Pairi Daiza Pairi Daiza News 2023

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I have just returned from my second visit to PD, three years after my first. Mainly to see the new exhibits; The Frontier Land and Land of the Cold, and particularly the Walrus, a species I have either never seen or perhaps just once- in Hamburg Zoo many years ago, but I have no memory of them. Firstly I have a couple of questions maybe any PD regulars can answer?

1. I saw 4 Walrus; two males( including the one from Moscow(Garik?) with tusks) on one side, and two females on the other. But I thought they currently had 6 ? Is there an offshow pool also? Where was the calf Floki that was born there- maybe I saw him(?) but I thought they were both females in the one side. Have any more of them died recently- apart from the one female that was giving birth?

2. Is there still St Vincent Amazon in Oasis/Green House?( I did not see it this time).

3. Does the Mersus Emergo ship have emergency exits? It looks like a death trap to me,:eek: all those winding corridors in the reptile area and then that dark restaurant at the back with people all eating in the darkness and a fine sunny day outside..strange. Yet only the one entrance on the ramp? I personally found it very claustrophobic in there...

4. Why can you not go from the Giant Pandas direct to the Snow Leopard?. It is currently a long way around through the Chinese/Middle Garden instead to reach that area after the Takin.

Some other impressions;

Species I saw this time that I missed previously; Birds of Paradise, Bear Cuscus. New exhibits.

Species I saw last time that I didn't see this time..Shoebill( probably it was too cold temperature),Siberian Crane (area partly closed off now- nesting?), St Vincent Amazon, Bulwer's Pheasant( now both dead) Macaques & Langurs.

A number of changes in three years obviously but since the new entrance was built and the childrens' farm has closed, I noticed that the area where the rare Parrots(Spix and Lears) aviaries are located is now rather a backwater and I think probably very few people apart from specialists notice them anymore. There was only one pair of Spix in the aviary this time- still clinging on the wire high up- and even they had disappeared later on.

The new Land of Cold and Frontier Land exhibits are typical Paira Daiza- its all about the animal displays to visitors at this park. Some were good- the Steller's Sealion display for one and the bull is HUGE- approx x 3 the size of his females. He must be almost Walrus-sized!! He was pretty much the star of the show for me, along with Walrus and the displaying Greater Bird of Paradise. Some exhibits are not so good though- the Wapiti have a miserable small muddy area, and the Southern Fur Seal pool is way too small. Last time I noticed Giant Otters in a small enclosure also but missed it this time.

I thought the Walrus exhibits were actually not very large for such big mammals either, but the underwater viewing works very well. But so many steps and tunnels everywhere though... I think I missed the Penguin cave...or maybe I didn't... but there were no penguins in it.

I saw absolutely everything (that I wanted to) in the one very tiring day, that was going round the whole park once and the newer areas twice. So I did not need to do a second day's visit.

Thanks in advance for any responses to my questions.
 
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Pertinax said:
I thought the Walrus exhibits were actually not very large for such big mammals either, but the underwater viewing works very well. But so many steps and tunnels everywhere though... I think I missed the Penguin cave...or maybe I didn't... but there were no penguins in it.
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Now I am not a regular, however when I went to PD last year, the polar bear, walrus, and penguin complex was one of the harder to navigate places for me due to the fact that there were a lot of hotel rooms and guest amenities which made it difficult for me to locate and see the Antarctic penguins.

I do agree with your statement with Mersus Emergo. When I went there last year there were multiple field trips which especially made Mersus Emergo difficult to navigate through with the great number of children and the noise that comes with them.
 
Pertinax said:
2. Is there still St Vincent Amazon in Oasis/Green House?( I did not see it this time).

3. Does the Mersus Emergo ship have emergency exits? It looks like a death trap to me,:eek: all those winding corridors in the reptile area and then that dark restaurant at the back with people all eating in the darkness and a fine sunny day outside..strange. Yet only the one entrance on the ramp? I personally found it very claustrophobic in there...

4. Why can you not go from the Giant Pandas direct to the Snow Leopard?. It is currently a long way around through the Chinese/Middle Garden instead to reach that area after the Takin.

