It's time for some updates.
1) Completely out of the blue, the Tierpark announced they already started(!) preparing the ground in the center of the park for constructing two large new bird aviaries, one each for pelicans and flamingos - both due to open in 2026.
The pelican aviary will be 1,500 m² (or slightly below 0.4 acres) large and encompass part of of the so-called "Stelzvogelwiesen" and integrate part of the pond as well as the shore area
- on this map you find this area above the 3 alleys which are connecting the old castle/chateau with the café and below the new world/ South America section of the camel pastures (or in the square between the gibbon symbol and the peccary symbol):
Current Map of Tierpark Berlin, 01/09/11 - ZooChat
They plan to "start" with roughly 40 specimen from 4 species: Spot-Billed Pelicans, American White Pelicans, Dalmatian Pelicans and Australian Pelicans. I don't know, if the "start" means there will be more pelicans (e.g. via breeding) or if they will add other pelican species or even other birds.
In the meantime, they have already placed 5 Eastern Brown Pelicans in the existing
Seagull Aviary just below the complex for farm animals on the very right of the map. By the way, said seagull aviary has just been updated with some fresh sand etc to make it more closely resemble a seashore habitat.
The flamingo aviary will be 1,800 m² (or slightly above 0.4 acres) large and - going by the same map - it will be located around their present habitat above and slightly to the left of the symbol of the bactrian camel. As far as I understand it is going to run along/ line the visitor path and thus likely will be shaped like a long(ish) strip.
Of course, the Tierpark is very much aware of the historic visual axis and its relevance. But at the same time, they still want to/ have to improve the quality of their bird husbandry and enable these birds to fly.
As a compromise, they try to maximize the "transparency of the complex", so "the enclosed space blends discreetly into the surroundings". They also promise: "The positioning of the views takes into account the historical character of the popular complex."
Both aviaries cost about 1.5 mio Euro and will be paid for with public funds. If I understand the (very scarce) information correctly, there won't be a walk-through or at least walk-in experience. But of course, I may be wrong. Anyways, I think this could be a worthwile addition which may become a donation project for the Freunde der Hauptstadtzoos. After all, the park did it with the vulture aviary and if they didn't get the funds to integrate it straight away, this may be a good option.
2) While the dholes really enjoy their new enclosure (including the moat/ water ditch), their old enclosure got slightly remolled and according to rumors it is going to display
African Wild Dogs. There are discussions, however, on whether this may actually just be their temporary location.
3) The Wattled Cranes are gone and have been replaced by White Storks, Swan Geese and Lesser Snow Geese (which I think all existed before).
4) The former racoon exhibit now is home to Ural Owls.
5) There has been a lot of discussion on the perceived ungulate exodus between Tierpark and Zoo. As it turns out, however, the approach is a rather different and actually an interesting one. In most if not all cases, these species are going to be kept in both institutions, ushering in a change of policy with regards to avoiding double entries between the two Berlin based institutions.
In some cases (such as wildebeests), the Zoo will take the surplus males so the Tierpark can use the full capacity for breeding.
In other cases (e.g. with the Beisa Oryx) the Zoo is keeping a breeding pair/group so the Tierpark can keep the remaining single-sex group more easily in a mixed-species-exhibit.
In the case of the Somali Wild Asses it likely will also only include part of the group and may actually also be due to preparations for the planned rhino complex (although there haven't been any updates on that project for quite some time).
6) After the collapse of their entire population, the Tierpark received 5,0 Himalayan Blue Sheep from Liberec, Pairi Daiza and Zoo Zamosc respectively.
7) They also added some more fish species to their large salt water reef tank which sadly has also suffered a complete collapse some months ago.
And there is a new/ second ant species next to the Sun Bear Exhibit inside the Brehm Building (complementing the colony near the tiger exhibit).
