enormous hall (16,000 m2) to attract visitors during all seasons and all types of weather. But it has to be said, again mammalian species have been introduced to provide a more diverse experience with red panda, various lemur species and small New World monkeys. The latter have been reintroduced in 2014 and are now on display in the new Nuboso exhibit that opened in 2016. Further introductions of other mammal species are envisaged for the future. In a still to develop Australian biotope Avifauna wants to keep koala, as the first zoo in the Netherlands. Additionally, there are ideas to have giant otter and giant anteater on display in a South American area that is planned. These species should double the number of visitors. So, Avifauna is not just a bird park any more, and will become more of a regular zoo focussed on bird species.The resources formerly used for maintenance of the Sneeker waterpoort now contribute to modernizing existing enclosures and building new modern enclosures, such as the Argentinian Cerrado with giant anteaters (opened in 2022) and the vultures aviary (2023).
Like any modern self-respecting zoo Avifauna is engaged in breeding programmes for endangered species, conservation activities in the wild and education programmes for school children, while offering entertainment and education via for instance free flight demonstrations. The efforts of Avifauna trying to protect bird species from going extinct is inter alia caused by people who source these species from the wild for making medicinal products (of which the effect is non-existent) or selling them to ignorant persons that just want to possess rare and expensive birds. Thirty of exactly such species were stolen from the premises on the night of 16 September 2014.
Until 2012 Avifauna was owned by the Van der Valk family. But in 2012 it became officially a not-for-profit foundation which ensures that all revenues will benefit the birds in the park and in the wild. One objective of the foundation is to prevent further extinction of bird species worldwide. Van der Valk still provides the catering though, throughout the park and is the main sponsor of Avifauna.
The former mansion where the Van den Brink family lived in still exists, although now it features the a-la-carte-restaurant of the bird park. A few other characteristics of the original park have remained - the line of trees near the entrance, the pond at the park restaurant and there are still a few pelicans around that swam in the park ponds on opening day.
(Source: website Avifauna; website Van der Valk Avifauna; website tivi producties; website Van der Valk; Wikipedia; website newspaper Algemeen Dagblad)
Visit(s)
31.08.2023
On a beautiful sunny day, six years after my last visit, Avifauna shows that things are indeed changing – for the better. New large aviaries and enclosures, that allows for natural behaviour of its inhabitants, have been erected. Let’s look at the changes step by step, and I suggest that you look at my 2017 visit report for the parts that are still similar to the situation that year. Don’t worry, if I think it is important that things could be improved from the point of view on conservation education, I will mention this.
The first change that is very obvious right after the entrance is the missing ‘waterpoort’ of Sneek. This eye-catching replica of the well-known Dutch building was demolished in 2022, because maintenance was too costly. So, the resources formerly used for maintenance became available for modernizing existing enclosures and erection of new modern enclosures.
What I like about Avifauna is the effort they currently take to populate the enclosures geographically correct, and if possible to group the enclosures close together. An example for instance, is the Australian outback just across the Lori landing. The cup of nectar for the loris is not my cup of tea however, as I have explained in my 2017 visit report.
At the end of the grounds, adjacent to the large pond, an enormous aviary covers quite some space on what I think is newly acquired ground. Whether or not the ground is newly acquired, the aviary is definitely new. It houses Steller’s sea-eagles (Haliaeetus pelagicus), black kites (Milvus migrans) and common raven (Corvus corax). The aviary is impressive and allows the birds of prey to fly around, but I really don’t think this gives the birds the opportunity to express their normal behaviour. They can merely stretch their wings. A problem many zoological facilities are not able to solve. One very good solution I saw in Doué-la-Fontaine Zoo in France, where they spread a net over an old and deep quarry. Two of the three bird species’ conservation status is of Least Concern according the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Only that of the Steller’s sea-eagle is regarded as Vulnerable. So, from the point of view of species conservation (the zoo as a resource) this aviary doesn’t have a large contribution, but they are still good ambassadors for their kind and contribute to the take-home message for the visitor about nature’s diversity. And while at it - the take-home message - I mean, why is it that they still have this three differently designed information panels that lack good information about the conservation status of the animals on display. Because the Zoo's website shows excellent information on the species including the IUCN status. Must be a financial issue I assume.
