Is it the one that you look down in the middle?
Pangolin12’s Netherlands trip 2019
- Thread starter pangolin12
- Start date
Yes, it is.
Hi, sorry for the wait. My trip turned drastically meaning I had no spare time for reviews
. So anyway,
Kingdom of Ganesha
This ‘world’ is probably the most themed even going to the feel of more theming than exhibits... you first climb the tiring slope, taking you past an unnecessary white tiger cage, with seemingly no privacy for the tigers. Next, the slope takes you past a mediocre Javan leopard enclosure, with viewing at the bottom and top. Then, the slope ends, bringing you to probably the most (in)famous building in the zoo- the Sumatran orangutan temple. The temple has streams of water trickling down each face and provides an interesting way to view orangutans. Opposite this is the elephant temple which can mistake people for a house to enter whereas instead there are windows for for viewing inside. There were two elephants in the left exhibit (their names have slipped me
). And a large viewing area for an enormous paddock for the rest of the herd, however, none of them were active
. There is another Sumatran orangutan exhibit which you can also view from the same viewing area which is nicely done. Next you visit the Komodo dragon exhibits, which were next to porcupines (Indian crested) and... Wombats? This confuses me as the rest of Pairi is generally well geographically structured and surely these could be added to the southern cape? Anyway, the wombats have nocturnal house-esque indoor viewing with their burrows and a bland outdoor exhibit which can again provide 360 viewing. Around the back of this and the Komodo dragons is a nice sulawesi macaque enclosure, which can be viewed from two levels. Somewhere in this area was water buffalo but I couldn’t find them anywhere as they were not marked on my map... walk around a lot more theming and you arrive at the next ‘world’...
. So anyway,Kingdom of Ganesha
This ‘world’ is probably the most themed even going to the feel of more theming than exhibits... you first climb the tiring slope, taking you past an unnecessary white tiger cage, with seemingly no privacy for the tigers. Next, the slope takes you past a mediocre Javan leopard enclosure, with viewing at the bottom and top. Then, the slope ends, bringing you to probably the most (in)famous building in the zoo- the Sumatran orangutan temple. The temple has streams of water trickling down each face and provides an interesting way to view orangutans. Opposite this is the elephant temple which can mistake people for a house to enter whereas instead there are windows for for viewing inside. There were two elephants in the left exhibit (their names have slipped me
). And a large viewing area for an enormous paddock for the rest of the herd, however, none of them were active. There is another Sumatran orangutan exhibit which you can also view from the same viewing area which is nicely done. Next you visit the Komodo dragon exhibits, which were next to porcupines (Indian crested) and... Wombats? This confuses me as the rest of Pairi is generally well geographically structured and surely these could be added to the southern cape? Anyway, the wombats have nocturnal house-esque indoor viewing with their burrows and a bland outdoor exhibit which can again provide 360 viewing. Around the back of this and the Komodo dragons is a nice sulawesi macaque enclosure, which can be viewed from two levels. Somewhere in this area was water buffalo but I couldn’t find them anywhere as they were not marked on my map... walk around a lot more theming and you arrive at the next ‘world’...
The land of the cold
This is the smallest ‘world’ but is still under construction so will be much bigger. The current area has only 4 exhibits, but all of them are lovely and provide excellent viewing. The first is a raccoon exhibit with lots of climbing opportunities and very active raccoons. Then you walk up a viewing deck where you can view them but also the nicely sized paddock behind them, for reindeer, and then a ginormous field for a herd of bison. After exiting the viewing deck, one arrives at a wolf enclosure, very new as I’ve heard, holding mckenzie valley wolf. It is nice and spacious, too.
This is the smallest ‘world’ but is still under construction so will be much bigger. The current area has only 4 exhibits, but all of them are lovely and provide excellent viewing. The first is a raccoon exhibit with lots of climbing opportunities and very active raccoons. Then you walk up a viewing deck where you can view them but also the nicely sized paddock behind them, for reindeer, and then a ginormous field for a herd of bison. After exiting the viewing deck, one arrives at a wolf enclosure, very new as I’ve heard, holding mckenzie valley wolf. It is nice and spacious, too.
Hi, sorry for the wait on this thread, I’ve had a lot of ‘cases’ about something that happened in this trip, so, I’m back!
I also took a new routine:
New forest reptile centre
Pairi daiza
Eekhorn experience, bestzoo, Zie zoo
Route changer day (get to that later)
Artis
De paay, overloon zoo
Frankfurt zoo, tierpark Donnersberg
Koln zoo
Krefeld zoo, Antwerp zoo
Eekhorn experience
This place impressed. I came in expecting a treasure chest of rare squirrels, and came out with a treasure chest of rare squirrels (not literally
). Built in a garden centre called the equator, you walk past a lot of buddhas and reach the first squirrels, Richardson’s ground squirrels and Costa Rica variegated squirrel! Then, up the ramp and you reach some parrot species including eclectus parrot and some swinhoes striped squirrels before finding 2 very active red flanked variegated squirrels! Outside, there are multiple ‘huts’ full of mouthwatering squirrel species, most of which very active, and big mesh cages for prairie dogs and cockatiels. Next up was bestzoo...
I also took a new routine:
New forest reptile centre
Pairi daiza
Eekhorn experience, bestzoo, Zie zoo
Route changer day (get to that later)
Artis
De paay, overloon zoo
Frankfurt zoo, tierpark Donnersberg
Koln zoo
Krefeld zoo, Antwerp zoo
Eekhorn experience
This place impressed. I came in expecting a treasure chest of rare squirrels, and came out with a treasure chest of rare squirrels (not literally
). Built in a garden centre called the equator, you walk past a lot of buddhas and reach the first squirrels, Richardson’s ground squirrels and Costa Rica variegated squirrel! Then, up the ramp and you reach some parrot species including eclectus parrot and some swinhoes striped squirrels before finding 2 very active red flanked variegated squirrels! Outside, there are multiple ‘huts’ full of mouthwatering squirrel species, most of which very active, and big mesh cages for prairie dogs and cockatiels. Next up was bestzoo...
