Kranich29
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Wroclaw is the oldest one. It was estabilished in 1865.
Philippine eagle spotted above Poland and Eastern Germany
- Thread starter Philipine eagle
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Thx, that slipped in wrong. Post modified.
Day 16 #27 Palmiarni Poznan
I started this day in the 1904 Wilson Park where the Palmhouse is located. Established in 1911 the present complex is the third generation of the Palmhouse, always at the same location (which was prior to the date of 1911 called the city’s botanical garden). Completed in 1992 the new Palmhouse now has 10 accessible greenhouses and 2 supporting pavilions covering 4.600m² in total. Each of these are dedicated to a specific climate zone or plantgenera including temperate, subtropical and tropical zones, succulents and xerophytes, aquatic and savannah plants.
Animals are scarce but some of the conservatories have a few aviaries and terrariums and one of the pavilions consists of an aquarium with a large number of species. Araruna, Cuban amazon and Orange-winged amazon were all single specimen, probably confiscated animals. The conservatory which is dedicated to aquatic plants has a large formal pond with Victoria amazonica or Lilytrotter’s waterlily, in terms of size second only to V. boliviana. There’s a large paludarium for Mata-mata and another exhibit for Ornate horned frog.
Blue-and-yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna)
The U-shaped aquarium pavilion dates from 1927 and has 37 aquariums ranging in capacity between 1,000 and 14,000 litres. Behind the screens are another 100 breeding aquaria. Besides 170 fish species (all freshwater), more than 40 aquatic plants are on display.
Aquarium - Asian and African wing
Certain tanks are too small for the species kept in there, others were simply overcrowded. All can use a good portion of tlc cause most lack good design and decoration.
Overcrowded tank with Spotted Scat, Banded Archerfish, Zig-zag Eel, and others
At the ‘head’ of each U-leg, there is a larger aquarium. But these are terrible tanks, barely furnished and far too small for the Giant gourami, Red-tailed catfish, Large armoured catfish, Black pacu, etc.
SA tank with Redtail catfish, Armoured Catfisch, etc.
The fish stock consists mainly of the well-known species from the aquaristics: Discus, Moonfish, Cardinal grass, Silver leaf fish, Puffer fish, Archer, Argus, Four-eyed fish, Boeseman's rainbow fish, Sunfish, Indian glass catfish, etc. However, between those common species, there are small treasures to find, like the Zebra Shovelnose (5 zoos in Europe), the CR Blackbarred limia (5 zoos), Gold Spotted Pleco (5 zoos), Pictus Catfish, and the Narrow-bridged Musk Turtle (4 zoos).
The aquaria are more or less geographically structured, with a range of Asian species first. Lots of botias, barbels from the genus ‘Puntius’ (whose species have now spread to other genera), mudskippers and gouramis, rainbow fish, including Red-line torpedo barbel, Sunfish, etc. Too bad the Sumatra and torpedo barbels, among others, were not given more swimming space.
Giant Gourami (Osphronemus gorami)
From Africa, the zoo mainly keeps cichlids from the Great Lakes, and even these were actually only moderately represented. I wonder to what extent the collection here does not reflect the popular aquarium fish of the past, because nowadays many more species are available. An elephant fish, probably Peter's elephant-nose fish, is kept together with Banner eels (Erpetoichthys calabaricus), African knifefish (Xenomystus nigri), a catfish species and others. I was happy to see this species as I missed it in Chorzow, Zamocs and Lodz.
Marlier's Julie (Julidochromis marlieri)
Species from the Americas come last and with quite rare species, such as the vulnerable Big-head mud turtle (Claudius augustatus) from Central America, Herrara's mud turtle and the critically endangered Black-striped tooth carp Limia nigrofasciata, the Butterfly Splitfin (Ameca splendens), the endangered Cave tetra Astyanax jordani, ciclids such as the Green terror cichlid, Spotted Cayman gar, the Zebra Shovelnose (Brachyplatystoma tigrinum) and other catfish like the Gold Spotted Catfish (Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus) and the Pictus catfish, the Black ghost knifefish (Apteronotus albifrons), etc
Herrara's Mud Turtle (Kinosternon herrerai) and Black-striped Tooth Carp (Limia nigrofasciata)
(Non American) Pig-nosed turtle (Carettochelys linaetus) with American cichlid
Sometimes the species’ labels were very confusing and I was under the firm impression that a lot of outdated Latin names and classifications are still being used.
Conclusion
Poznan's Palm House, although one of the oldest in the country, has none of the grandeur found in Gliwice and is miles away from the modern complex in Sosnowiec. But if you stay in town to visit both zoos, it's a nice addition that doesn't take much more than an hour.
I started this day in the 1904 Wilson Park where the Palmhouse is located. Established in 1911 the present complex is the third generation of the Palmhouse, always at the same location (which was prior to the date of 1911 called the city’s botanical garden). Completed in 1992 the new Palmhouse now has 10 accessible greenhouses and 2 supporting pavilions covering 4.600m² in total. Each of these are dedicated to a specific climate zone or plantgenera including temperate, subtropical and tropical zones, succulents and xerophytes, aquatic and savannah plants.
Animals are scarce but some of the conservatories have a few aviaries and terrariums and one of the pavilions consists of an aquarium with a large number of species. Araruna, Cuban amazon and Orange-winged amazon were all single specimen, probably confiscated animals. The conservatory which is dedicated to aquatic plants has a large formal pond with Victoria amazonica or Lilytrotter’s waterlily, in terms of size second only to V. boliviana. There’s a large paludarium for Mata-mata and another exhibit for Ornate horned frog.
Blue-and-yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna)
The U-shaped aquarium pavilion dates from 1927 and has 37 aquariums ranging in capacity between 1,000 and 14,000 litres. Behind the screens are another 100 breeding aquaria. Besides 170 fish species (all freshwater), more than 40 aquatic plants are on display.
Aquarium - Asian and African wing
Certain tanks are too small for the species kept in there, others were simply overcrowded. All can use a good portion of tlc cause most lack good design and decoration.
