I decided to visit Ouwehands today. Even though I was originally planning on visiting the zoo thurday. Some official news, some observations:
First off, Koalia:
In all honesty, I'm quite dissapointed with Koalia. The original announcement described it as "a journey through the different Australian biomes, starting in the Australian Desert and ending in a large greenhouse showcasing the Australian rainforest."
In truth, the new area is quite small. The outside has some mediocre theming that looks a bit childish, an educational hut has a display about bush fires, but barely explains anything about it and kind of assumes the visitor already knows about wildfires (which to be fair, most people do know about due to the Australian wildfires of 2020). The area is partially surrounded by red gravel. But it doesn't give an outback feel, it looks more like it's a playground that hasn't had its play structures installed yet.
The interior of Koalia is rather small. There is a small "island" of tropical plants, with a small play/climbing route through the middle of it, making it even smaller. The rockwork inside is, quite frankly, ugly. And looks more like something you'd find in a starter zoo. The viewing windows into the Koala habitats are nice and big, but the paths are not large enough to handle the crowd. Even on this calm Tuesday I had to worm my way through a small horde of visitors that were all taking photos.
The Koala indoor habitats are partially planted, which is nice I suppose. But the floor is made of that poured material they use in school classrooms, and it's not covered in any subtrate. It looks more like an elementary school and a low-budget zoo had a baby and it is ugly.
The Parma wallabies are in a separated enclosure, not mixed with the Koalas. Today was the first day they were allowed to go outside, and there were multiple cameras present. I didn't see them actually go outside. The Wallaby indoor habitat does have some straw to cover the bottom, which is a big improvement but it still doesn't look amazing.
I also think it's a shame how Ouwehands operates with new exhibits. Both with Pandasia and Koalia. They grab a single species and make a nice enclosure but refuse to create a larger area around it. Both areas are surrounded by ugly and outdated enclosures that suddenly stick out like a sore thumb. Not only does that show the age and quality (or lack thereof) of the surrounding exhibits, but it also means it feels weirdly empty. Made worse by the fact that there are signs in both new areas that showcase other animals from the regions, that weren't included in the zoo. Koalia has signs for Greater bilby, Australian brush turkey, Grey-headed flying fox, Thorny devil, etc. And yet only includes two Australian animals. Pandasia has a sign including pictures of Takin, Clouded leopard, Golden pheasant and Snub-nosed monkeys, some of which can actually be seen in Ouwehands, but none near the Giant panda habitat...
Filming the Wallaby's first day out:
Habitats inside koalia:
(Note: To take these pictures I'm pressing myself into the plants to fit it into my phone screen)
Exterior of Koalia:
Interior of Koalia (with ugly rockwork):
Contrast between Pandasia and the enclosure directly next to it:
Alright, rant over. Some other news:
The Aquarium was closed today. Which was very dissapointing, as I was quite excited to see the Electric eels today.
Multiple enclosures were empty and set to receive new inhabitants in the future, including most of the enclosures inside the little nocturnal house, the aviary inside the Africa house (which is currently inhabited by a single Nicobar pigeon), and a terrarium inside Urucu.
The Urucu aviary no longer has any flamingos, it seems like the last ones moved to other zoos. This aviary does now have the Victoria crowned pigeon that used to be held in the Africa house
There was some new rockwork being created in the "pit" of the bear forest:
