Burgers' Zoo Burgers' Zoo has been a member of SECORE since 2002. So that's nearly from the start of the project!
'At that time I already had a lot of contact with Rotterdam Zoo, the initiatior of SECORE', says Max Janse, curator at Burgers' Zoo. 'I witnessed it growing from nothing to a very interesting project.'
Fruitful and interesting
In the early days of project SECORE, Max Janse participated in working on the settlement of Acropora tenuis coral larvae that originated from Japan.
The cooperation between Burgers' Zoo and Rotterdam Zoo was to investigate the possibilities for other aquaria to work with coral larvae.
.gif "Coral growing tank (A. tenuis) behind the scenes, Burgers Zoo")
'This was a fruitful and interesting time for the team at Burgers' Zoo,' Janse remembers. 'Before that time we had never worked on sexual coral reproduction. SECORE has given us the tools to do so.'
Monitoring program
Since Burgers' Zoo concentrates on the Indo-Pacific, the SECORE workshops in the Caribbean are too far from the goals of the aquarium.
Nevertheless, there is sufficient reason to continue cooperation with the project, explains Max Janse.
'We have developed a monitoring program with three species of Acroporids, all originating from Japan. We have settled large numbers of coral larvae. At Burgersâ Zoo we have a stock of 224 A. tenuis colonies, 152 A. digitifera colonies and 59 A. humilus colonies. Also, many of these corals have been sent to other European aquaria.'
Janse feels that aquaria considerably increase their practical and management capacities in working with fragile and complex animals such as corals.
.gif "Coral detail, Burgers Zoo")
Moonlight
Because of the work with sexual coral reproduction, the team at Burgers' Zoo has become more aware of the possibilities of experimenting with corals in captivity.
Max Janse: 'We have looked for abiotic factors in our tanks to initiate reproduction. Within one of the displays at Burgersâ Zoo we have installed artificial moonlight, and there is a temperature fluctuation over the year. I am very happy that the corals have responded. We have more offspring than ever!'
Highlight
When Max Janse started working at Burgers' Zoo, he was responsible for setting up an 8 million liter seawater aquarium.
'The philosophy of our aquarium is to give our visitors the experience of different aspects of Indo-Pacific coral reefs', he explains.
'One of the highlights is a 750.000 litre tank with more than 5000 stony and soft corals. This represents adeveloping coral reef.
Through the years the visitors can witness an increasing coral growth.'
Behind the scenes
At Burgers' Zoo, there are 8 coral culture tanks behind the scenes. The tanks are used for many different purposes, such as coral fragmentation, grow out systems for (SECORE) corals, coral settlement experiments and scientific research. 2 Small quarantine tanks are used for treatment of corals or for monitoring corals that are shipped in.
Coral Husbandry Symposium
In 2007, the 1st International Symposium on Coral Husbandry in Public Aquaria was held at Burgers' Zoo. As a result, the book 'Advances in Coral husbandry in Public Aquariums' has been published.
CORALZOO
Burgers' Zoo was one of the project members of CORALZOO (June 2005 - June 2009), a collaboration between four universities and ten public aquaria in Europe. The project was funded by the European Union (EU). The major goal was to change coral husbandry practice into scientific based knowledge. The results of the project can be used to initiate further research and husbandry practice.
Photos: courtesy of Burgers' Zoo
For further details on this aquarium please check: Janse, M., J. Wensing, H. Gieling and T. de Jongh, 2008. Ecological management of a large coral reef eco-display at Burgers' Zoo. In: R.J. Leewis and M. Janse (eds.) Advances in Coral Husbandry in Public Aquariums. Public Aquarium Husbandry Series. Vol. 2. Burgers' Zoo, Arnhem, The Netherlands, p. 293-303.
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