Overcrowded tank with Spotted Scat, Banded Archerfish, Zig-zag Eel, and others
At the ‘head’ of each U-leg, there is a larger aquarium. But these are terrible tanks, barely furnished and far too small for the Giant gourami, Red-tailed catfish, Large armoured catfish, Black pacu, etc.
SA tank with Redtail catfish, Armoured Catfisch, etc.
The fish stock consists mainly of the well-known species from the aquaristics: Discus, Moonfish, Cardinal grass, Silver leaf fish, Puffer fish, Archer, Argus, Four-eyed fish, Boeseman's rainbow fish, Sunfish, Indian glass catfish, etc. However, between those common species, there are small treasures to find, like the Zebra Shovelnose (5 zoos in Europe), the CR Blackbarred limia (5 zoos), Gold Spotted Pleco (5 zoos), Pictus Catfish, and the Narrow-bridged Musk Turtle (4 zoos).
The aquaria are more or less geographically structured, with a range of Asian species first. Lots of botias, barbels from the genus ‘Puntius’ (whose species have now spread to other genera), mudskippers and gouramis, rainbow fish, including Red-line torpedo barbel, Sunfish, etc. Too bad the Sumatra and torpedo barbels, among others, were not given more swimming space.
Giant Gourami (Osphronemus gorami)
From Africa, the zoo mainly keeps cichlids from the Great Lakes, and even these were actually only moderately represented. I wonder to what extent the collection here does not reflect the popular aquarium fish of the past, because nowadays many more species are available. An elephant fish, probably Peter's elephant-nose fish, is kept together with Banner eels (Erpetoichthys calabaricus), African knifefish (Xenomystus nigri), a catfish species and others. I was happy to see this species as I missed it in Chorzow, Zamocs and Lodz.
Marlier's Julie (Julidochromis marlieri)
Species from the Americas come last and with quite rare species, such as the vulnerable Big-head mud turtle (Claudius augustatus) from Central America, Herrara's mud turtle and the critically endangered Black-striped tooth carp Limia nigrofasciata, the Butterfly Splitfin (Ameca splendens), the endangered Cave tetra Astyanax jordani, ciclids such as the Green terror cichlid, Spotted Cayman gar, the Zebra Shovelnose (Brachyplatystoma tigrinum) and other catfish like the Gold Spotted Catfish (Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus) and the Pictus catfish, the Black ghost knifefish (Apteronotus albifrons), etc
Herrara's Mud Turtle (Kinosternon herrerai) and Black-striped Tooth Carp (Limia nigrofasciata)
(Non American) Pig-nosed turtle (Carettochelys linaetus) with American cichlid
Sometimes the species’ labels were very confusing and I was under the firm impression that a lot of outdated Latin names and classifications are still being used.
Conclusion
Poznan's Palm House, although one of the oldest in the country, has none of the grandeur found in Gliwice and is miles away from the modern complex in Sosnowiec. But if you stay in town to visit both zoos, it's a nice addition that doesn't take much more than an hour.
Attachments
They most certainly are accessible (or at least were last summer), albeit they can be a bit harder to spot.
Mandril at Gdansk?
Then surely not from the visitor path from where the other indoor enclosures can be visited, since you are standing there a few meters above the sluice that connects the outdoor enclosure to the indoors.
Maybe from the road behind these buildings (it seemed to me to be a service road but maybe it is accessible to everyone anyway)?
Yup, their house is behind the other houses, the "service" part of the road starts right behind the house.
Attachments
Day 16 #28 Nowe Zoo Poznan - Part 1
Since I thought there would be plenty of walking at the zoo, I decided to abandon my initial plan of taking the tram and then walking up to the zoo. The road to the zoo leads through a forest area, one of the many that invade the city like a wedge.
At 121 hectares, Poznan nowe zoo remains just below that of Gdansk. The hilly terrain is densely wooded but in the middle is a depression with large ponds, a haven for water birds.
Exactly 100 years after the establishment of the old zoo in the city centre, this sprawling landscaped zoo opened in 1974. The zoo signed for several milestones in Polish zoo history: an insect pavilion in 1978 and a nocturnal animal house in 1995, both still operating anno 2024.
On arrival, the entrance building certainly does not suggest that behind its gates lies a vast and modern zoo. On the contrary, on this autumnal day in September, I was almost the only visitor, judging from the car park. Throughout the day, I hardly encountered any other visitors, apart from a few high school classes. At dusk it was even a bit eerie but at the same time also very atmospheric, and I really enjoyed the long solitary walks through the forest.
Although Poznan Nowe certainly is a zoo with a strong focus on (rare) mammals, it has a interesting bird collection as well. Immediately after the entrance lies the Pheasantry,16 groomed aviaries for Red-legged seremia, Northern helmeted, Great and Razor-billed curassow, Guira cuckoo, Laughing kookaburra, Red-tailed laughingthrush, Satyr and Cabot’s tragopan, Pied Imperial pigeon, Burrowing owl, Blue-eared pheasant, Edward’s pheasant, Palawan peacock-pheasant, Silvery pheasant, Iberian and Red-billed blue magpie, Siamese fireback and Crested guineafowl.
Razor-billed curassow (Mitu tuberosum)
At the zoo’s edge, 3 rare island species are on show: Visayan warty pig, Visayan spotted deer (Alfred’s deer) and Bawean deer, certainly the latter is a very rare species in European zoos.
With 107 species, Poznan Nowe has one of the most important mammal collections in Europe. And all this without having Red-necked wallaby, would you believe it? Eastern grey kangaroo are a much more interesting species imo and the zoo keeps them together with Emu.
A stately avenue runs north to south through the forest. The nortern section has a beautifull enclosure for Western sitatunga and a quality aviary for Malay Black hornbill. It is almost as good as the one in Lodz, albeit it lacks height making it less spectacular when the birds fly. A good but rather unattactive aviary for Burrowing parrot and a large track of woodland for another real rarity Javan Rusa deer end the first section.
