I visited this park during my very recent Luxembourg holidays from which I returned yesterday

I tought it would be welcome and useful for zoochatters if I write a review of my visit, so here goes:
11th August 2022. Today we decided to visit the Parc Merveilleux, instead the Natural History Museum that was planned previously for today. The access is very easy from the spot where we are hosed in Hesperange, as the lines 512 and 513 goes directly to Bettembourgh gare, tough from the gare to the zoo is still a long distance of walking, but all in a single straight line. The zoo is (as noted in above messages) tremendously kid-oriented and tought for families with small children and school groups, more than any other zoo I visited previously. The gnomes, slides, domestic animals, sand playgrounds, mini trains and other child-oriented resources even dominate over the zoological collection itself. Even a very large area of the zoo, about the third part, consist basically in several big glass enclosures for... animatronic fairy tales. I check relatively well with my objetive animals, tough some of the wished ones are impossible to spot inside their big enclosures, as happened with the Alfred's deers and black-backed jackals, and many of the rare or unique fish species listed in Zootierliste are apparently absent, probably deceased. Is very noteworthy the total absence of any ABC large common species of zoo animal. There is absolutely no big cats, no great apes, no zebras, giraffes, rhinos or hippos. For me this is an advantage.
Just starting from the entrance, to the right, there is a wire enclosure signaged as if having prairie dogs, but instead, inside is only a peahen with peachicks, probably put inside here for protection of the peachicks from foxes, kids and other predators. Then follow the meerkats, fortunately no longer held in the Amazonian house as they were used to be, but now more appropiately set in the African section. In the other side a row of enclosures for lemurs, African tortoises and African parrots.
One passed the parrots, I see in the background an enclosure for barbary macaques, the largest primate in the park. After that an enclosure with sacred ibises, supposedly shared with Meller's ducks tough I don't see any of the latter. Of course, there are the mandatory ring-tailed lemurs too. Opposed to them, a couple of spotted eagle owls. I arrive to the Madagascar house, called "Majahanga", but is closed. It opens at eleven o'clock. As this is soon after, I go turning around to the path so I will end slowly to the other entry of the house already open. A side of the Madagascar house is bordered bya stream with flamingos, at the other side is the Pelican Pond with pink-backed pelicans, yellow-billed storks, some ducks (including domestic muscovy) and crowned cranes. The signage for the latter one mentions the scientific name of the other species, the black-necked crowned crane, but both the photo of the signage and the real inhabitants of the enclosure are instead grey-necked crowned cranes.
Behind the pelican pond, that is decorated with a small elephant statue inside the water, I find an enclosure for marabou storks, and after that... the black-backed jackal enclosure!! But it's impossible to find any jackal inside. I passed several times through the day, and absolutely not the least hint of a jackal, nor even looking through the windows that the "den" house have. Not a great miss as I already have photos of Plzen jackals, but I wanted to get a better photo with the jackal not sleepy nor blurry. Inside the jackal enclosure I see the very showy - but highly toxic - fruits of Arum italicum.
It follows a seried of wire enclosures for South American birds and small mammals. The first one, larger, holds a pair of red-legged seriemas, that when a dog walk nearby, start calling very loudly in territorial display.
Then follows the enclosure of the elegant crested tinamous, but there is not the least hint on them even passing various times by the enclosure. This zoo holds nothing less than four tinamou species, but I can't see the elegant crested, and from Chilean tinamous I don't see even any enclosure or signage. Not important, as I got quite good photos of Chilean tinamou at Best zoo, and of course I saw elegant crested at various zoos. Maybe the Chilean tinamous are no longer present at Luxembourg. After the tinamou enclosure is an unsigned enclosure for guira cuckoos, the signage plaque is present but empty.
Then comes an enclosure for sun conures, I don't see any of them in the first round, tough I will see one in a posterior passing by. In the first passing I see instead unsigned agoutis in the sun conure enclosure. What I see is a mother nursing it's pup.
Then comes an enclosure with cotton-headed tamarin shared with common marmoset, the latter not being signaged.
In the rest of the visit I see that this association with unsigned common marmosets and signed (other marmosets or birds) is a common thing in various places of the zoo.
The last enclosure of this row is for burrowing owls. One of them is quite scared by the presence of a peacock loudly meowing in the roof of the enclosure.
I pass by a crested caracara enclosure and then I arrive finally to the other entrance of the Madagascar house, that now is open. The Mahajanga is probably the star spot of the zoo. The exhibits inside are quite interesting in various soil levels. There is a nocturnal zone and a treetop viewing point, a free flight zone as well as enclosures and terrariums. The plants used are mostly native from Madagascar Spiny Forest, with many examples of
Euphorbia, Alluaudia, Pachypodium (including rare species!),
Pandanus, Adansonia (
suarezensis!),
Uncarinia, Bismarckia, Kalanchoe, Stephanotis, Ravenala..., tough there are also some scattered exotic American and Asian plants, such as
Pereskia grandifolia, Cissus discolor and even bromeliads. The biggest disadvantage of this zone is that is absolutely packed with dozens of kids to the point to many times being difficult to move. But probably is just because of the hour (near the opening time). Another disadvantage is that is absolutely non-accesible for disabled people or even baby trolleys. There is a small stream that one must jump over obligatedly, irregular rocks, corners when you can't see visitorsc coming, and a very narrow path with irregular steps between high cliffs. However for the usual visitor, and more so for the zoonerd visitor, this house is really magnific.
Just at the entry I see a tank with Madagascar rainbowfish of the species
Bedotia geayi.
Then it comes a large enclosure for Madagascar ground boas.
And in the opposite side, a top-view enclosure with a couple of Sambava tomato frogs.
In a corner, there is a wire enclosure for a solitary greater vasa parrot:
Supposedly, the free flight zone is inhabited by red fodies and Bernier's teals, but I don't see either of them, I just spot hammerkops, Madagascar turtle doves, and a single Meller's duck.
By the stream there is a column with two terraria, the lower one being empty, the upper one holds African giant land snails, but at least part of them were just empty shells. A second similar column is at the opposite side of the lower free flight zone, and bears a terrarium with Madagascar giant hissing cockroaches. Then I enter to the nocturnal zone, that begings with a big glass-fronted enclosure strongly lit with blue light. The signage is barely visible, writen over the glass in the center of the enclosure. The enclosure is high and full of branches, more appropiate for a thing like for example a mouse lemur, but the inhabitant is instead a lesser hegdehog tenrec. I must pass several times by the enclosure, not seeing absolutely the least movement inside, even checking the dark corners with the light of the mobile phone, finally I'm barely able to see the spines moving during a second inside a small box through the entry hole. Of course, the idea of get a good photo of the tenrec in this situation is just crazy. It follows a very big enclosure, equally lit by blue light, holding an active colony of Egyptian fruit bats. After that, a glass enclosure apparently inhabited, but with no light and no signage and inside I'm unable to see absolutely nothing. Then one comes up through the narrow passage with stones and bare visibility over corners, popping up in the treetop viewpoint, that starts with an enclosure for radiated tortoises. The Madagascar house ends then with two terrariums, one holding a Madagascar day gecko, the other a Madagascar iguana that didn't moved from the resting spot in any of my visits.
Exiting from Madagascar house I return my way from the caracaras, and I see American vultures (both turkey and black) and an enclosure for scarlet ibises. After all the complex of South American birds and small mammals, there is the enclosure of the Visayan warty pigs. They are all sleeping inside a wooden drawer. Fortunately, in my second pass for the zone I can see the hogs very active, walking in the enclosure and calling with low grunts.