A number of changes in three years obviously but since the new entrance was built and the childrens' farm has closed, I noticed that the area where the rare Parrots(Spix and Lears) aviaries are located is now rather a backwater and I think probably very few people apart from specialists notice them anymore. There was only one pair of Spix in the aviary this time- still clinging on the wire high up- and even they had disappeared later on.

The new Land of Cold and Frontier Land exhibits are typical Paira Daiza- its all about the animal displays to visitors at this park. Some were good- the Steller's Sealion display for one and the bull is HUGE- approx x 3 the size of his females. He must be almost Walrus-sized!! He was pretty much the star of the show for me, along with Walrus and the displaying Greater Bird of Paradise. Some exhibits are not so good though- the Wapiti have a miserable small muddy area, and the Southern Fur Seal pool is way too small. Last time I noticed Giant Otters in a small enclosure also but missed it this time.

I thought the Walrus exhibits were actually not very large for such big mammals either, but the underwater viewing works very well. But so many steps and tunnels everywhere though... I think I missed the Penguin cave...or maybe I didn't... but there were no penguins in it.
Click to expand...

I believe they still have the St. Vincent's amazons, ZTL still lists them. They were there last September. However a couple of years ago they were off-show for a breeding attempt and their aviary (next to the St. Lucia's amazons in the Oasis) was temporarily occupied by blue-headed macaws. Perhaps that could again be the case, depending on what was in the second amazon parrot aviary.

I don't know about emergency exits in the Mersus Emergo, but I doubt it would be legal and I doubt the fire service would allow for the building to remain open if they didn't have something. I did look at a fire escape map of it that I photographed last year (but didn't post) and it does seem to indicate emergency exits. I agree very much with your comment on the claustrophobic nature of this building - and it gets even more unpleasant if there more than just a few people in there, given the creaking floors and the noisy nature of the rather cramped corridors. The Mersus Emergo is my least favorite part of Pairi Daiza together with the aquarium, despite the impressive reptile collection it holds. These are among the oldest animal houses at Pairi Daiza and were constructed in a different era and are not really made for the current nature of the place, or for current visitor standards. I guess we can only hope they will not forget to change or improve those areas in the future.

I agree that the current wapiti exhibit is too small and too wet. The giant otters were replaced by smooth-coated otters, which are smaller and have at least an acceptable (but not great) exhibit.

I believe they are renovating the old farm buildings, perhaps (partially) as a future extention of their resort, although that to my knowledge has not been officially confirmed. So I'm not sure whether the macaws being in a more quiet corner with the moving of the entrance will be permanent.

The access to the penguin cave is near the walrus/polar bear underwater viewing area and the access to the polar bear exhibition, it is a large wood-covered sliding door, but there is no conspicuous signage for the penguin cave.

I will be at Pairi Daiza in a couple of weeks, I will also try to report on developments.
 
KevinB said:
I agree very much with your comment on the claustrophobic nature of this building - and it gets even more unpleasant if there more than just a few people in there, given the creaking floors and the noisy nature of the rather cramped corridors. The Mersus Emergo is my least favorite part of Pairi Daiza together with the aquarium, despite the impressive reptile collection it holds. These are among the oldest animal houses at Pairi Daiza and were constructed in a different era and are not really made for the current nature of the place, or for current visitor standards. .
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Last time I only went in the first section and I didn't like to stay in there very long, the creaking floorboards and winding corridors were all too much for me. This time I explored it properly mostly out of curiosity. It seems to have a very good reptile collection too but yes, I can see how it really is from a different (past) era.
 
PossumRoach said:
the polar bear, walrus, and penguin complex was one of the harder to navigate places for me due to the fact that there were a lot of hotel rooms and guest amenities which made it difficult for me to locate and see the Antarctic penguins.
Click to expand...

Yes, it advertises the Antarctic Penguins but when you go in the tunnels it says 'hotel guests only' or similar. Very confusing.
 
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Here are some updates from my visit to Pairi Daiza earlier this week.

  • The new entrance is, in typical Pairi Daiza style, impressive and over the top. The whole thing is over the top and bit garish but fits in just right at Pairi Daiza. I did however really like many of the mosaics in the new entrance area, they were really nicely done I think. The new gift shop in this area is massive and a bit of a maze also.
  • The Sanctuary project that is under construction is also very impressive. Even with just a large part of the roof up the massive size and impressive height of this complex are already fairly apparent. There were some mosaics with howler monkeys, giant otters and macaws, and given that the other mosaics mostly showed Pairi Daiza scenery, this I think suggests these species will be among those that will be in The Sanctuary.
  • Pertinax said:
    1. I saw 4 Walrus; two males( including the one from Moscow(Garik?) with tusks) on one side, and two females on the other. But I thought they currently had 6 ? Is there an offshow pool also? Where was the calf Floki that was born there- maybe I saw him(?) but I thought they were both females in the one side. Have any more of them died recently- apart from the one female that was giving birth.
    2. Is there still St Vincent Amazon in Oasis/Green House?( I did not see it this time).
    Click to expand...

    I think the walrus are currently separated into two groups - Tanya and Floki and the four other individuals. That was the situation earlier this week in any case.
    I saw both the Saint Vincent and Saint Lucia's amazons in the Oasis, so both species are still present and currently on display.
  • According to a recent sign on the exhibit, 9-year old cheetah Marvin recently had to be euthanized due to declining health related to chronic kidney disease.
  • The great white pelican group was housed in the aviary next to the African stilt village which previously housed oriental white storks and shoebills. The large aviary next to the Mersus Emergo was empty and unsigned, I think perhaps the shoebills are kept here again, but haven't yet gone outside due to the cold and wet spring?
  • The aviary next to the African village, previously home to a shoebill, now houses the saddle-billed stork that used to be housed in the raptor village.
  • It looked like the Japanese world "The Land of the Rising Sun" that is under construction is going to be quite a bit larger than I previously expected.
  • The new squirrel monkey island that was constructed near the elephant bathing beach looked quite nice and decent, but it has not yet been opened despite looking done.
  • There have been several moves in the raptor village area. The Eurasian black vultures and Eurasian griffon vultures have moved from the large mixed aviary to the aviary that previously housed saddle-billed storks, ground hornbills and various vulture species. The Egyptian vultures and African harrier-hawks were moved back to the large mixed raptor and vulture aviary. King vultures (still signed) and American black vultures (not signed- were no longer on display. The aviary next to the vicuna/mara paddock now held a black-chested buzzard eagle.
  • The walkway going through the large mixed raptor aviary was open for the first time since 2019.
  • There was sadly a dead white stork chick, either thrown from or fallen from one of the nearby stork nests, on top of one of the raptor village aviaries. Possibly one of the chicks didn't make it due to the cold and wet spring we have had so far.
  • The Asiatic black bears were off-show due to ongoing construction. From what I understood from discussions at the Laafsekikkers and in a Facebook group, that exhibit is going to be split up to house the panda twins. A new holding building was being built in the exhibit.
  • I saw the inside of the Izba (large Russian style building) and the Brasserie (brewery and tavern) for the first time, both quite nice-looking and impressive buildings on the inside and outside.
  • The middle of the old owl aviaries near the brewery now housed a pair of Verreaux's eagle owls, the one closest to the watermill a pair of Eurasian eagle owls. The one closest to the restrooms was empty and unsigned.
  • Some nice animal behaviors I observed during this visit were howling Mackenzie Valley wolves, singing yellow-cheeked gibbons, smooth-coated otters diving and foraging on the bottom of their pool, a giant anteater feeding from a specialized feeder and courting Sclater's crowned pigeons.
  • Wildlife I saw at the park included house martins, grey wagtails and quite lot of tufted ducks. Compared to previous visits in the month of September there were far fewer geese around the park this time.
  • In the amphibian room in the crypt European tree frogs (Hyla arborea) were added in a redone terrarium next to the yellow-bellied toads, however the terrarium was still unsigned.
  • I saw a single emperor goose (Anser canagicus) in the fallow deer walk-through in The Last Frontier. Not quite sure whether this is a captive individual or a feral individual that showed up.
  • There are some places in the park that are in pretty bad need of maintenance and repair. I for example noticed the rocks on top of and near the Komodo dragon house are in very bad shape, I noticed some quite severe damage in a few parts of the Chinese walking and viewing corridor and the roof of the Chinese tea house is also in pretty rough shape. With all their impressive new projects they would do well to also keep paying attention to maintaining the state of existing buildings and structures.
  • A recent newsletter mentioned the recent arrival of a new binturong, and I believe I saw this individual, as keepers were doing observation at the exhibit. This was also the first time I ever saw a binturong at Pairi Daiza.
  • One of the aviaries near the wombat exhibit now held laughing kookaburras instead of blue-winged kookaburras. I did see one blue-winged kookaburra in the small second floor outdoor aviary on the porch of the Australian kangaroo and bird house.
  • The three remaining Australian pelicans were inside the Australian walk-through aviary.
  • The koala house has had an additional viewing area added on its porch, allowing viewing of the indoor when the house is closed, as was the case during my visit. I however saw neither the koala nor the newly arrived Dorcopsis.
  • The nursery near the entrance held three baby raccoons (from a feral raccoon nest found in a lowered ceiling in Wallonia) in an incubator (I also saw on of these being bottle-fed and another being washed), a baby Major Mitchell's cockatoo (a species I did know Pairi Daiza held) in an incubator and a juvenile Moluccan cockatoo in a cage.
  • The white-naped crane pair in the cathedral aviary is sitting on two eggs.
  • I saw one European white stork in the cathedral aviary, not sure why this individual is kept there while most of the white storks at Pairi Daiza are kept free-roaming.
  • In the Tropicalia greenhouse the magnificent bird-of-paradise is no longer on show, that aviary now houses a curl-crested aracari. While it is nice to again have a toucan species on show at Pairi Daiza, it is a bit sad to see one of the bird-of-paradise species go. However I did see the displaying greater bird-of-paradise, which was pretty cool to see.
  • From the train I saw an excavator doing ground work in the American bison paddock, possibly digging a pond.
I have decided that I will try to post photos of major construction and of the new entrance as soon possible, while the other photos from this visit will be processed at a later date.
 