But it is a building with several tall aviaries that finally catches my attention. The excitement mounts because here, among other things, lies Poznan's famous nocturnal animal house. But the condition at the front is disappointing. It consists of several cages connected to the building by an overflow above the heads of visitors. Interesting but most of the cages seemed uninhabited to me, I saw some ring-tailed lemurs there and further red-bellied lemurs were also signed. Adjacent were two more larger and taller cages with two Red ruffed lemur. A small tropical indoor exhibit can be viewed through large windows and is said to house (I did not see them) Three-banded armadillo and Two-fingered sloth. None of this is really exciting, but the back promises better.
Because that is where the Nocturnal House is.
It is a classic, somehow outdated, building with larger enclosures on one side, and smaller ones for rodents on the other. The latter, incidentally, were all empty except for 1 enclosure where a hyperactive Kowari ran back and forth. In the larger exhibits I saw Pygmy slow loris, African brush-tailed porcupine, Javan mouse deer, Senegal bushbaby, Western Brush-tailed bettong, Brushtail possum and Kinkajou. 3 species of bats are indicated (Common vampire, Egyptian fruit bat and Pale spear-nosed bat) but I did not see any on my two visits. I hope the zoo finds a way to give this building, especially the nocturnal section, a major upgrade. There is a hefty base so the cost should not be too high.
Javan Chevrotain (Tragulus javanicus javanicus)
If anything, my disappointment vanished like snow in the sun at the sight of a magnificent aviary for bearded vultures; it is a stunning construction, really brilliantly decorated and an interesting species, a real hit imo.
It then heads briskly downhill to the first of six ponds that make up the central low-lying part of the zoo. You look up there to hopefully catch a glimpse from afar of the animals that make up this woodland savannah: Grèvy zebra, Black wildebeest and Common ostrich. Sometimes an enclosure can simply be too good: it is difficult to find animals, and although you can get a little further up to the fence, the shortcoming for many visitors may remain that there are no animals to see. Provided some patience and luck, a head will suddenly pop up somewhere above the vegetation, but who has that when you still have 119 ha to get off
?
You can walk around the ponds and between each you can cross the valley. I decided to do first another loop on this side of the lakes. It starts with a rather strange combination for Nubian ibex and King colobus. Both species live at roughly the same line of latitude but on the opposite side of Africa: the Colobus in West Africa, the Ibex in Sudan. But the Omo River and Djabba Mountains subspecies of the Mantled colobus live close-by in the Ethiopian Highlands west and east of the Rift Valley, so it’s not that far-fetched .
Their enclosure is an uphill forest track, probably slightly more appropriate for the monkeys. A fenced platform brings visitors right into the enclosure. At the time of my visit the 4 monkeys enjoyed the warmth and comfort of their indoor enclosure, and I can’t blame them as the inclement weather caused the temperature to drop sharply.
King Colobus (Colobus polykomos)
The trail continues uphill along enclosures for Nepalese Red panda and both Sichuan and Shensi takin towards three very interesting multi-species complexes.
The TeaLovingDave-theme park aka Small Carnivore complex is a large facility for a broad range of carnivores: tropical rainforest (Margay and Jaguarundi), dry land (Caracal) to temperate forest felids (Eurasian lynx, European wild cat, Siberian Pallas’ and Amur leopard cat), civets (Cape genet, Malayan binturong, Two-spotted Palmroller) and mongoose (Meerkat, Dwarf mongoose), canids (South African Bat-eared fox) and mustelids (European mink and Siberian weasel). That is truly a fabulous species line-up. And I saw all of them but the genet. Not all of these enclosures are that spacious and except for the Jaguarundi others only have a single enclosure. But they are all well laid out, with hiding places and shelter, climbing structures, etc. I particularly liked the adventure path available to the palmroller, which can take a lap through the woods via a mesh tunnel.
Two-spotted Palm Civet (left) and Yucatan Margay (right)
It’s just a step to one of the zoo’s main attractions, the Rodent House. The zoo does here what it does in a number of places: the animals are warm and cosy inside while chilled visitors look in through windows, fervently hoping for some movement. The zoo has a large collection but it is unsure if all 27 species mentioned on ZTL still are present. However, even if only half are still there, it is a breathtaking collection, with many species hardly seen in Europe: Arabian spiny mouse (8 zoos), Cactus deermouse (6 zoos), Reed vole (6 zoos), North African gerbil (4 zoos). Many of the missing species could return if the zoo will renovated the enclosures in the Nocturnal House.
Going downhill again past the zoo’s Birds of prey section: it is good and large but with White-tailed and Stellers sea eagle, Andean condor, Steppe eagle, Bald eagle and Common buzzard, it shows the poverty that has crept into the raptor collection, compared to decades ago. None of the aviaries here can compete with the one for the Bearded vultures, but they are all well maintained and (just) spacious enough. The birds probably enjoy the peace and quiet of this place which is in sharp contrast to many of our zoos.
On this side of the lakes lies the modern but strange Bird house. It’s large and has certainly more rooms than the only one visitors can watch, at least when you are willing to walk up a steep slope. It houses a pair of Crested partridge, a species that can really be seen everywhere but which has a certain appeal, if only because the birds are not particularly shy and you have to be careful not to step on them in some walk-through exhibits. In Poznan they are kept together with a pair of Montserrat oriole, a species not exactly common in Europe. It took some time, but I was eventually able to observe both birds.
Birdhouse (Crested Partridge and Montserrat Oriole
One of the lakes has a dead-end walking platform to the middle of the water. It overlooks a traditional pampa with Capybara, Lowland tapir and Greater rhea: it’s large, attractive, green and rich of water.
This enclosure and the Chilean flamingo nearby are the prelude for one of the rarest mammals on show in Poznan, Europe’s only and highly endangered Yucatan spider monkey. The 1.2 animals are already 15 years in Poznan and have never reproduced, so unless a miracle occurs, these are the last specimens of a species that never was numerous in Europe. They have a large outdoors enclosure but can also be observed in their winter accommomdation.
