Grevy’s zebra baby born

Translated from Dutch news agency ANP:

Zebra born in Artis

08/05/13, 12:13

Amsterdam‘s Artis Zoo has a new Grevy’s zebra. The young zebra was born on Saturday on the savannah in the metropolitan zoo.

The newborn foal is a filly. Zebras have a gestation period of about 13 months. The young during the first days will only recognize her mother by her scent and sound. Later she will also recognize her mother’s stripe pattern.

It is the third Grevy’s zebra foal born this year in Artis. This zebra species from Kenya and Ethiopia is threatened with extinction; therefore there is a European breeding program to prevent extinction.

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IMF Lagarde heckled in Amsterdam

Not all people like Christine Lagarde, the boss of the International Monetary Fund after her predecessor resigned in a sex scandal.

French police are investigating her role in a corruption affair.

In Belgium, there was protest against awarding a honorary doctorate to Ms Lagarde.

And this morning, at the university of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, demonstrators heckled at a lecture by Lagarde. They were members of ReINFORM, an organisation of Greeks in the Netherlands.

ReINFORM opposes the harsh austerity measures by the IMF, causing misery in Greece and elsewhere.

According to Dutch NOS TV, “security” arrested about seven people for heckling Ms Lagarde’s speech.

According to NRC Handelsblad daily, the demonstrators were students from Greece and Spain.

See also here.

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Amsterdam stops bird-killing royal balloon plan

The mayor of Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, had a plan to have school children release 150,000 balloons into the air on 30 April.

On that day, Queen Beatrix will abdicate in Amsterdam. Her successor Willem-Alexander will become king.

Dutch environmental organisations objected strongly to the mayor’s balloon plan. As all these balloons would contribute greatly to the “plastic soup” problem, killing wildlife in the seas and elsewhere.

This video from the Netherlands shows a buzzard, trying to eat a balloon.

Balloons contribute much to “plastic soup” pollution and may kill birds and other animals.

How Balloons Hurt Birds: here.

The mayor at first said the balloons were not ordinary balloons, but special “eco-friendly balloons”. The environmentalists replied that these “eco-friendly balloons” were not really that eco-friendly.

Yesterday, the mayor of Amsterdam gave in and said that the balloon plan was off.

A victory for the environment.

If would be even more of a victory if the new King Willem-Alexander and the rest of the royal family would now give up their hobbies of killing deer, wild boar and birds.

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Amsterdam Rijksmuseum re-opening, video

This video from the Netherlands, featuring author Sophie van der Stap, is about the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum re-opening, on 13 April.

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Amsterdam Van Gogh museum reopening with new exhibition

This video is called Vincent – The Full Story – Part 1 of 3 – Vincent, Van Gogh, Art, Documentary.

This video is called Vincent – The Full Story – Part 2 of 3 – Vincent, Van Gogh, Art, Documentary.

This video is called Vincent – The Full Story – Part 3 of 3 – Vincent, Van Gogh, Art, Documentary.

From DutchNews.nl:

Van Gogh museum on target for May re-opening with jubilee show

Tuesday 02 April 2013

Work on refurbishing the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam has now been completed and the building is now being fitted out for the jubilee exhibition Van Gogh at Work, which will open on May 1, 2013, the museum authorities said on Tuesday.

The new show commemorates 160 years since the painter’s birth and marks the conclusion of seven years of research into Van Gogh‘s methods.

The refurbishment project has taken just seven months. Major works from the collection are on display at the Hermitage Museum on the Amstel river until April 25, pending the re-opening.

‘Against all expectations, we were even able to seize the opportunity to refurbish the floors, walls and ceilings so the building looks fresh again,’ said the museum’s new managing director Adriaan Dönszelmann.

Heat storage

The project involved installing a modern and sustainable air conditioning installation that allows the right climatic conditions to be set per room. A 160-metre-deep well was dug under the museum for heat and cold storage, collecting warmth in the summer and releasing it to heat the building in winter.

The roof has also been completely replaced and given extra insulation. In total, 2,300 m² of parquet flooring was renewed, 4,300 m² of ceiling replaced and 11,000 m² of walls painted, the museum said in a statement.

The newly refurbished Rijksmuseum is due to reopen later this month after a 10-year closure.

See also here.

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Dutch Amsterdam feral parakeets

Once more, about the feral parakeets in Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

This morning, the city ecologist said there are now about 3,000 ring-necked parakeets, and 100 Alexandrine parakeets in Amsterdam.

This is a video of a ring-necked parakeet nest in the Vondelpark, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

In autumn and (early) winter, ring-necked parakeets gather in big flocks of hundreds or thousands of birds to sleep together in trees. Now, these flocks are getting smaller; as ring-necked parakeets nest early. They are dispersing to find good nesting sites.

This video is about ring-necked parakeets and Alexandrine parakeets in the Oosterpark in Amsterdam.

Alexandrine parakeets are about 10cm bigger than ring-necked parakeets. They also have bigger bills and darker neck-rings.

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Dutch escapee Alexandrine parakeets

Ring-necked parakeets, originally escapees from cages, are now quite common at some places in the Netherlands.

Recently, another escapee parakeet species was recorded in Amsterdam.

In the local Oosterpark, feral Alexandrine parakeets live.

They are bigger than ring-necked parakeets.

The photo is edited to show the birds in the same picture as the Amsterdam city biologist. But it is not fake.

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Herons Amsterdam Market,My first attempt to film with my new camera(HD).

Reblogged from BeeCee:

FILM

Today I edited my Last nights recordings, plus subtitles.

My first attempt to film with my new camera(HD).

2 minutes and 35 seconds.

Title (NL) 'Wat op de grond ligt'  (ENG) 'That wat lies on the ground'.

What's it about: I went to see the herons who hangout at the main market nearby my home,The Albert Cuyp Market in Amsterdam.

Read more… 253 more words

Interesting how birds almost hunted to extinction about 1900 now adapt to city life.

Anti-fascism in Amsterdam, video

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Amsterdam grass snakes

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Translated from the Dutch RAVON herpetologists on 1 November 2012, about pro-grass snake measures in the north of Amsterdam:

Constructing a nesting heap is a simple but very effective grass snake conservation measure.

Grass snakes use such a heap to deposit their eggs. Depending on the mother’s size, around mid June forty eggs or less pro grass snake mother are deposited.

The high temperature inside the heap (which should be thirty degrees centigrade) will allow juvenile grass snakes to hatch about mid August. At birth, the babies are about 15-20 centimeter long. They already have the characteristic yellow rings around their necks.

The report says that about 90% of the eggs in the heaps hatch succesfully. This vulnerable species needs that; as near a city like Amsterdam it faces dangers like traffic, cats, dogs, and people who mistakenly think that grass snakes are dangerous.

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