Bestzoo
Average. A very nice zoo but not many standout species or exhibits, however, the rarities that were there were very nice
. It’s been a while and I can’t remember the entire zoo so I’ll comment on the exhibits with the standout rarities:
White striped dorcopsis - kept in a giant half cylinder with another species that escapes my head. One individual had a baby which was amazing to see!
Palawan binturong- not so much a rarity anymore in the uk, but here, it had a very interesting exhibit. There was a typical exhibit but leading out from it were wooden ramps that went over your head and around the trees above. Very cool
Common kingfisher- not so ‘common’ in European collections
, this was by far the best kingfisher exhibit I’ve seen (seems as though it’s the only kingfisher exhibit I’ve seen). It had a small pool that had a glass window to view them whilst feeding and had a lot of plants for the kingfisher to hide in.
Javan green magpie- a very strangely shaped exhibit, and not very big, which surprised me when i missed them in my first time around, but the second time I spotted it, right there, where I was before.
What came next is so exciting that I have to give it its own post
Average. A very nice zoo but not many standout species or exhibits, however, the rarities that were there were very nice
. It’s been a while and I can’t remember the entire zoo so I’ll comment on the exhibits with the standout rarities:White striped dorcopsis - kept in a giant half cylinder with another species that escapes my head. One individual had a baby which was amazing to see!
Palawan binturong- not so much a rarity anymore in the uk, but here, it had a very interesting exhibit. There was a typical exhibit but leading out from it were wooden ramps that went over your head and around the trees above. Very cool
Common kingfisher- not so ‘common’ in European collections
, this was by far the best kingfisher exhibit I’ve seen (seems as though it’s the only kingfisher exhibit I’ve seen). It had a small pool that had a glass window to view them whilst feeding and had a lot of plants for the kingfisher to hide in.Javan green magpie- a very strangely shaped exhibit, and not very big, which surprised me when i missed them in my first time around, but the second time I spotted it, right there, where I was before
.What came next is so exciting that I have to give it its own post
Javan green magpie- a very strangely shaped exhibit, and not very big, which surprised me when i missed them in my first time around, but the second time I spotted it, right there, where I was before
Common Green Magpie, not Javan.
Bestzoo
Average. A very nice zoo but not many standout species or exhibits, however, the rarities that were there were very nice
White striped dorcopsis - kept in a giant half cylinder with another species that escapes my head. One individual had a baby which was amazing to see!
Palawan binturong- not so much a rarity anymore in the uk, but here, it had a very interesting exhibit. There was a typical exhibit but leading out from it were wooden ramps that went over your head and around the trees above. Very cool
Common kingfisher- not so ‘common’ in European collections
Javan green magpie- a very strangely shaped exhibit, and not very big, which surprised me when i missed them in my first time around, but the second time I spotted it, right there, where I was before
What came next is so exciting that I have to give it its own post
The dorcopsis are mixed with Papuan, or Blyth’s, hornbill
Kakapo
Well-Known Member
Plus masked lapwings, hybrid cockatoos and I think some other australian parrot that I can't remember
As of April this year it’s just the hornbills.
Whoops, I was thinking of them when I wrote it, too
Ah yes, thank you!
What came next is so exciting that I have to give it its own post
Is this anything to do with meeting a certain opossum?
Bestzoo part 2: one in a lifetime experience
We came back round to the cafe and met the owner who brought out the one and only woolly opossum. Never have I ever had such a rare creature crawl on me, up my arm and onto my back. When he took the opossum back, he asked us if we had ever held a tamandua. A tamandua! So he brought out a small southern tamandua and let that crawl on us to, obviously much bigger and heavier than the opossum.
They have coarse, short fur that almost feels bristly, we experienced this little (ish) guy for about half an hour before leaving. A day I will never forget
We came back round to the cafe and met the owner who brought out the one and only woolly opossum. Never have I ever had such a rare creature crawl on me, up my arm and onto my back. When he took the opossum back, he asked us if we had ever held a tamandua. A tamandua! So he brought out a small southern tamandua and let that crawl on us to, obviously much bigger and heavier than the opossum.
They have coarse, short fur that almost feels bristly, we experienced this little (ish) guy for about half an hour before leaving. A day I will never forget
I was just think I wouldn't trust the Blyth's I know with any smaller birds.....
Kakapo
Well-Known Member
Bestzoo part 2: one in a lifetime experience
We came back round to the cafe and met the owner who brought out the one and only woolly opossum. Never have I ever had such a rare creature crawl on me, up my arm and onto my back. When he took the opossum back, he asked us if we had ever held a tamandua. A tamandua! So he brought out a small southern tamandua and let that crawl on us to, obviously much bigger and heavier than the opossum.
They have coarse, short fur that almost feels bristly, we experienced this little (ish) guy for about half an hour before leaving. A day I will never forget
Why everybody that visit Best Zoo is allowed to see the opossum except me?
That’s a bit of a stretch - myself, @MagpieGoose, @Nisha and a friend of ours not on Zoochat didn’t when we visited in April...
I've also visit Best Zoo already several times and also for me, no opossum
! I did however the experience of petting the tamandua .
Andrew Swales
Well-Known Member
Why is 'petting' zoo animals important, or desirable?
Surely if you want a pet, then there is plenty of opportunity to get one...