Snowleopard's 2019 Road Trip: Netherlands, Belgium, France & Germany

[Pertinax]

I'm much the same. It became so absurdly hot after lunch that I basically had to give up & spend the afternoon in the shade. Never got as far as the elephants or orangutans...but Snowleopard pushed on, clearly allowing nothing to stand in the way of his covering every inch of the collection.
I'm in awe of this Canadian super-being!

It was warm enough in the afternoon in May. I know I couldn't have done it all in July heat!

 

[Pertinax]

Fortunately I was able to take advantage of the somewhat longer opening hours - and they were very much needed, as I ended up spending 11 hours there with only about 30 minutes of this being revisits!

So what happens during the much later summer evening opening hours? Are animals all still on display, or some species like Apes, Carnivores, Elephants etc shut away at a more normal time, but leaving everything, or some of, such as ungulates, sealions, primates, birds etc still on show?

 

[Andrew Swales]

As far as where the visitors come from: Pairi Daiza is pretty well known all around Belgium (Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia) and actively advertises throughout the country. I think that is certainly part of it.

That is very disappointing to hear that the restaurants at Pairi Daiza are still very pricey and that the staff are still unfriendly. I've had such experiences there myself and heard this time and time again unfortunately. For a zoo in such a league of their own it is really a shame that they can't seem to fix this issue.

The only visit I have made to PD was a few years ago after we lent them Cheetahs for the opening of the new African area. I wont comment here on what I thought of the place, but the question of staffing remained very much in my mind after the visit. The convoluted approach to the Park took us through tiny, dusty, very 'French' villages, similar to the tiny, muddy English ones around here. The local immediate catchment population appeared minimal. Given that hundreds of staff have to turn up every day to allow the place to service the many tens of thousands of daily visitors; I still cant see where they all come from even if they employed most of the local populous. Just getting enough to show may be a big enough problem for PD, let alone getting enough friendly ones...

 

[Jogy]

I understand that Pairi Daiza can be seen controversial from a pure zoo perspective as it is not 'only' a world calls zoo but a unique combination of a botanical garden, an ethnological museum, a geological museum, a historic site and much more - however for me - having also visited many other great zoos (San Diego, Berlin (Zoo and Tierpark), Leipzig, Vienna,...) it became my number one - without downgrading any of the other outstanding places.

I love the combination of the elements mentioned above and with very few exceptions the enclosures are great, the animals seem to enjoy them also as I've never seen so many active animals and the variaty of animals displayed is just amazing.

For sure this zoo lives from having a lot of money available which allowed this phenomenal investment track record over the last 10 years. What is even more asthonishing - the growth path is not yet finished with at least 3 new worlds being planned to open in the next 3-5 years ('Land of the cold' - which is already under construction and is expected to open in a few months, 'Dessert' and 'South America' / a 'global jungle dome') - in addition there will be several new accomondations being built and the parking lot is shall grow multiple times bigger - overall the park has secured space to double its size.

Regarding the entrance fee - 36€ (34€ when tickets are bought online) is a lot - what I did is buying an annual pass (despite living 500km away) as we at least intended to come 2-3 times for at least 2 days each and the price of the annual pass is not to expensive with 79€.

 

[Pertinax]

The local immediate catchment population appeared minimal. Given that hundreds of staff have to turn up every day to allow the place to service the many tens of thousands of daily visitors; I still cant see where they all come from even if they employed most of the local populous. Just getting enough to show may be a big enough problem for PD, let alone getting enough friendly ones...

That occurred to me also. There are a few small towns dotted around not that far away so I guess a lot of the staff come in from those too. It must be a real boon for local employment in what is largely a rural area. I'm still intrugued as to where all their visitors come from though.

 

[Pertinax]

Regarding the entrance fee - 36€ (34€ when tickets are bought online) is a lot - what I did is buying an annual pass (despite living 500km away) as we at least intended to come 2-3 times for at least 2 days each and the price of the annual pass is not to expensive with 79€.

That doesn't help people like UK visitors who may only make a single visit in a year (or ever). I actually paid twice as I visited on two days. However I didn't regret the expense for such a unique experience. Do you know if Walrus is definately planned for the Land of the Cold?