Walking around the large pond on a sunny day is something very enjoyable. The great white pelicans seem to enjoy the natural pond as well, although I assume that it ran out of fish many years ago (
), so, they need to be fed on a daily basis. The close encounters with the ring-tailed lemur, red bellied lemur and red ruffed lemur in the walk-through Madagascar area, may well be the highlight of the day for many zoo visitors. Unfortunately there's very little information provided on the threat to lemur habitats in Madagascar due to human driven deforestation. This decreases the educational value of this enclosure in my opinion, although somethng is said about species goning extinct on Madgascar. The Elephant bird (Aepyornis maximus) is mentioned on a panel as a species that went extinct in the 17th century. A flightless bird that was native to Madagascar and which closest living relatives were the kiwi, the bird I mean, in New Zealand.
After having finished this section of the zoo, I pass a large panel which announces the commencement of building a new aviary for Avifauna’s Rüppell’s vultures (Gyps rueppelli). The panel says the aviary to be opened at the end of 2023, but new information on the zoo’s website states that the opening is expected in Spring 2024. They intend to accompany the vultures with other iconic birds of the African savannah, such as secretary birds and southern hornbills. It will be an area dedicated to the dry savannah and semi-desert of South Africa with additionally a new enclosure for meerkats.
Curious to see how the Nuboso monkey island developed since my 2017 visit when it was just opened, I follow the footpath along the bird flight demonstration area. Demonstration was ongoing with birds flying overhead and people looking in awe how the birds of prey dive after their food. Pure entertainment, but at these times the birds can really express natural behaviour, show or not. I foremost enjoy the sight of the sun parakeets that are allowed out of their aviary during the bird demonstration and flock in the trees around the aviaries.
The vegetation of Nuboso monkey island has matured quite well in six year’s time, while the red titi monkey, red howler monkey, emperor tamarin and white-faced saki have adapted rather good to the situation on the island. Visitors are part of their environment and they can flee in the trees out of reach and even out of sight. Especially, the red titi monkeys seem completely at ease on the island.
At the end of my visit, opposite Nuboso, the brand new enclosure (opened in 2022) with South American species is proof that Avifauna is taken modern concepts for enclosure development serious. It also proofs that more and more other species are being kept at Avifauna besides birds. In the Argentine Cerrado you will find not only giant anteaters, lesser rhea, Southern screamer and vicuna, but also black-necked swan in the meandering river, and maras (large rodents) who have their own walk-through area at their disposal. This South American enclosure supposes to reflect the Cerrado which is the world's most biodiverse savannah, home to 5% of the planet's animals and plants. But, and this a huge but, the Cerrado is an enormous ecoregion in Brasil1! There is no Cerrado to be found in Argentina. It is a pampas area. It really is a shame to provide such misinformation in an educational facility which Avifauna pretend to be, and should be!
1 WWF: https://wwf.panda.org/discover/knowledge_hub/where_we_work/cerrado/
14.07.2017
It was in the seventies of the previous century when I, about 20 years old, visited the bird park Avifauna for the last time. Together with a friend I went photographing birds, experimenting with my newly bought fancy camera (see gallery 1980). I had much difficulties with the wire mesh getting in the way of the actual objects my photographs should depict, because all the birds were caged in endless rows of aviaries. At least that's the image my memory provides. Nowadays, the bird park has entered the era of close encounters and moated and open top enclosures.
The first of those modern enclosures appears right after the entrance on the right hand side behind the eye-catching replica of the 'waterpoort' of Sneek - a village in the northern province Friesland. From this 'waterpoort' you have a wonderful sheltered view on the mixed-species exhibit with North African ostrich (Struthio camelus camelus), marabou stork and vulterine guineafowl (Acryllium vulturinum). But an even more relaxed view is possible when seated on the terrace of the Cuba snack bar along the water-filled moat at the other end of the exhibit.
Behind this African birds exhibit a large children's playground including a restaurant is situated, more or less hidden form the rest of the park and only to be reached via a dedicated route between the African birds exhibit and the cassowary enclosure. A perfect solution if you ask me, because as a parent you know where to go when your offspring has had enough of 'bird watching'. And there will be no screaming children on playground equipment scattered around the premises, as there is none - outside the playground area I mean.