Since I thought there would be plenty of walking at the zoo, I decided to abandon my initial plan of taking the tram and then walking up to the zoo. The road to the zoo leads through a forest area, one of the many that invade the city like a wedge.
At 121 hectares, Poznan nowe zoo remains just below that of Gdansk. The hilly terrain is densely wooded but in the middle is a depression with large ponds, a haven for water birds.
Exactly 100 years after the establishment of the old zoo in the city centre, this sprawling landscaped zoo opened in 1974. The zoo signed for several milestones in Polish zoo history: an insect pavilion in 1978 and a nocturnal animal house in 1995, both still operating anno 2024.
On arrival, the entrance building certainly does not suggest that behind its gates lies a vast and modern zoo. On the contrary, on this autumnal day in September, I was almost the only visitor, judging from the car park. Throughout the day, I hardly encountered any other visitors, apart from a few high school classes. At dusk it was even a bit eerie but at the same time also very atmospheric, and I really enjoyed the long solitary walks through the forest.
Although Poznan Nowe certainly is a zoo with a strong focus on (rare) mammals, it has a interesting bird collection as well. Immediately after the entrance lies the Pheasantry,16 groomed aviaries for Red-legged seremia, Northern helmeted, Great and Razor-billed curassow, Guira cuckoo, Laughing kookaburra, Red-tailed laughingthrush, Satyr and Cabot’s tragopan, Pied Imperial pigeon, Burrowing owl, Blue-eared pheasant, Edward’s pheasant, Palawan peacock-pheasant, Silvery pheasant, Iberian and Red-billed blue magpie, Siamese fireback and Crested guineafowl.
Razor-billed curassow (Mitu tuberosum)
At the zoo’s edge, 3 rare island species are on show: Visayan warty pig, Visayan spotted deer (Alfred’s deer) and Bawean deer, certainly the latter is a very rare species in European zoos.
With 107 species, Poznan Nowe has one of the most important mammal collections in Europe. And all this without having Red-necked wallaby, would you believe it? Eastern grey kangaroo are a much more interesting species imo and the zoo keeps them together with Emu.
A stately avenue runs north to south through the forest. The nortern section has a beautifull enclosure for Western sitatunga and a quality aviary for Malay Black hornbill. It is almost as good as the one in Lodz, albeit it lacks height making it less spectacular when the birds fly. A good but rather unattactive aviary for Burrowing parrot and a large track of woodland for another real rarity Javan Rusa deer end the first section.
But it is a building with several tall aviaries that finally catches my attention. The excitement mounts because here, among other things, lies Poznan's famous nocturnal animal house. But the condition at the front is disappointing. It consists of several cages connected to the building by an overflow above the heads of visitors. Interesting but most of the cages seemed uninhabited to me, I saw some ring-tailed lemurs there and further red-bellied lemurs were also signed. Adjacent were two more larger and taller cages with two Red ruffed lemur. A small tropical indoor exhibit can be viewed through large windows and is said to house (I did not see them) Three-banded armadillo and Two-fingered sloth. None of this is really exciting, but the back promises better.
Because that is where the Nocturnal House is.
It is a classic, somehow outdated, building with larger enclosures on one side, and smaller ones for rodents on the other. The latter, incidentally, were all empty except for 1 enclosure where a hyperactive Kowari ran back and forth. In the larger exhibits I saw Pygmy slow loris, African brush-tailed porcupine, Javan mouse deer, Senegal bushbaby, Western Brush-tailed bettong, Brushtail possum and Kinkajou. 3 species of bats are indicated (Common vampire, Egyptian fruit bat and Pale spear-nosed bat) but I did not see any on my two visits. I hope the zoo finds a way to give this building, especially the nocturnal section, a major upgrade. There is a hefty base so the cost should not be too high.
Javan Chevrotain (Tragulus javanicus javanicus)
If anything, my disappointment vanished like snow in the sun at the sight of a magnificent aviary for bearded vultures; it is a stunning construction, really brilliantly decorated and an interesting species, a real hit imo.
It then heads briskly downhill to the first of six ponds that make up the central low-lying part of the zoo. You look up there to hopefully catch a glimpse from afar of the animals that make up this woodland savannah: Grèvy zebra, Black wildebeest and Common ostrich. Sometimes an enclosure can simply be too good: it is difficult to find animals, and although you can get a little further up to the fence, the shortcoming for many visitors may remain that there are no animals to see. Provided some patience and luck, a head will suddenly pop up somewhere above the vegetation, but who has that when you still have 119 ha to get off
?
You can walk around the ponds and between each you can cross the valley. I decided to do first another loop on this side of the lakes. It starts with a rather strange combination for Nubian ibex and King colobus. Both species live at roughly the same line of latitude but on the opposite side of Africa: the Colobus in West Africa, the Ibex in Sudan. But the Omo River and Djabba Mountains subspecies of the Mantled colobus live close-by in the Ethiopian Highlands west and east of the Rift Valley, so it’s not that far-fetched .
Their enclosure is an uphill forest track, probably slightly more appropriate for the monkeys. A fenced platform brings visitors right into the enclosure. At the time of my visit the 4 monkeys enjoyed the warmth and comfort of their indoor enclosure, and I can’t blame them as the inclement weather caused the temperature to drop sharply.
King Colobus (Colobus polykomos)
The trail continues uphill along enclosures for Nepalese Red panda and both Sichuan and Shensi takin towards three very interesting multi-species complexes.
The TeaLovingDave-theme park aka Small Carnivore complex is a large facility for a broad range of carnivores: tropical rainforest (Margay and Jaguarundi), dry land (Caracal) to temperate forest felids (Eurasian lynx, European wild cat, Siberian Pallas’ and Amur leopard cat), civets (Cape genet, Malayan binturong, Two-spotted Palmroller) and mongoose (Meerkat, Dwarf mongoose), canids (South African Bat-eared fox) and mustelids (European mink and Siberian weasel). That is truly a fabulous species line-up. And I saw all of them but the genet. Not all of these enclosures are that spacious and except for the Jaguarundi others only have a single enclosure. But they are all well laid out, with hiding places and shelter, climbing structures, etc. I particularly liked the adventure path available to the palmroller, which can take a lap through the woods via a mesh tunnel.
