The early years of the zoo, the Sinagote spatula, phenoline and all the other topics – Early Birds

In 2013, the ‘Sinagote’ spatula had a transmitter on its back. Since then, she has told a fascinating story through her GPS positions; on spatulas, but above all on our environment. The story can now be read again the book that bears his name.

At the end of the 18th century, the predecessor of the current zoo was created with “animal games”. The so-called menageries. For the first time, the commoner could see exotic animals such as elephants, rhinos and tigers. The poet and writer Arie van den Berg wrote a book on this story in which he tries to follow in the footsteps of one of the owners of the menagerie at the time, the Italian Antonio Alpi.

Title: Le lion d’Alpi
Author: Arie van den Berg
Publisher: Atlas Contact
Already published

Singing yellow burrs, active mason bees, lots of spring flowers and a great harrier. These reports were recorded on Nature’s answering machine last week. In addition, many gallons of frogs spawn, a flight of crows and a woodpecker that uses nesting boxes as a sounding board.
If you want to pass on a first or last, or a very special sighting, register the Early Birds phenolic line 035-6711338). Click here for more information on phenoline.

With the import of tropical ornamentals, it often happens that exotic plants and animals occur unintentionally. Some of them manage to survive in the Netherlands. And some of them cause problems in nature. But how much and for the species it was was unknown until now. Radboud University, Floron and NVWA have found a total of 658 alien species in the wild. You can tell of the 115 types of these that really established themselves in the Netherlands. Naomi Thunnissen of Radboud University has notably studied terrestrial flatworms. They usually come from Australia or New Zealand. “Land flatworms also hitchhike with potted plants, they are very sticky and often stuck to the bottom of the pot,” she explains. “More and more people are putting Mediterranean plant species in their gardens because they are doing well due to climate change,” says Naomi Thunnissen. “That’s why it’s important to check carefully when buying an ornamental plant, and if you see it, report it to EIS Knowledge Center Insects or Naturalis.” There is a special one for land flatworms Search on the map made.