Sooty mangaby, it`s interesting to read that you like this park so much... I am pretty much hating it. And that`s apart from the fact that, like you, the way the owner is developing the zoo is totally not the way I`d do it, and that I dislike these dark-grey colored temples very much (I think they look pretty depressing).
But leaving these personal dislikes apart, there is still so much I strongly dislike. They have so much money and spend fortunes much on building these temples (and other things), but the animal welfare seems soooo low on their list of priorities. That`s what I hate most; so many of the new enclosures are not good and some of them are outright horrible for the animals they keep there. They get so many new species and then cramp them into (temporary) enclosures that are not suited for the animals at all. The horrific leopard cage in "Africa" is just one example for this. First, it housed the african leopards until they got a new enclosure. Then it housed the white tigers until they got something (a little) better. Now it houses the clouded leopards.. while being horrible for each of those species.
Not that the new enclosures for the leopards or white tigers are much better. They look nice, but being on the small size with hardly any climbing equipment and no possibility to hide makes them horrible for big cats. The visitors can even watch the white tigers from above (in addition to views from 3 sides).
The new great ape facilities may look nice for the visitor`s eyes, but they are all islands with way too much water around. At least the orang utan islands have lots of climbing possibilities (indoors and outdoors), but the gorilla volcanoes are horrible. Outdoors on the small side, little climbing equipment, hardly any possibilities for the animals to hide and water everywhere. The banks to the water moats are so steep that I am surprised all the gorillas are still alive and havn`t drowned yet. I didn`t like the indoor areas much better; they are of a good size, but there is no mesh over the top which would enable the apes to use the height, and a lot of electric fence which limits the amount of space the animals can actually use (which is rather small).
I found the enclosures around the great pandas equally disappointing (especially snow leopards, but also the panda and takins). And so on... The "Ani palace" for the elephants is very lacking, and the hands-on concept with mahouts from Thailand horribly outdated. At least the new elephant extension is better, but they are taking in so many new elephants (two more old females are due to arrive from France in a few days) that the facilities seem hardly sufficent again.
Species-wise, Pairi Daiza has surely become one of the greatest zoos in Europe and a must-see, but each time I visit, I become angrier.
