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In my previous blog I was happy to be taking pictures again. That joy only lasted 3 days. When I was in ZOOM Erlebniswelt 3 days later, my zoom lens broke after twenty minutes. It was over immediately. I walked around a bit with my mobile phone, but that was no fun. The good news was that I still had a warranty on the lens (5 years). 3 weeks later and that was over. Unfortunately it took four weeks before it was repaired.
Last Friday I was able to pick up the lens. For that I had to drive all the way to Hazerswoude. I thought: If I’m already in the west, I’ll drive on to Diergaarde Blijdorp. That’s a nice test for the lens. The lens works perfectly again. Even better than it had been for a long time. So it was arranged perfectly. Free within the warranty. Yay!
Blijdorp is a beautiful zoo. If I didn’t have to drive so far in very busy traffic (3 hours of traffic jam on the way back) I would go there much more often. I think the new plans they have are very positive. The master plan 2050. The ambition is: In 2050, Diergaarde Blijdorp will have demonstrably contributed to saving ten (seriously) endangered animal and plant species. That means that they focus on certain parts of the world. That certain animal species will leave and others will be given more space. What I also think is good is that they give animals a new life, take them in, that come from a bad situation. An example is the African grey parrots.
This year, Diergaarde Blijdorp got a new aviary. Among other things, the African grey parrots will have the space to fly around again. The birds come from a French zoo. The French government brought confiscated African grey parrots there. There were too many of them. With their move to Rotterdam, they have got the space they deserve. Divided over the indoor and outdoor enclosures, the total aviary has almost 800 m2 of floor space. The height of the aviary is over 10 meters. A wonderful place for the new residents.
I photographed these birds indoors. Because the walls of the enclosure are painted in natural colours, it looks like the photos were taken in nature. That is not the case, but it is a lot better than being lonely in a cage in people’s homes.
And then this (from the Blijdorp website): “What many people don’t know is that behind that cheerfully chattering parrot lies a lot of animal suffering. This bird species is namely the most traded bird in the world. Between 1981 and 2001 alone, more than 1.3 million specimens were captured from the wild to keep as pets. Even today, the global trade in African grey parrots continues steadily. This is one of the reasons why the species is threatened with extinction.”
These photos were taken here: