There is some news about the construction projects and the current overall development of Berlin Tierpark - once again from my favourite source (as it is the most relevant one) - the Senate:
https://www.parlament-berlin.de/adosservice/19/Haupt/vorgang/h19-0753-v.pdf (German)
On this 9-page PDF you can read, among other things:
Bad news first:
- The Pachyderm House aka Elephant House will not open before 2025 and, according to the current state of affairs, will cost some 8 million more than already assumed (so I think we are heading for 44-45 million!). Apparently, there have been serious measuring errors and resulting (legal) disputes. In addition, there are massive difficulties with the contracting process for the wooden roof.
Halfway good news:
- Economically, Berlin Tierpark is doing far better than in the poor previous year. There has been growth both in terms of ticket and total turnover (approx. 15 and 21 per cent plus respectively) but still well below plan and also well below 2019 (which is described as "pre-Covid level", but in my opionion 2019 represented a far above-average year due to the polar bear birth).
Good news:
- The Africa Savannah and the Giraffe Trail both are scheduled to open at the start of the 2023 season!
- The Asia enclosure (otters, barbirusas, black crested macaques), including didactics, should also be ready by the start of the season!
In short, the park seems quite confident about having some nice new attractions ready by the end of the year or at least the beginning of the new season. The overall development looks a lot better as well now (as with most German zoos for as far as I know/hear about). Sadly, the elephant project is not going very well. It will take far longer than planned, will cost a whole lot of money - and to be honest I don't even like what I have seen from the outside so far. To be more precise: I still hope the building itself will be quite good, however I highly doubt I will like any of the design/presentation on the outdoor exhibits (it used to be the other way around).