KevinB said:
n the Tropicalia greenhouse the magnificent bird-of-paradise is no longer on show, that aviary now houses a curl-crested aracari. While it is nice to again have a toucan species on show at Pairi Daiza, it is a bit sad to see one of the bird-of-paradise species go. However I did see the displaying greater bird-of-paradise, which was pretty cool to see.
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I just verified with the zookeeper of the birds-of-paradise. He told me that the magnificent bird-of-paradise is still on show but moved to a different enclosure in Tropicalia.
 
Sicarius said:
I just verified with the zookeeper of the birds-of-paradise. He told me that the magnificent bird-of-paradise is still on show but moved to a different enclosure in Tropicalia.
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Do you by any chance know which one? To my knowledge there are only three aviaries in Tropicalia and it was in none of those. Unless it was in one of the side/split off aviaries of those and I did not notice it. It certainly was not signed anymore.
 
Pertinax said:
good news but when I was there recently one of the two females already had a lamb. Maybe that was from last year ?
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The post says the lambs were born last Saturday and last Tuesday. I'm not sure how recent your visit was or how young the lamb you saw was.

I did take a quick look at my photos from my visit in mid-May and there seems to indeed also be an older juvenile on exhibit.
 
The panda twins Bao Mei and Bao Di have been separated from their mother and have been moved to their new exhibit between the Asiatic black bear exhibit and Tian Bao's exhibit.

Laafsekikkers
 
KevinB said:
The panda twins Bao Mei and Bao Di have been separated from their mother and have been moved to their new exhibit between the Asiatic black bear exhibit and Tian Bao's exhibit.

Laafsekikkers
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Do you know why Tian Bao has not returned to China and is allowed to stay in Paira Daiza given his age now?
 
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