When I cross the bridge at the Cuba snack bar terrace and have a look at the cassowary enclosure it appears empty. From the Avifauna website I know that an egg has been produced by the female cassowary in June, and that the male is now incubating the egg for two months - which is normal behaviour for cassowaries. Nobody knows if the egg is fertilized, but if it is these two young double-wattled cassowary will continue the good breeding track record of Avifauna with cassowary. Unfortunately, this information is not mentioned on a panel at the enclosure itself. Turning right at this point will lead me to the children's playground, but to the left there's a row of open top enclosures awaiting me. Next to the cassowaries red-crowned cranes are housed. In the neighbouring mixed-species enclosure black-necked swan, demoiselle crane, black stork and grey crowned crane have found a home. Unfortunately, the pool for the swans is pathetically small. The adjacent enclosure comprises Chilean flamingo.
Around the corner while following the footpath that leads to an elevated boardwalk there's a beautiful exhibit on the left with large deciduous trees as well as pine trees. The trees serve as great sleeping places for the red pandas (see video), while the water-filled moat provide an excellent environment for the Mandarin duck. The third species kept here is the omnipresent red-crowned crane, pinioned like many of the birds in the open top enclosures. On the other side of the boardwalk, opposite the red panda enclosure, a large paddock with several enormously large trees provides an interesting habitat for demoiselle crane, saddle-billed stork and grey crowned crane.
From here it is only a few steps to the area with an impressively large natural pond, or should I say small lake. The pond is home to a flock of great white pelicans (Pelicanus onocrotalus) and indigenous wild cormorants, the latter are probably taking advantage of the safe and nourishing 
environment the Zoo provides. A passageway with on either side a row of aviaries gives access to the pond and its banks. 
These old-fashioned aviaries recalls memories of my previous visit to Avifauna in August 1980, although all aviaries are now rich in vegetation and tree trunks. And most of them are mixed-species exhibits, for instance with silky starling, Victoria crowned pigeon, Palawan peacock-pheasant and horned parakeet kept together, or Rhinoceros hornbill and Asian azure-winged magpie together with Java mouse-deer. It's a colourful spectacle of bird species that pleases the eye, although birds in aviaries that doesn't allow a decent time on the wing will always make me feel a bit sad. Even when I know the birds are part of a breeding programme and thus form an assurance population for species that are endangered in the wild. It is worth mentioning that Avifauna is renowned for its large collection of hornbills and active engagement in breeding programmes with many of their hornbill species, most of them to be seen in these aviaries. Avifauna is coordinator of the great hornbill (Buceros bicornis) EAZA Ex situ Programme (EEP), and had world's first hatchlings born in captivity in 2002. But except from the hornbills, the Victoria crowned pigeon, the horned parakeet and the Palawan peacock pheasant, none of these birds are regarded as threatened species according the IUCN Red List.
The pond is the farthest from the Zoo entrance and therefore the turning point of my walking route. So circling around the pond not only forces me to pass the walk-through Madagascar area, but also brings me back to the row of aviaries. On the bank along the pond the helmeted and plumed guineafowl and the lemurs - red-ruffed lemur, ring-tailed lemur and crowned lemur - in the Madagascar enclosure have full access to the area between the shoreline and the enclosure wall, including the large trees (see video). Unfortunately there's very little information provided on the threat to lemur habitats in Madagascar due to human driven deforestation. Madagascar's single predator species, the fossa, is mentioned as the lemur's only threat. This decreases the educational value of this enclosure in my opinion, despite the possibility of close encounters, which seem to be effective for people to better remember their visit. In the rest of the beautiful free ranging area around the pond you'll find again demoiselle crane and grey crowned crane, as well as stork, and several duck species and goose. The aviary for hamerkop and secretary bird is absolutely too small to my liking. All species kept around the natural pond, apart from the those kept in the aviaries, are either resident species of Africa or migratory birds that visit Africa.
