Unexpected goodbye to a much-loved species

Since 2016, the prairie dogs have been one of the most beloved animal species in our park. These active animals - with their comical behavior - have provided dozens of minutes of viewing pleasure to our visitors. However, last week we made the difficult decision to say goodbye to this species. In this blog you can read all about why we've come to this decision. >>

Our prairie dogs are shelter animals

The prairie dogs we have kept at Hof van Eckberge in recent years were all rescue animals. Sometimes out of miserable circumstances, sometimes because they were kept as pets, every animal had their own story. Sometimes animals did not fit into the group and as a result they tried to leave the exhibit. This resulted in undesirable situations, which caused us to reconstruct the group several times (such as last spring). Other animals were so used to human attention that they wanted to be petted and did everything they could to get as close as possible to visitors.

An outdated, inappropriate enclosure

With the knowledge we had in 2016, we built a wonderful enclosure for the species. Lots of digging space, a heated indoor enclosure, a viewing tunnel for the kids, in fact everything was perfect! Until +/- a year ago, this did not cause any major problems and we always managed to adapt the exhibit to the behavior of the new animals. Over the last 12 months we have had to conclude that without demolishing the entire enclosure and building a new one, we will not be able to permanently make sufficient desired changes. We want the best for the animals as well as for the visitors, and we can no longer offer that in the current enclosure at this time.

A difficult goodbye

The decision to stop with this amazing species was not easy. Together with the various zoos and shelters, we exchanged animals and came up with modifications. In the end, we had to conclude that moving the animals out was the best solution. A suitable new location has been found and the current prairie dogs will be moved soon. A difficult farewell for our TEAM, our keepers and the visitors, but of course we will provide a worthy replacement.

A new species: Dwarf Mongooses

The area in which the prairie dog enclosure is located is part of our master plan and will be transformed into a new themed area in the future. We are therefore making some changes to the existing enclosure to allow a new species to make its appearance. This new species is somewhat similar in behavior to the old residents and will hopefully be as loved by our visitors. At the moment, the enclosure is being prepared, which means that additional construction work is temporarily taking place in our park. The work is expected to be completed within two weeks.

More information about this new species and the enclosure will follow soon on our website and social media channels.

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