 

[Cat-Man]

I freely admit that we are spoiled little brats in North America. Amenities in all directions 24 hours per day, personal taxes substantially lower, every family has at least two vehicles or more and they are the big gas-guzzling kind, at least 6 free drinking fountains in every zoo, and many people I know even pay a small fee (usually around $8 Canadian) and all their groceries are delivered directly to their door at home! We’ve done it ourselves on a number of occasions, especially before a big holiday like Christmas. You just go online and order $300 in groceries and it comes the next morning for eight bucks. Then we sit in our smoke-free, air-conditioned, huge houses and laud it over everyone else. Haha. There is a lot of truth in all of this, but Canada and the United States have many issues just like everywhere else. For example, I’m not sure that I could live in a country with a guy like Donald Trump in charge.

You know, online shopping has made its way over to Europe. Although I’ve never been to Canada from my experiences in America it seems to be much more popular here in Europe than on your side of the pond!

One of Europe's best - certainly top 5.

What are the other four? Duisburg surely up there?

 

[CGSwans]

What are the other four? Duisburg surely up there?

Planckendael, Duisburg and Budapest were the three that stood out to me when I toured in 2017.

 

[Jogy]

Yes Walrus is definately planned - together with polar bears, amur tigers, penguins and a new enclosure for reindeers…

Attached a plan of the 'Land of the cold' as presented on the French speaking Forum 'leszoosdanslemonde':

The Walrus enclosure will be in the middle between the 2 polar bear enclosures (all on the left side). The big enclosure on the right is for the Amur Tigers.

 

[sooty mangabey]

Planckendael, Duisburg and Budapest were the three that stood out to me when I toured in 2017.

This discussion refers to European zoos with the best Australian collections, in which case, mammal-wise, Hamerton blows every other zoo out of the water: no Koalas or Tasmanian Devils, but that aside nowhere else comes close. The birds aren’t too bad, either!

 

[CGSwans]

This discussion refers to European zoos with the best Australian collections, in which case, mammal-wise, Hamerton blows every other zoo out of the water: no Koalas or Tasmanian Devils, but that aside nowhere else comes close. The birds aren’t too bad, either!

Sure. I didn’t go to Hamerton, hence why it didn’t stand out.

 

[ShonenJake13]

Yes the tigers was another strangely under par enclosure compared to the quality of many of the others. It sometimes seems the theming over-rides all other considerations. I didn't see a second pair of Lions- people on here keep mentioning bits and pieces I evidently missed, though that's not surprising given what it is, and I saw everything I wanted to I think. Having missed the big Elephant paddock though, what sort of size are the Eld's deer and Blackbuck groups in there?

It’s a very easy enclosure to miss....if you go to the raised viewing over the lion enclosure it’s there. A cage atop a pit, previously used for their clouded leopards and after them for their elderly male ‘African’ leopard before he died...now it is used for the pair of lions’ twin children (also a male and female)...and I hope that like with their spotted cousins it’s only temporary accommodation!
The Eld’s deer group is a bachelor herd - TLD and I counted around 10 or so? The blackbuck we only saw three - two males and a female...

 

[TeaLovingDave]

imagine if an imitation church had been placed in the North American "Last Frontier" area for instance (a ubiquity that would be entirely justified),

Oh, just give it time

Having missed the big Elephant paddock though, what sort of size are the Eld's deer and Blackbuck groups in there?

Can't actually recall how many I saw, but a fair few. Perhaps a dozen total including the blackbuck?

 

[TeaLovingDave]

The €38 entry fee quoted here is high (and parking comes as extra too of course!). However, as has been chronicled here, it is most certainly a full day zoo.

Or indeed moreso - I am quite amazed (and tbh slightly doubtful) SL managed to see everything in a "mere" 8.5 hours I stayed 11 hours and only just about saw everything before having to dash for my train; the additional two hours the zoo was open that day would have been very helpful.

Which is a roundabout way of saying that not only is the entry cost a lot, but unless one visits on an extended hours day you're liable to pay it twice!

So what happens during the much later summer evening opening hours? Are animals all still on display, or some species like Apes, Carnivores, Elephants etc shut away at a more normal time, but leaving everything, or some of, such as ungulates, sealions, primates, birds etc still on show?

Vast majority of stuff was still onshow just before 9pm; the only exception I can recall was the elephants. Naturally some species might choose to go indoors by then, though.

Regarding the entrance fee - 36€ (34€ when tickets are bought online) is a lot

And as noted it's 38/36 now!

 

[TeaLovingDave]

What are the other four? Duisburg surely up there?

Planckendael, Duisburg and Budapest were the three that stood out to me when I toured in 2017.

