Weltvogelpark Walsrode news from Walsrode 2014

A couple of questions about Walsrode...

1. When the Veldhoven Bird Park in the Netherlands wobbled towards extinction (it has now reopened as a more mainstream zoo) did some of its more choice species - the cock-of-the-rocks, the capuchin birds, the umbrella birds - end up at Walsrode? These species are all on display at Walsrode, and I wondered whether this was their provenance.
2. What sort of visitor numbers does Walsrode receive now? According to Wikipedia, in 2008 the figure was 280,000. I would be very grateful for a more up-to-date figure.

Thank you, in advance.
 
It might be that some of those species went to Walsrode although the collection was partly private owned and loaned to Veldhoven and partly confiscated birds that were housed in Veldhoven by the ministry. The private owned birds went all back to the owner, the rest of the collection is still a question.
 
Some birds went to Wisbroek breeding centre, I think the hornbills and toucans, along with some of the cotingas.
 
Those were the private owned birds as the owner of Wisbroek had loaned them to Veldhoven.
 
sooty mangabey said:
2. What sort of visitor numbers does Walsrode receive now? According to Wikipedia, in 2008 the figure was 280,000. I would be very grateful for a more up-to-date figure.
Click to expand...

It was 300,000 in 2011 according to German Wikipedia. I also seem to remember - but I don't have a source right now - that it went up a bit more in 2012 because it was their 50-year-anniversary and they built some new exhibits like the hummingbird house. I don't know if it has increased or stayed the same in 2013.

Anyways, since Walsrode is a specialist collection - not having any ABC mammals to appeal to the masses - and it is located a bit in the middle of nowhere compared to other big German zoos, I think it'd be hard-pressed to reach more than 300-400,000 yearly visitors. Also because it's already the largest bird park in the world; it's not a tiny zoo that can hope to gain popularity by expanding.
 
For a period in the 1970s Walsrode had more than a million visitors per year and it was around this period much of the park was build. This number gradually fell until a brief surge to ½ million in connection with Expo 2000 where they opened the Indonesian Rainforest Hall (now Jungle Hall). During the last few decades there also was a fall in species from c. 1000 to c. 650. In recent years there has been a surge again to about 750 species. In recent years they have received 200-400 thousand visitors per year. Its location away from big cities and its specialist coverage of birds may be the reason and I guess it would be difficult to consistently cross the ½ million barrier again. They need at least 300-350 thousand visitors per year to be profitable. Because of economy there was a changes in ownership first in 2000 and then in 2009.
 
sooty mangabey said:
A couple of questions about Walsrode...

1. When the Veldhoven Bird Park in the Netherlands wobbled towards extinction (it has now reopened as a more mainstream zoo) did some of its more choice species - the cock-of-the-rocks, the capuchin birds, the umbrella birds - end up at Walsrode? These species are all on display at Walsrode, and I wondered whether this was their provenance.
Click to expand...

My last visit to Veldhoven was after the birds loaned by Wisbroek had returned to the breeding center, and the Cock-of-the-rocks had already dissapered, so I suppose that they were part of the loan. The other cotingas were on the free-flight area, and according with some pictures I have seen of the "new" zoo, they still keep the Bare-necked Fruitcrow on show, but no idea about the other species of cotingas.
 
The park has imported 3 pairs of horned screamer (Anhima cornuta) (ref - actu zoo), not seen in Europe since 1988.
 
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