Pairi Daiza Pairi Daiza News 2024

PossumRoach said:
I am surprised that of all aquarium designers PD would choose a company whose repertoire mainly consists of shopping mall menageries and aquariums (including the odious Aslan Park). I hope this isn’t done to cut corners.
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I hope the quality of the aquarium is good too, but based on how it looks like it seems like there is going to be enough space for the animals. I think the reason they choose this company is rather simple: there are simply not that many companies who make aquariums that are that size. They had to search all the way in Turkey to find one... Most other companies working on the project are from Belgium itself (for example the designer of the rooms, the company doing the raw building work (Cit Blaton) the company that made the roof (Forzon) etc.
 
I'm considering a short notice visit for a couple of days. Are there any local hotels or hotels with easy access to public transport with direct links to the zoo?

Thank you
 
Rhinoceros said:
I'm considering a short notice visit for a couple of days. Are there any local hotels or hotels with easy access to public transport with direct links to the zoo?

Thank you
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Well there are hotels inside Pairi Daiza. It might look expensive (€158 for the Paddling Bear Hotel) but acces to the park for 2 days + all you can eat dinner + parking+ breakfast is already in the price. However, if this is still too expensive, there are gîtes in Bruggelette, the village Pairi Daiza is located in. Those are not really hotels though. I think there are lots of real hotels in Ath, which has a direct train connection with Pairi Daiza ( station Bruggelette is directly behind Pairi Daiza) and probably offers the most options. But you can choose whatever you like best of course.
 
Rhinoceros said:
I'm considering a short notice visit for a couple of days. Are there any local hotels or hotels with easy access to public transport with direct links to the zoo?

Thank you
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Btw, if you would visit, can you take some pictures of the progress on the sanctuary please? (the big building project next to the entrance) I'm quite interested in how the outside is developing!
 
EliasNys said:
Well there are hotels inside Pairi Daiza. It might look expensive (€158 for the Paddling Bear Hotel) but acces to the park for 2 days + all you can eat dinner + parking+ breakfast is already in the price.
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The price per person sounds ok, but the Paddling Bear Hotel rooms is for 2 adults and 2 children and you always have to pay for 4 even when you are with 2 adults. Only for breakfast and diner is there a reduction. So it's more like 600€ for a night ...
 
EliasNys said:
Btw, if you would visit, can you take some pictures of the progress on the sanctuary please? (the big building project next to the entrance) I'm quite interested in how the outside is developing!
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Yes, I'll take photos of everything :) Is the train from Ath a short journey?
 
Rhinoceros said:
Yes, I'll take photos of everything :) Is the train from Ath a short journey?
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No, it just takes 20 minutes. But i don't know how far it is from the brugelette station to Pairi Daiza ( i am guessing 15 minutes, but it could be more or less)
 
EliasNys said:
No, it just takes 20 minutes. But i don't know how far it is from the brugelette station to Pairi Daiza ( i am guessing 15 minutes, but it could be more or less)
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The walk is about 10-15 minutes. You can either walk directly through the village or follow their signed path around the back of it, takes about the same time each way. Its a little longer since they built and moved the entrance area.
 
Rhinoceros said:
I've spent a few minutes looking at this, thanks to your help @EliasNys . I think I will get the Train from Brussels to Mons and stay in a hotel there. There seems to be a train every hour from Mons to Cambron-Casteau.
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Mons has more hotels than Ath. Its a much bigger, but still nice town. And yes, the train is hourly. Mons has an enormous new station now.
 
From 16 september, smoking and vaping will be forbidden in the entire park except for small smoking areas. This is in order to comply with a new Belgian law that bans smoking in all theme parks and zoos.
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These are the smoking areas
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So, had my first visit today. There's a lot to like and a lot more I dislike than I expected. The park is bigger than I anticipated, perhaps it has expanded over the years I wasn't paying attention?

The positives:
Some nice exhibits.
Some rarely displayed species (Spix & Lears Macaw, Pesquet's Parrot, Palm Cockatoo, St Vincent & St Lucia Amazon, Lesser BoP, Shoebill, Rufous Hornbill, Tasmanian devil, Bear cuscus, Giant Panda, Musk Ox, Walrus, Steller's Sea lion)
A lot of representatives of some taxa 5 bear species, 4 pinnipeds, 4 penguin species etc

Saw my fist wild White stork on the walk to the zoo.

Negatives:
Some very poor exhibits.
Visitor space seems to be excessive in some areas at the expense of the size of exhibits.
A times confusing, a lot of routes that are poorly signed.
A lot of empty exhibits or exhibits without signage.
Its often very decadent and elaborate, the theming must have been very expensive.


Are the Sumatran elephants kept separate from the rest of asian elephants?
Does the zoo still have Raccoon dogs and Javan leopards?
Have I missed any of the rarities? I've listed the ones I saw today above.

Thanks again for your advice it was less than 24 hours after deciding to go, I was on a plane so I didn't have time to plan like I normally would!

Does anyone want any photos of anything? I'll be going back on Friday
 
Rhinoceros said:
Are the Sumatran elephants kept separate from the rest of asian elephants?
Does the zoo still have Raccoon dogs and Javan leopards?
Have I missed any of the rarities? I've listed the ones I saw today above.
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The Sumatran elephants are only visible from the train ride i think
The raccoon dogs have moved to the new "world" the Islands of The Rising Sun
The Javan Leopard (Pelangi) has been moved to another zoo. Servals have come in its place.
If you haven't already, you should visit the crypt under the old abbey tower. They have some rare species there ( there are some yellow-bellied toad in them, they aren't listed on ztl but since Pairi Daiza is participating in a reintroduction project for this species i guess they must be very rare)
Also, if it is possible to see through the windows, could you please take some pics of the inside of the sanctuary? I almost haven't seen anything from that except for the ones i sent of the aquarium a while ago.
 
A female albino wallaby, Piñata, has arrived in the park to accompany the male albino wallaby already living there. I wonder if their offspring will also be albino?

Pairi Daiza
 
EliasNys said:
The raccoon dogs have moved to the new "world" the Islands of The Rising Sun
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I was a little surprised when I saw the Japanese exhibit being created at the usual(for Paira Daiza) huge expense. It seemed a strange choice as Japan doesn't have many major species. So now its complete what species are exhibited in it, apart from Raccoon dogs and the Sika deer which are not (IMO) a very exciting exhibit in themselves (but maybe that is because I live in an area of the UK where they are very well established as wild). Perhaps Manchurian or another Crane sp is included?
 
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