Back at the aviaries I turn my back to the pond and head for the other side of the grounds I still need to cover. Opposite the Australian meadow with a nice lookout having blue-winged kookaburra, Australian brush-turkey and an eucalyptus on display, the Lori landing with its exceptional design obviously needs to be visited. I am amazed about this exhibit. A building that serves as a walk-through exhibit with only a single purpose, to get people into physical contact with the Australian bird species that are kept in this rather large building - a large colony of rainbow lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus) and scaly-breasted lorikeet (Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus). According the Avifauna website these lorikeets share their house with blue-faced honeyeater (Entomyzon cyanotis), but I have not seen it. The birds may fly freely in the Australian habitat with palm trees, artificial red rock face and termite mounds. Visitors can buy little cups of nectar to feed and attract the colourful and loud birds. How loud they are you can here when playing the video below.
My amazement originates from the knowledge that the lorikeets and honeyeater are not an endangered species - all are Least Concern according the IUCN Red List classification. This means that with the Lori Landing a large area is being dedicated for entertainment purpose only, with little or no conservation value. Of course it isn't easy to provide information about the necessity of nature conservation when the conservation status of the animals on display is Least Concern. Nevertheless, when making such a great effort to build a beautiful walk-through aviary it is a loss not to use the close encounter experience as a moment to tell an important story about Australian habitat destruction for instance.
Personally, I am not in favour of visitors having physical contact with zoo animals. But I do know that such contact - the physical touch - can create a better memory and experience. So, it would be a great enhancement if this would contribute to people's awareness about the current threats to biodiversity and ecosystems. Unfortunately, as in the Madagascar area, this is not the case in my opinion.
From the loud lorikeets I walk to the enclosures where the park borders the parking lot. The Humboldt penguin exhibit is not very spectacular, so I am more interested in asking a passing zookeeper a question about misguiding information panels, or lack of, at several enclosures. He admits it has everything to do with maintenance guys not able to keep up with the changes being made currently. For instance the aviary adjacent to the Humboldt penguins should contain blue-and-yellow macaws, but I only see sun conures. The zookeeper explains that the macaws have just been engaged in the bird flight demonstration - in the large dedicated area just across the footpath - and that the sun conures have just recently moved from another aviary and the new info-panel is waiting to be made in the workshop.
When I continue my tour while staying close to the edge of the park I reach a part situated on a higher level with two rather small aviaries, one for cattle egrets and one for great grey owls. However, both bird species take part in the daily flight demonstration another zookeeper explains. This makes the size of the aviary less important, because the birds will get plenty of exercise navigating the Zoo's airspace. Having cattle egrets flying around freely is rather unique I think, but it seems that it does them good, with their breeding results as proof - hatchlings every year. Adjacent to this area on ground level lesser flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor) and southern screamer (Chauna torquata) share a nice enclosure. Apparently it is not easy to keep the southern screamers inside their enclosure, because they can be found wandering about on the public footpath just like you see peacocks do in may other zoos.
The most recent exhibit that was opened to the public in the summer of 2016, is 'Nuboso'. This new exhibit shows the new direction Avifauna is heading to, a more diverse collection of species including mammals that offers a more diverse experience while hopefully attracting more visitors. The red panda and lemurs I have already mentioned, but here at 'Nuboso' besides several bird species, small New World monkeys are introduced. The South American species have access to small indoor enclosures and outdoor enclosures as well. The walk-through peninsula is centrally located on the park grounds. Obviously it is brand new, and it will take a few years for the vegetation to mature and offer a better place for the animals to enjoy themselves and relax a bit, because they seem a bit shy and nervous. But as soon as the sun shows itself the emperor tamarin, white-faced saki, white-fronted marmoset and red titi show themselves as well on the moated peninsula (see video). The monkeys have to share the peninsula not only with human beings, who have access via two bridges, but with red-legged seriema, nocturnal curassow and blue-headed macaw too. The design of the bridges is probably well-researched, but I wonder if it prevents the animals from leaving the peninsula when they become braver.