Two-spotted Palm Civet (left) and Yucatan Margay (right)
It’s just a step to one of the zoo’s main attractions, the Rodent House. The zoo does here what it does in a number of places: the animals are warm and cosy inside while chilled visitors look in through windows, fervently hoping for some movement. The zoo has a large collection but it is unsure if all 27 species mentioned on ZTL still are present. However, even if only half are still there, it is a breathtaking collection, with many species hardly seen in Europe: Arabian spiny mouse (8 zoos), Cactus deermouse (6 zoos), Reed vole (6 zoos), North African gerbil (4 zoos). Many of the missing species could return if the zoo will renovated the enclosures in the Nocturnal House.
Going downhill again past the zoo’s Birds of prey section: it is good and large but with White-tailed and Stellers sea eagle, Andean condor, Steppe eagle, Bald eagle and Common buzzard, it shows the poverty that has crept into the raptor collection, compared to decades ago. None of the aviaries here can compete with the one for the Bearded vultures, but they are all well maintained and (just) spacious enough. The birds probably enjoy the peace and quiet of this place which is in sharp contrast to many of our zoos.
On this side of the lakes lies the modern but strange Bird house. It’s large and has certainly more rooms than the only one visitors can watch, at least when you are willing to walk up a steep slope. It houses a pair of Crested partridge, a species that can really be seen everywhere but which has a certain appeal, if only because the birds are not particularly shy and you have to be careful not to step on them in some walk-through exhibits. In Poznan they are kept together with a pair of Montserrat oriole, a species not exactly common in Europe. It took some time, but I was eventually able to observe both birds.
Birdhouse (Crested Partridge and Montserrat Oriole
One of the lakes has a dead-end walking platform to the middle of the water. It overlooks a traditional pampa with Capybara, Lowland tapir and Greater rhea: it’s large, attractive, green and rich of water.
This enclosure and the Chilean flamingo nearby are the prelude for one of the rarest mammals on show in Poznan, Europe’s only and highly endangered Yucatan spider monkey. The 1.2 animals are already 15 years in Poznan and have never reproduced, so unless a miracle occurs, these are the last specimens of a species that never was numerous in Europe. They have a large outdoors enclosure but can also be observed in their winter accommomdation.
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A house for pnly the patrage and the oriol. Is that not kind of lot empty space ?
Day 16 #28 Poznan Nowe Zoo - part 2
Along with South American wildlife, visitors leave the lake area and dive back into the forest. It is the route for Poznan’s most famous zoo building but first there is another prize winner, the zoo’s brown bear holding. An elevated platform leads to an information and viewing point. There were at least 3 European brown bears in the 4 hilly and heavily forested enclosures.
The Bear Cabin is nothing more than an information point and a view into one of the spacious enclosures. Opposite this building, Ring-tailed lemur live in a small building and outdoor enclosure, but they also have access to an island in one of the lakes.
Bear Cabin - European brown bear
Following the Eurasian wolves is a large fenced-in area of forest, the first of a total of four enclosures for Siberian and white tigers. Some of the animals came from Ukraine in 2022, along with caracal and lions. The Tiger Cabin give sight on two levels to the largest of these enclosures, large enough that it is rather difficult to see a tiger. It’s a very attractive stretch of dedicuous forest and in sharp contrast with the other enclosures where the fencing dominates too much.
Tiger Cabin - Siberian tiger enclosure
The visitor area here looks rather sloppy, perhaps the tiger park was expanded headlong because of the emergency in Ukraine.
It's a bit strange because the showpiece of the zoo is nearby: Poznan’s most famous building, the 2009 Elephant House, designed by MMT Poznan.
It has an 18000 m² outdoor enclosure, and because of its lenght (300 m) it seems to be a little narrow (which it isn't). Visitors can watch it from a path on higher grounds and can cross the enclosure somewhere in the middle towards a African village themed viewing point with a restaurant.
Elephant House - Visitor trail - African Village - Second part of the enclosure
The building itself looks attractive, a modern struture that is spacious, but that is also where the downside is: there is a lot of concrete and inside there is an enormous amount of space. Not bad for the animals, because the communal enclosure is very spacious, but on the visitor side there are a lot of stairs, platforms and terraces. So there is absolutely no shortage of space, and it is a shame that there are no smaller animals on display here. Especially when like during my visit, there were no elephants to be seen both inside and outside : these were in off show areas.
Something that caught my eye: the indoor enclosure is edged all around with an outcropping. It is too weak to take the fall of visitors and I suspect that even in Poznan elephants cannot jump up, the question remains as to what the point of this is.
So at the time of my visit, with no animals on show, even in this cold weather, it was a bit of a disappointment. The zoo keeps 2 African Savanna elephants and 1 East African bush elephant, one of the few remaining in Europe. It is bizarre for such an expensive project that there is no breeding, does anyone know the reason for this?
While I find the Elephant House architecturally interesting and beautiful, I cannot say the same about the Giraffe and Rhino House (2021). In fact, I find it downright ugly. I don't know why someone came up with the idea of using a big white box as a starting point for housing large, African mammals.
Giraffe & Rhino House
However, it is one of the few accessible buildings of the zoo and it is indoors much better, with a very functional lay out and I can certainly appreciate the large common exhibits. There are plenty of stables off show, so you have to get some luck. And I had with the Black rhino as the animals could be seen both inside and outside.
The giraffes were at the very back in a separate run. If possible even more unattractive than the building are the boring outdoor enclosures, 2 for the rhinos, 1 for the giraffes. All three are fenced flat areas and certainly the giraffe enclosure has hardly any structure: no vegetation, let alone trees, not even a water feature. Sometimes keeping it simple is not a good decision.
At this point you are farthest from the entrance, but those whose feet are too tired can take the zoo train.
Going around the second part of the elephant enclosure it’s slightly uphill along a breeding station for European ground squirrel and a rather hidden enclosure for beautifull Gemsbok over the top towards a modern building with lake-side views.
