Javan leopard exhibit, 2019-10-04

Well, this photo clearly shows that the zoo has made huge improvements in a short period of time. The enclosure is larger than many chain-link leopard cages in American zoos, with some non-accredited facilities keeping leopards in horrendously small 'exhibits'. While not a truly great leopard exhibit, at least Pairi Daiza has made a substantial effort with climbing opportunities for the cat(s).

For comparison's sake, check out this leopard exhibit at Animal Haven Zoo in Wisconsin:

Black Leopard Exhibit - ZooChat

Or this leopard exhibit at Special Memories Zoo in Wisconsin:

Black Leopard Exhibit - ZooChat

Aren't those the most ghastly leopard cages? They appear to be from a struggling, destitute nation.

@snowleopard Your examples are definitely far worse and seems to be anachronisms from several decades ago.

Personally I think this leopard exhibit is probably pretty okay in terms of size and with the recently added structure it has definitely improved quite a bit from what it was previously (see image below by Lintworm).

Javan leopard enclosure - ZooChat

That said, I still wouldn't categorize this leopard exhibit as highly as for example the ones at Burgers' Zoo (although they keep a different leopard subspecies), which in my opinion are pretty top level, but above the leopard exhibits at for example Antwerp and BestZoo (also different subspecies though).

And I'm still not a big fan of the over the top temples that surround the exhibit - and the white tiger exhibit is even worse.

The biggest problem left here is the lack of privacy, with no visual barriers and visitors on 3 sides. When compared to to other parks, I would actually rate this semi-equal to Antwerp's enclosure when it comes to welfare. Even though this is slightly larger, in Antwerp they did have acces to their indoor area throughout the day in the end giving them some privacy if wanted. BestZoo is definitely way beneath all of them.

The painful thing about this exhibit is that it is part of a multi-million euro development of the zoo, and yet Pairi decided to spend the lion's share of that money on the inanimate and fake rockwork outside the exhibit for extravagant theming instead of the welfare of the inhabitants. I genuinely love Pairi as a concept, but it sometimes really feels as if the animals are just meant as decorations of the fake rockwork (which is, admittedly excellent). Am I being unfair?

I would actually say you are spot on. The theming is great, but it's very clear that it's the visitor who is put in first place instead of the animals. They present large new areas at an enormous speed, whilst they'd better wait a bit longer between them and spend more on animal welfare.

@amur leopard
I don't think you are at all unfair, but in fact spot on. However much I really enjoyed my visit to Pairi Daiza last year, the feeling you worded in your post was one I experienced very much also, and was one of the major things left behind in my memory from the visit.

And this exhibit isn't even the worst. Look up the orang-utan indoor exhibit in the temple building (and pretty much the temple building itself too) if you want to know what I mean.