Close to 'Nuboso' the large rosarium with benches allows you to rest and enjoy the beautiful flowers - when visiting during the right season of course. On one side there's a row of old-fashioned aviaries that houses several birds of prey, such as white-headed vulture, Steller's sea eagle and Rüppel's griffon vulture (Gyps rueppelli). The latter have been confiscated by Italian customs when traders tried to smuggle them into Italy. International law requires that confiscated animals may only be returned in their original wild habitat where they have been captured. As it was unknown where these vultures originally came from this wasn't possible. Therefore, the Italian officials looked for a sanctuary where these birds could be accommodated. Bird park Avifauna was chosen by the Italians, but the raptors remain property of the Italian government.
On the other side of the rosarium the nocturnal house with for instance the North Island brown kiwi can be visited, but my night vision is not what it used to be so I skip this exhibit. The nearby tropical hall consists of four sections that show tropical birds from a diverse geographical origin (Philippines, Brazil (Pantanal), Indonesia/Asia) in different environments, either walk-through and free flying or in separate aviaries. Here you can find the toco toucan (Ramphastos toco), the bird of which the image is used for the logo of Avifauna.
Avifauna is a bird park situated in a pleasant environment that perhaps should invest some more in up-to-date information panels and general information panels that explain the necessity of nature conservation and biodiversity. On the other hand choices have to be made - not all can be done at the same time. It is clear that much effort is put in upgrading of enclosures, making them more animal-friendly - larger with a more natural environment and keeping species together. This sometimes leads to temporary closure of exhibits when work is in progress, such as the 'fazantenlaan' (pheasants lane) at the time of my visit.
Gallery
31.08.2023
14.07.2017
1980
Below a few pictures as a result of my attempt, back in August 1980, to photograph birds in open top enclosures, including the large natural pond, that have been pinioned at Avifauna Bird Park. Furthermore I experimented with my camera settings to shoot birds in the omnipresent aviaries without the wire mesh being too visible. The picture of the common kestrels shows I had still to develop my skills.
Video
31.08.2023
Black crowned cranes taking care of their chicks at Bird Park Avifauna
The black crowned crane and its sister species the grey crowned crane are species classified as threatened according the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The black is considered Vulnerable and the grey Endangered. Both species are represented at Bird Park Avifauna, and (at least) they breed the black crowned crane as you can see in this video of August 2023. Both parents show interest in the care of the three chicks that recently hatched.
Red howler monkeys at the Nuboso monkey island of Bird Park Avifauna
The Nuboso island, connected to the main grounds by a bridge, has several South American monkey species on display, the emperor tamarin, red titi monkey, red howler monkey and white-faced saki. It was brand new when it was first opened to the public in the summer of 2016. So, the vegetation already became rich and lush by 2023. The bridge makes it possible to walk around the island and have close encounters. The red howlers are completely at ease in their captive situation, which provides plenty of options to express natural behaviour, including reproduction. In 2023 a red howler infant was born that by August had developed into a little naughty rascal, that plays catch-me-if-you-can with its mother before surrend and taken to another part of the enclosure. Wait until the end and watch carefully to see the youngster jump onto its mother and clinging to her fur while she moves along the tree branch.
Ostriches at Bird Park Avifauna
Just an impression of the mixed-African-species exhibit that is situated directly after the entrance on the right hand side. In this moated enclosure you’ll find vulterine guineafowl (Acryllium vulturinum), marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer) and North African ostrich (Struthio camelus camelus). The ostriches at Bird Park Avifauna belong to a very rare subspecies, the North African Ostrich. There is an active management programme for this species (EEP), in which Avifauna takes part.
Red ruffed lemur sunbathing at Bird Park Avifauna
It is well-known that ring-tailed lemurs like to take a sunbath. Well, red ruffed lemurs like it too. But they do not want to be disturbed by nobody, not even by vulturine guineafowl!
14.07.2017
Red panda looking for its next place to sleep
The red pandas in Avifauna share their oriental garden with red-crowned crane as you can see in the footage. You don't see red pandas being active in zoos very often. Normally they are sleeping, preferably on a high spot in a tree. Their diet of hard to digest vegetation requires them to allow the digestive tract enough time to do its job and use the available energy as efficient as possible - so they sleep or move slowly. Apparently that affects their decision making as well ?. It takes some time before this red panda decides the hollowed tree trunk is not what it wants as a den for its next nap.