I actually sat down and worked this one out a few weeks ago, funnily enough - as regards Australian species, I think I found the top 5 were Prague, Budapest, Hamerton, Plzen and Duisburg, not necessarily in that order.

 

[Maguari]

What are the other four? Duisburg surely up there?

Planckendael, Duisburg and Budapest were the three that stood out to me when I toured in 2017.

I actually sat down and worked this one out a few weeks ago, funnily enough - as regards Australian species, I think I found the top 5 were Prague, Budapest, Hamerton, Plzen and Duisburg, not necessarily in that order.

In terms of Aussie mammals I was think of (loosely - I didn't sit and count!) Planckendael, Duisburg, Hamerton, Jihlava and Budapest - and in terms of diversity, rather than pure species numbers (there are a few places like Biotropica with just lots of macropods).

 

[Tim Brown]

I have Scotts agenda so i know,within reason,what is coming up. But i know he at least would like an indication of our trip subsequent to P.Daiza. The day after comprised of a lengthy-ish drive to Boulogne and Nausicaa which touts itself as the largest aquarium in Europe.Is it the best? Well,for sure,one of the best 2 or 3.And it has a manta ray of course(though not my first ), as the blistering heat cooked nearby folks on the beach it was good to be indoors. Day after was the previously mentioned zoo #800 and Fort Mardyk Zoo which is slap bang in the middle of a housing estate next to a well -tended graveyard. It is a mere 5 acres with 1 of those taken up by a children`s farm. Supposedly European fauna only ,it has a few other things and neurotically has recently sent its Brown Bears and Lynx away to "better" circumstances....to me the enclosures for these absent friends looked fine! The zoo has European Beavers and Eurasian Otters, but these semi-nocturnal forms were asleep and this left for something of a no-show. I can happily contemplate empty enclosures, but the many small children in the zoo wouldnt have been so entertained im sure. By now the the temperature had cooled to something in the 20s and it was quite pleasant. Finally on the way back to Charleroi Airport we called in at the theme park Bellewaerde near Ypres which has some large mammals such as Lions,Tigers,Rothschilds Giraffes and a solitary Asian Elephant(unless there is more than one ,i havent checked).It is an EAZA member. As with all other theme parks,entry is quite expensive and probably prohibitively so for 30 species of animal...these are mixed in with the rides etc rather than kept in a separate area, but include one of the best ranges of Leopard cages ive ever seen(Amur taxon). No need to contemplate whether these were worth the entry price or not because the duty manager Stefaan let us in for free when he heard the magic words "Zoo Grapevine and International Zoo News"(tho it caused a little consternation at the reception). After 1.5 hours we were on our way being totally untempted by the rest of the "fun"(and having to catch a plane). Manchester was cool and rainy when we left the plane..as all United fans know- Manchester is indeed heaven!

 

[Shorts]

I am quite amazed (and tbh slightly doubtful) SL managed to see everything in a "mere" 8.5 hours I stayed 11 hours and only just about saw everything before having to dash for my train

Maybe it's just down to different visiting styles -possibly he's happy to see all enclosures but less fussy about seeing every single inhabitant, which can take up a lot of time (especially with birds, which he's previously said he's less interested in).

If he does get to see every species at all the zoos he's obviously very charmed and should hire himself out to nerds to guarantee sightings.

Personally I'm more, and very, impressed with his dedication at typing up reports and uploading photos whilst in the middle of such an epic trek. Compare that with some who start and never finish reports months and years after the trips have occurred. Personally, I'm currently struggling to psych myself up to post a report on a trip to "just" Plzen and Prague.

 

[Maguari]

Personally I'm more, and very, impressed with his dedication at typing up reports and uploading photos whilst in the middle of such an epic trek.

Amen to that!

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Maybe it's just down to different visiting styles -possibly he's happy to see all enclosures but less fussy about seeing every single inhabitant, which can take up a lot of time (especially with birds, which he's previously said he's less interested in).

TBH I think the thing that took up the most time for us was the heat slowing us down, which is why I am even more impressed given it was worse for him!

Personally I'm more, and very, impressed with his dedication at typing up reports and uploading photos whilst in the middle of such an epic trek. Compare that with some who start and never finish reports months and years after the trips have occurred.

Yep, it's a weird paradox that it's much easier to write stuff when still in the middle of things even though one also has less time for it, when compared with the ease of writing as time goes by. Perfectionism and a desire for consistency plays a part too - if one has written thousands of words on each collection initially, you're then loathe to only write a few hundred for later ones even when this is all that your "spoons" permit