Gemsbok building
It’s the Anteater building, with Southern tamandua and Giant anteater. It has two cages on the frontside for tamandua and two open-range enclosures on the lake side. All the animals were cozy inside in the warmth of their enclosure as it was inclement and cold outside.
As in most Polish zoos, many mammals are kept in rather functional enclosures, and not much effort is made to show the animals in immersive environments. This is no different with the Lion enclosure: few will associate lions with coniferous forests but the animals may not be too bothered by it. Metre-high metal fences, it's not pretty, but their enclosure is spacious, and with a few resting platforms. As with the tigers, the zoo is capturing individuals from Ukraine.
The tour continues passing Bactrian camel, Vicuna, North American porcupine and with beautifull lake views on the left. Another stunning enclosure is the hilly forest area for Japanese macaques. Seeing these monkeys foraging (at least when you can find them) on the forest floor is an absolute pleasure compared to those many rocky outcroppings on which most zoos keep these animals.
Japanese Macaque forest
With the Japanese macaques I knew a tough climb was coming, but the reward awaited me in the form of a building that had the same layout as does the rodent house: visitors walk outside past glass display cases with grasshoppers, beetles, stick insects and spiders: this must be the Insect House. It is an almost unique concept, especially in a country with harsh winters. I enjoyed it.
An area for Northern species is next. It’s starts with aviaries for European crane, Ural owl, Lesser spotted eagles, Blue-eared pheasants and owls, and is followed by the enclosure for Eurasian lynx and large enclosures for Milu and European wisent.
The zoo has 2 African rhino species and the Southern white rhinos are housed in an open woodland enclosure, while opposite Nilgai and Blackbuck live in dense forest – a bit in contrast with their natural habitat.
Keep it simple and sometimes that may not turn out well, see the giraffe enclosure. But sometimes simplicity beats everything and everyone. For example, look at the zoo's exhibit for Black sable antelope: it is nothing more than an open forest bordered by fencing. But it fits perfectly with the antelope's habitat, which consists mostly of savanna woodland. It is a stunning enclosure, with light falling diffusely through the trees onto the green grass, and where a fallen tree completes the picture. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more attractive enclosure for this enigmatic species.
Black Sable antelope enclosure
Conclusion
Poznan Nowe Zoo is a wonderful place, a large nature reserve with dense forests and stunning views. The enclosures are widespread, large and often very functional, but equally sometimes very beautiful. If there is 1 thing that sets Poznan Nowe apart from all other Polish zoos, it is the space they have given to their animals. It has an extensive mammal collection, with a lot of attention to smaller species such as rodents, small cats, civets, as well as a strong collection of ungulates. Primates are scarce, no great apes, baboons, vervets, callitrichidae, or capuchin monkeys, etc., but the Yucatan spider monkeys are the only ones outside of Mexico. It was an absolute pleasure to be here and I can recommend this place to any Zoochatter.
Tomorrow: Suspicious minds
Along with South American wildlife, visitors leave the lake area and dive back into the forest. It is the route for Poznan’s most famous zoo building but first there is another prize winner, the zoo’s brown bear holding. An elevated platform leads to an information and viewing point. There were at least 3 European brown bears in the 4 hilly and heavily forested enclosures.
The Bear Cabin is nothing more than an information point and a view into one of the spacious enclosures. Opposite this building, Ring-tailed lemur live in a small building and outdoor enclosure, but they also have access to an island in one of the lakes.
Bear Cabin - European brown bear
Following the Eurasian wolves is a large fenced-in area of forest, the first of a total of four enclosures for Siberian and white tigers. Some of the animals came from Ukraine in 2022, along with caracal and lions. The Tiger Cabin give sight on two levels to the largest of these enclosures, large enough that it is rather difficult to see a tiger. It’s a very attractive stretch of dedicuous forest and in sharp contrast with the other enclosures where the fencing dominates too much.
Tiger Cabin - Siberian tiger enclosure
The visitor area here looks rather sloppy, perhaps the tiger park was expanded headlong because of the emergency in Ukraine.
It's a bit strange because the showpiece of the zoo is nearby: Poznan’s most famous building, the 2009 Elephant House, designed by MMT Poznan.
It has an 18000 m² outdoor enclosure, and because of its lenght (300 m) it seems to be a little narrow (which it isn't). Visitors can watch it from a path on higher grounds and can cross the enclosure somewhere in the middle towards a African village themed viewing point with a restaurant.
Elephant House - Visitor trail - African Village - Second part of the enclosure
The building itself looks attractive, a modern struture that is spacious, but that is also where the downside is: there is a lot of concrete and inside there is an enormous amount of space. Not bad for the animals, because the communal enclosure is very spacious, but on the visitor side there are a lot of stairs, platforms and terraces. So there is absolutely no shortage of space, and it is a shame that there are no smaller animals on display here. Especially when like during my visit, there were no elephants to be seen both inside and outside : these were in off show areas.
Something that caught my eye: the indoor enclosure is edged all around with an outcropping. It is too weak to take the fall of visitors and I suspect that even in Poznan elephants cannot jump up, the question remains as to what the point of this is.
So at the time of my visit, with no animals on show, even in this cold weather, it was a bit of a disappointment. The zoo keeps 2 African Savanna elephants and 1 East African bush elephant, one of the few remaining in Europe. It is bizarre for such an expensive project that there is no breeding, does anyone know the reason for this?
While I find the Elephant House architecturally interesting and beautiful, I cannot say the same about the Giraffe and Rhino House (2021). In fact, I find it downright ugly. I don't know why someone came up with the idea of using a big white box as a starting point for housing large, African mammals.
Giraffe & Rhino House
However, it is one of the few accessible buildings of the zoo and it is indoors much better, with a very functional lay out and I can certainly appreciate the large common exhibits. There are plenty of stables off show, so you have to get some luck. And I had with the Black rhino as the animals could be seen both inside and outside.