Ring-tailed lemurs waiting for the sun to appear
Sunbathing is a favourite pastime of ring-tailed lemurs. It sometimes requires some patience, especially when the weather is unpredictable and cloudy. But when you're ready and well-positioned, knowing where the sun will appear, you will profit the most - these lemurs know!
South American monkeys roaming around in the outdoor Nuboso exhibit
The New World monkeys were inside their indoor enclosure when I passed this exhibit during a heavy rain shower. About an hour later when the sun was shining again, the red titi monkeys and emperor tamarins enjoyed the outdoor peninsula with its many enrichment features. This peninsula of the Nuboso exhibit with South American species, that opened in summer 2016, allows for close encounters as it is a walk-through exhibit.
More info
Signage
The information panels found around the park are of three different designs, more or less. The information is only available in Dutch, but the English name and scientific name is provided as well, fortunately. All panels lack good information about the conservation status of the animal on display, let alone that the IUCN Red List status is mentioned.
 |  |  |
The geographical distribution is shown on a map, but on the old panels the visibility is not always very good. The species' habitat is not always mentioned.
However, the website of Avifauna provides good information on most species they have on display, including the species' IUCN status. Maintaining a website and having it up to speed regarding information that is prone to change is far more cheaper than changing the information panels (that are not weather proof) at the enclosures, of course. Nevertheless, I have seen it done better.
North Island brown kiwi breeding programme
First kiwi ever, and the second, hatched in Avifauna Bird Park in the Netherlands
On 11 October 2018, Avifauna Bird Park in the Netherlands announced a North Island brown kiwi has hatched as part of a worldwide breeding programme on 18 September - a Netherlands' first. Avifauna didn't announce the new arrival until it had survived its first crucial weeks when a lot can go wrong, but the animal is in perfect health. 'The birth of a kiwi chick is very special, especially since there are only 60 kiwis in zoos outside New Zealand,' zoo keeper Dennis Appels told the press.
The Dutch Bird Park is one of 16 zoos in the world to contribute to a captive breeding programme of zoological institutions for the North Island brown kiwi outside New Zealand, the only country the kiwi can be found in the wild and which has its own captive management plan for this native flightless bird. Avifauna is the only zoo to have produced a kiwi chick this year. 'The secret is a solicitous father and peace and quiet,' Appels said, indicating that taking care of the brood is left to the male. When the hatching was announced the sex of the chick was not yet known. But it was established after a few weeks by a DNA test on the animal's feathers.
During a press moment, in the presence of New Zealand's ambassador to the Netherlands Lyndal Walker, the kiwi's name was announced - Tuatahi. In honour of New Zealand's original inhabitants it is a Maori name, and it means the first, or the first one, reflecting its significance.
Mid-October 2018, a second kiwi chick hatched, but this birth was kept silent until the end of November. At first this chick didn't flourish and had trouble eating independently. The keepers and the veterinarian have watched over this vulnerable chick carefully and now it is doing well! This chick is called Rua, which means (very appropriately) the second in the Maori language. A DNA test of the feathers determined the sex of this bird is male as well.
The kiwi
Kiwi are flightless birds, having only vestigial wings and no external tail. Brown kiwi males average 2.2 kg in weight and females 2.8 kg, length is 45-55 cm. They are largely nocturnal and make loud, far-carrying repeated shrill (male) or guttural (female) calls, mainly in the 2 hours after dark and again before dawn.
Male brown kiwi:
Female brown kiwi:
Daytime dens and nests are made in burrows, hollow logs or under dense vegetation. The kiwi egg is exceptionally large at about 15-20% of the female body weight. The incubation period for a kiwi egg is also long, around 80 days, with the incubation carried out by the male where it concerns the brown kiwi.
Unlike most birds kiwi have an exceptional sense of smell, with nostrils uniquely placed near the tip of their long (65-155 mm) bill. The bill is used for probing for food, not defence, and has specialized vibration/pressure-sensing nerve endings at its tip to detect prey movement. The birds are strong runners and are capable of swimming rivers. Kiwi have a lower body temperature than most birds (37-38˚C).
Kiwi's in captivity
The first recorded captive-held kiwi was in 1851, when female brown kiwi arrived at the Zoological Society of London. They lived for several years and produced eggs.
