Hoyerswerda (dpa/sn) - The Hoyerswerda Zoo has taken stock and registered a positive development in its cross-toothed newts. Because the six specimens of the newt living in Hoyerswerda have doubled their body length to 20 to 24 centimeters within a year, the zoo announced on Thursday. Meanwhile, it is also clear that there are five males and one female. The newts are close relatives of the well-known axolotls, are only found in Lake Pátzcuaro in Mexico and are threatened with extinction.
According to the inventory, the Hoyerswerda Zoo is currently home to 872 individuals of 115 species. During the count, the animals are also measured, weighed and checked for their health. The four donkeys may have slimmed down, but they still haven't reached the "desired values", it said. Visitors often ask if the donkeys are pregnant or when the foals will be born. "Then we have to disappoint them and say that they are just a little too fat," said zoological director Eugène Bruins.
According to the zoo, its population has decreased by 95 animals compared to 2021. Species like the flamingos had to be given up due to construction. However, they or the fennec fox (desert fox) would return once the new master plan was implemented. Hyacinth Macaws and Leaping Tamarins have had successful first offspring. The meerkats, rock squirrels, tree quills, short-eared elephant shrews, ibexes, squirrel monkeys and other species also had offspring.
