Let's have an early update this time.
The Tierpark just had its 65th anniversary since it first opened its doors to the public (July 2nd 1955). So I visited the park a couple of times and also closely followed the media coverage.
I will start with the (more or less) hard facts:
-The Brehm building is to open this month! (some sources even say mid July)
-The plans for the new elephant building are ready and they plan to start the project no later than September 2020 (scheduled opening: 2022)
-The work on Himalaya are to start in 2021 and perhaps still open that same year
Now some impressions and rumours which I collected during my visits:
-The monkey building is open now, but it looks like a building site again. They are redoing a number of enclosures. Fortunately, they are quite fast. And still better, a friend of mine told me that Coquerel's Sifakas may move in quite soon (perhaps still in July)! There is some speculation in this, though.
-The remodelled enclosures for African Penguins, Cheetahs and Vultures all look really nice. While the penguins still need time to settle in, it was amazing to actually enter the huge vulture aviary for the first time! Watching a cheetah just some feet away also was a new experience in this park.
-Finally, the Brehm building seems virtually finished. I already peeked through some windows and fences and let's say I quite liked what I saw! The inside boxes and glass terraria form kind of a rain forest strip. You can still spot the cats through the plants. There also are a few smaller terraria close to the entrances of the tropic hall. They display spiders, insects, amphibians and reptiles as well as small mammals from South-East-Asia. I also spotted a Sun Bear exploring its large new outside enclosure (no comparison to their old complex) and a Dusky Pademelon doing the same. I am incredibly thrilled to enter this building in a couple of weeks. After all these years and delay after delay this will be a huge pleasure.
-Unfortunately, there are no more Musk Deer in the park. But I could see the Sumatran Madked Palm Civet next to the reindeer exhibit.
-Some minor details: The landscape of the park gets more and more beautiful, since they received additional staff for this. The new, bilingual signs are far more accessible to young and international guests. There is a new restauration at the old castle grounds right next to the actual castle (Schlosscafé) which is quite nice. Some smaller enclosures and aviaries have been redone (e.g. the heron aviary) and look better now.
To support this small report, I want to share two new videos from the official YouTube channel of Zoo and Tierpark Berlin.
The first video shows the indoor enclosure of the Sumatra Tiger as well as impressions from inside the tropic hall:
The second one follows zoo director Andreas Knieriem along a small trip through the park, showing both traditional highlights and new projects (particularly the penguin enclosure and the site of the Himalaya project):
Last but not least, there is
a third video with many(!) more details of the Brehm building which I can highly recommend!
.
as this anniversary would be a fine excuse to produce another one......