In 1912, a wild-caught brown kiwi first appeared on records at Wellington Zoo. The first record of a brown kiwi chick hatching in captivity was in 1945, at the Hawke's Bay Acclimatisation Society's game farm, near Napier, New Zealand. The first kiwi to be displayed in nocturnal houses were brown kiwi, displayed at Auckland Zoo and Otorohanga in 1972, while in 1975 the Smithsonian's National Zoological Park was host to the first kiwi born outside New Zealand. The first artificially incubated full-term brown kiwi egg hatched at Otorohanga, in 1977.
In the 1990s, Operation Nest Egg was first used to bring wild-laid eggs into captivity. The first release of sub-adult brown kiwi in the wild was achieved in 1995. A more complete history can be found in the Captive Management Plan for Kiwi.
Threats and conservation
The population of North Island brown kiwi in the wild has decreased through a combination of habitat loss and predation by mammalian predators, especially dogs, ferrets and stoats, for which the flightless birds are an easy catch. The removal of eggs (Operation Nest Egg) or young chicks from the wild and the rearing of chicks and juveniles in captivity or in predator-proof crèches, until large enough (1.2 kg) to cope with the presence of stoats, has allowed these populations to increase, or allowed releases into areas where the population had dwindled or become locally extinct.
The North Island brown kiwi (Apteryx mantelli) is classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. There are an estimated 68,000 of these birds left in the wild.
Of the different kiwi species the brown kiwi is the preferred species for captive management in New Zealand and overseas. At present there are approximately 100 Brown kiwi held as part of the ZAA (Zoo & Aquarium Association) NZ captive managed programme at 16 participating institutions in New Zealand. In addition, there are now 60 brown kiwi in 16 institutions across North America and Europe, all of which are part of the Species Survival Plan for brown kiwi of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums in North America, coordinated at Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, USA.
(Source: Avifauna Bird Park news release, 11.10.2018; DutchNews.nl news, 11.10.2018; Smithsonian National Zoological Park; Kiwis for kiwi, captive facilities; Zoo & Aquarium Association brown kiwi fact sheet; Zoo & Aquarium Association; Smithsonian National Zooogical Park; New Zealand birds online)
Zoo details
Some additional information, such as contact details and involvement in breeding programmes.
Location
Directions
directions to Avifauna BIrd Park
Avifauna is centrally located in the western part of the Netherlands in the small town of Alphen aan den Rijn, located close to the river 'Oude Rijn' in the province Zuid-Holland - in the midst of a region called 'Het Groen Hart' (the Green Heart). It's about a 30-minute drive by car from either Amsterdam, The Hague, Utrecht or Rotterdam.
Address:
Hoorn 65
2404 HG
Alphen aan den Rijn
Netherlands
public transport
by train
Alphen aan den Rijn railway station is located along the Leiden-Woerden-Utrecht railway track and is therefore well connected to all major Dutch cities.
Routeplanner and timetables for trains in the Netherlands are available here.
by bus
From the railway station several buses run via bus stops close to the Avifauna entrance, but as of 11 December 2016 two local bus lines stop at the Avifauna bus stop which is a three-minute walk from the entrance. Bus no 2 takes you from the railway station to the Avifauna bus stop (after a seven-minute ride). Bus no 1 will bring you again from the Zoo to the railway station. Both buses run every half hour, except on Sundays when they only run every hour.
Remember there are more bus options, but bus 1 and 2 are best connected to the train time schedule.
For a routeplanner and timetable of all buses, incl bus no 1 and no 2 check here.
by bicycle
The part of the Netherlands where Avifauna is located is really flat, so getting there by bicycle will be always easy going. The area around Alphen aan den Rijn is rural agricultural area called the 'Green Heart'. There are several campsites between 4 and 10 kilometres to be found from Avifauna, which gives you the opportunity to explore the lovely countryside within cycle distance of the Zoo. There are bicycle racks on the left from the reception building to park your bike.
by car
Both from motorway A4 and A12 you take the exit to the N11 and follow the signs to Alphen aan den Rijn. Avifauna is well signposted, so when you arrive in Alphen aan den Rijn you just follow the smaller signs to Avifauna.
Parking is free.