The giraffes were at the very back in a separate run. If possible even more unattractive than the building are the boring outdoor enclosures, 2 for the rhinos, 1 for the giraffes. All three are fenced flat areas and certainly the giraffe enclosure has hardly any structure: no vegetation, let alone trees, not even a water feature. Sometimes keeping it simple is not a good decision.
At this point you are farthest from the entrance, but those whose feet are too tired can take the zoo train.
Going around the second part of the elephant enclosure it’s slightly uphill along a breeding station for European ground squirrel and a rather hidden enclosure for beautifull Gemsbok over the top towards a modern building with lake-side views.
It’s the Anteater building, with Southern tamandua and Giant anteater. It has two cages on the frontside for tamandua and two open-range enclosures on the lake side. All the animals were cozy inside in the warmth of their enclosure as it was inclement and cold outside.
As in most Polish zoos, many mammals are kept in rather functional enclosures, and not much effort is made to show the animals in immersive environments. This is no different with the Lion enclosure: few will associate lions with coniferous forests but the animals may not be too bothered by it. Metre-high metal fences, it's not pretty, but their enclosure is spacious, and with a few resting platforms. As with the tigers, the zoo is capturing individuals from Ukraine.
The tour continues passing Bactrian camel, Vicuna, North American porcupine and with beautifull lake views on the left. Another stunning enclosure is the hilly forest area for Japanese macaques. Seeing these monkeys foraging (at least when you can find them) on the forest floor is an absolute pleasure compared to those many rocky outcroppings on which most zoos keep these animals.
Japanese Macaque forest
With the Japanese macaques I knew a tough climb was coming, but the reward awaited me in the form of a building that had the same layout as does the rodent house: visitors walk outside past glass display cases with grasshoppers, beetles, stick insects and spiders: this must be the Insect House. It is an almost unique concept, especially in a country with harsh winters. I enjoyed it.
An area for Northern species is next. It’s starts with aviaries for European crane, Ural owl, Lesser spotted eagles, Blue-eared pheasants and owls, and is followed by the enclosure for Eurasian lynx and large enclosures for Milu and European wisent.
The zoo has 2 African rhino species and the Southern white rhinos are housed in an open woodland enclosure, while opposite Nilgai and Blackbuck live in dense forest – a bit in contrast with their natural habitat.
Keep it simple and sometimes that may not turn out well, see the giraffe enclosure. But sometimes simplicity beats everything and everyone. For example, look at the zoo's exhibit for Black sable antelope: it is nothing more than an open forest bordered by fencing. But it fits perfectly with the antelope's habitat, which consists mostly of savanna woodland. It is a stunning enclosure, with light falling diffusely through the trees onto the green grass, and where a fallen tree completes the picture. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more attractive enclosure for this enigmatic species.
Black Sable antelope enclosure
Conclusion
Poznan Nowe Zoo is a wonderful place, a large nature reserve with dense forests and stunning views. The enclosures are widespread, large and often very functional, but equally sometimes very beautiful. If there is 1 thing that sets Poznan Nowe apart from all other Polish zoos, it is the space they have given to their animals. It has an extensive mammal collection, with a lot of attention to smaller species such as rodents, small cats, civets, as well as a strong collection of ungulates. Primates are scarce, no great apes, baboons, vervets, callitrichidae, or capuchin monkeys, etc., but the Yucatan spider monkeys are the only ones outside of Mexico. It was an absolute pleasure to be here and I can recommend this place to any Zoochatter.
Tomorrow: Suspicious minds
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True. Seen from google maps there are more rooms off show, while at the back of the building more aviaries are set.
Day 17 #29 Nowe Tomysl Zoo
My very last stop in Poland was the rather obscure zoo in Nowe Tomysl.
This 5 ha zoo was founded in 1974.
The impressions given on the zoo's website do not match reality.
The park looked very unkempt with actually only 1 more or less new enclosure, for Ring-tailed lemurs.
Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta)
The rest of the park consists of some fenced meadows among trees. There are mostly Fallow deer, Red deer, Guanaco and domesticated species.
They have a few monkeys but kept in poor conditions: 1 Olive-green baboon, the reason for my visit, 1 Rhesus monkey and 3 Japanese macaques, all in small, outdated and not so clean cages.
Cage for Olive Baboon (Papio anubis)
Cage for Japanese Macaque (Macaca Fuscata) (left) and Rhesus Macaque (Macaca mulatta)
The real shame, however, were the 10 (!) lynxes in a cage no bigger than 12x14m. I got off the cage and that I knew: shortly afterwards, a lady stepped up to me and asked if I had a problem. It was clear she was not set up with my visit and she complained I was taken photos. It was clearly an uncomfortable situation but I kindly tried to explain to her that I was on a zoo tour. She suddenly beckoned away.
Northern Lynx (Lynx lynx lynx)
10 minutes before, I was looking at a terrarium where a turtle was floundering in a plastic tub. No idea why that tub was doing in the tiny enclosure, but when an zookeeper saw me looking at it and heard that I was a foreigner, she went into the terrarium like a whirlwind to remove the tub. In the terrarium next door were about 25-30 Degus (in a space of up to 3 sq m.).
'Reptile House' with Degu (left) and Red-eared slider (right)
Other species are Indian porcupine, a few pheasants (Swinhoe, Reeve’s and Silver, in reasonable aviaries) and the daily dose of parrots (Crimson rosella, Orange-winged amazon, Monk parakeet and Rosy-faced lovebird and Red-crowned parakeet) and Ostrich. There should be a lonely Hartmann mountain zebra, which was signed, but I didn’t see it.
Pheasantry - Reeve's Pheasant (Syrmaticus reevesi)
Conclusion
Nowy Tomysl is a poor zoo and not worth a visit. In fact, this place has already evolved to a petting zoo with some exotics. It should get rid of its lynx as soon as possible and at least stop breeding.
With this visit I’m done and dusted for Poland. But not yet of this trip as I drove back to eastern Germany. Along the way, it struck me how many ecoducts there are on the stretch between Lubin and the German border, I counted as many as 13. Which is probably more than in my entire country.
Next: Birds birds birds
My very last stop in Poland was the rather obscure zoo in Nowe Tomysl.
This 5 ha zoo was founded in 1974.
The impressions given on the zoo's website do not match reality.
The park looked very unkempt with actually only 1 more or less new enclosure, for Ring-tailed lemurs.
Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta)
The rest of the park consists of some fenced meadows among trees. There are mostly Fallow deer, Red deer, Guanaco and domesticated species.
They have a few monkeys but kept in poor conditions: 1 Olive-green baboon, the reason for my visit, 1 Rhesus monkey and 3 Japanese macaques, all in small, outdated and not so clean cages.
Cage for Olive Baboon (Papio anubis)
Cage for Japanese Macaque (Macaca Fuscata) (left) and Rhesus Macaque (Macaca mulatta)
The real shame, however, were the 10 (!) lynxes in a cage no bigger than 12x14m. I got off the cage and that I knew: shortly afterwards, a lady stepped up to me and asked if I had a problem. It was clear she was not set up with my visit and she complained I was taken photos. It was clearly an uncomfortable situation but I kindly tried to explain to her that I was on a zoo tour. She suddenly beckoned away.
Northern Lynx (Lynx lynx lynx)
10 minutes before, I was looking at a terrarium where a turtle was floundering in a plastic tub. No idea why that tub was doing in the tiny enclosure, but when an zookeeper saw me looking at it and heard that I was a foreigner, she went into the terrarium like a whirlwind to remove the tub. In the terrarium next door were about 25-30 Degus (in a space of up to 3 sq m.).
'Reptile House' with Degu (left) and Red-eared slider (right)
Other species are Indian porcupine, a few pheasants (Swinhoe, Reeve’s and Silver, in reasonable aviaries) and the daily dose of parrots (Crimson rosella, Orange-winged amazon, Monk parakeet and Rosy-faced lovebird and Red-crowned parakeet) and Ostrich. There should be a lonely Hartmann mountain zebra, which was signed, but I didn’t see it.
Pheasantry - Reeve's Pheasant (Syrmaticus reevesi)
Conclusion
Nowy Tomysl is a poor zoo and not worth a visit. In fact, this place has already evolved to a petting zoo with some exotics. It should get rid of its lynx as soon as possible and at least stop breeding.
With this visit I’m done and dusted for Poland. But not yet of this trip as I drove back to eastern Germany. Along the way, it struck me how many ecoducts there are on the stretch between Lubin and the German border, I counted as many as 13. Which is probably more than in my entire country.
Next: Birds birds birds
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Nowe Tomysl Zoo seems like a naff place, but thanks for the review anyway. Then there's Nowe Zoo Poznan, which appears to be an amazing zoo based on your review.
Poznan has 107 mammal species, a Nocturnal House, Rodent House, Insect House, Bird House, Elephant House, your favourite architectural delight in the shape of the Giraffe/Rhino House, the Small Carnivore Complex, Woodland Savannah and even an Anteater House. Then there's the excellent accommodation for Brown Bears, Tigers, Japanese Macaques, etc., and Poznan appears to be an absolute delight that's perhaps only topped in Poland by Wroclaw.
Poznan has 107 mammal species, a Nocturnal House, Rodent House, Insect House, Bird House, Elephant House, your favourite architectural delight in the shape of the Giraffe/Rhino House, the Small Carnivore Complex, Woodland Savannah and even an Anteater House. Then there's the excellent accommodation for Brown Bears, Tigers, Japanese Macaques, etc., and Poznan appears to be an absolute delight that's perhaps only topped in Poland by Wroclaw.
Yes, Poznan was a delight. Beautifull scenery. Excellent mammal and good bird & insect collections. And who knows what would happen there if Poznan Stare Zoo were to close and the reptile collection had to move.
Difficult to compare with Wroclaw as that city zoo is completely different. At least less walking and more accessible buildings.
Difficult to compare with Wroclaw as that city zoo is completely different. At least less walking
and more accessible buildings.Due to time reasons i only visited three zoos in Poland. But after seeing the review of Poznan i think i'm really missing one important and my interesest to return to Poland increased strongly.
Do you @Philipine eagle think, that the zoo is somehow comparable to Opole? (Just larger?)
Do you @Philipine eagle think, that the zoo is somehow comparable to Opole? (Just larger?)
Poznan Nowe is better than Opole by a significant margin I reckon.
The two are completely different animals really, given the fact that one is located within the city itself whilst the other is on the rural outskirts and as such is larger, a lot more thickly-vegetated, and less densely-packed.
The better comparison would be between Wroclaw and Warsaw.
Can you specify better a little bit more? Actually i really enjoyed Opole and thought that only very few exhibits are too small (mainly the old bird house)
Kranich29
Member
I wanted to get into that building on both of my visits, but it was closed. In polish it is named "Przedszkole dla zwierząt". That basically translates into Animal Kindergarden. It was supposed to hold young animals in specific siuations (rejected by the mother and so). You were supposed to be able to see young animals getting hand reared inside etc. Strange idea if you ask me, but previous director of this zoo had some absurd ideas. Let's hope it gets repurposed better in the future.
Oh, I enjoyed Opole a lot too - I particularly liked the vivarium for instance - and merely think that Poznan Nowe is superior
the highs are higher whilst the lows are roughly equivalent to those at Opole, but fewer in number.
That's an interesting question, which I may explore in more detail in a final post.
Both are certainly good zoos.
I would prefer Poznan Nowe to Opole, but it is only fair to note that I visited the latter in particularly bad weather. For the last few hours before I was evicted from the zoo, it was truly head-down pounding against the wind and rain to walk the visitor trail. And there were hardly any animals to be seen.
Although Opole also has a lot of greenery, especially the parts near the entrance look like a very classic zoo. That feeling is absolutely absent in Poznan, which is a lot wilder. The scenery is great and you really are in nature while the enclosures are in between.
Apart from that, I agree with @TeaLovingDave regarding the Vivarium in Opole, and there is also an excellent insect house, better than in Poznan.