The new facility AQUATIS is due to open soon and proclaims it will be Europe's largest freshwater aquarium. Presentation - AQUATIS Aquarium-Vivarium Aquatis Aquarium-Vivarium Lausanne
2 million liters of freshwater and a total of 46 aquariums & terrariums, all for the typically Swiss price of 29 CHF (the zoo in Zurich is "only" 26....)
Do you know where are the species of the amazing collection of the old Vivarium of Lausanne, specially venomous snakes and other reptiles? I think these animals aren't in the new Aquatis...
@lintworm: But you forgot to mention that Aquatis Lausanne get zero support from the gouverment (in contrairy to Zoo Zurich), neither from the city nor from the Canton Vaud. It's even worser: Aquatis has to pay 14 percent "leisure tax" to the city of Lausanne on each ticket sold! Still, I agree that the zoo tickets in Switzerland aren't cheap. But they also aren't in the Netherlands or Belgium... @aramacao: I was able to visit Aquatis Lausanne about a month ago. The amazing collection of the old Vivarium (see www.zootierliste.de) is mostly gone. Only a few have moved to Aquatis, among them are Westafrican Crocodiles (C. suchus), Gaboon Viper, Westafrican Green Mamba, Desert/Inland Taipan and Komodo Dragon. Mangshan Mountain Viper seem to be new on the other hand.
I didn't know about the tax situation, but that really sounds ridiculous and explains the price. And zoos are actually relatively cheap in Switzerland when compared to costs of food and living, but as those costs are so high compared to other European countries, it just looks expensive to everyone who is not earning a Swiss salary . Those were already at the old vivarium back in 2015
I got a chance to visit the new Aquatis today and overall it is a nice aquarium and way better than the old vivarium building. I updated the collection on www.zootierliste.de and though the collection is not very big, there are quite some nice reptilians (Mangshan pitviper, desert crocodile, Sumatran pitviper) and many interesting and rarely seen fish (Brackwater anglerfish to name one ), especially the collection of rainbowfish is very nice. There are almost only freshwater exhibits. 2 mangrove tanks, 1 mediterranean tank and one coral tank are the only saltwater ones. In terms of freshwater fish that are popular with the public, most species are present, only lungfish and electric eel are missing. Another fitting animal that was missing was the anaconda. The aquariums and terrariums themselves are mostly very nicely done, but the visitors area still have a somewhat unfinished look and the fake rocks used in some areas are really fake... There is loads of education in the form of videos and other interactive stuff, which unfortunately means that it is never silent anywhere... Most of the fish are still rather small but this is certainly a nice addition to the European zooworld. I will upload some pictures once an Aquatis gallery has been created on Zoochat.
I also had a chance to visit this aquarium. Quick impressions: This is certainly not one of the world's biggest aquariums. It can be described as a SeaLife with Komodo dragons instead of sharks. Nevertheless, it fills a gap in the region of Europe which has few zoos. Although one person on Tripadvisor justly pointed, that the nearby Geneve Museum of Natural History is better and free. I expect Aquatis will be popular and maintain itself. Good points: - Some interesting species, e.g. Mangshan pit viper, Indian monitor, Komodo dragon and Sacred Crocodile (I think it is the best name for this taxon). - Very generous size of most tanks. - Very good transport access near an underground station and highway. Weak points: - Noise. The institution overdone screen displays, which are as much as 3 times more numerous than exhibits. Unfortunately, the commentary is always talked and switches on automatically. All this mixes with an inevitable children screaming and roaring of an animatronic dinosaur creating a very tiring hum. Much of these screens could be really replaced with the normal printed information. - Some aquaria are under-populated, many fish are small (e.g. piranha are just fingerlings), and water in some tanks is murky. I suppose they are teething problems. - There is distinctly too few 'big charismatic mega-animals'. Most fish and reptiles seemed very standard species, but I suppose the aquarium will later bring more interesting ones. There is some space left for some small/mid-sized mammal exhibit in the tropical room, which may be populated later. - Some designer had a vision to make a mirror floor and put some education on the ceiling, so visitors appear to walk over e.g. East Asian rice-field model. Unfortunately, the said designer didn't remember that women wear skirts. The tour: The building has two floors. It begins looks like a standard SeaLife set of tanks of a local river with fish and amphibians. Soon we however see a major tank - two-floor freshwater tank with North American gars, among others. It has an underwater tunnel. Then we pass some more tanks, one small coral reef tank (so not all is freshwater), a big if under-populated mangrove exhibit, the tacky animatronic Spinosaurus, a very basic education of life on Earth, and go to reptile tanks. They are good size and rather beautiful. There is a big exhibit of Sacred Crocodiles. A single grown Komodo monitor has large exhibit. Then is the last part - a two-level tropical rainforest room with several tanks for standard South American fish. And one more large screen with a talking head on a background of tropical plants, which really does not fit in. And we are back at the gift shop. Suggested time to visit: I looked how fast average visitors with small children are moving past me, and suggest ca. 1 h 15' to 1,5 hours.
I'm not sure if this news has been posted elsewhere, but I will post it here as well. The West African crocodiles Crocodylus suchus at Aquaris Lausanne successfully produced a clutch of eggs in 2019. The young from this particular hatching have been assigned to Morocco, with hopes that the species will be reintroduced to national parks in the south of the country where the crocodile disappeared from around 70 years ago. The reintroduction will be a collaboration between Aquatis, Crocs Park of Agadir and the state of Morocco under the supervision of the EAZA Crocodiles vice chair. The information comes from the autumn edition of EAZA Zooquaria, included below (page 7): https://flipflashpages.uniflip.com/3/48142/1108358/pub/html5.html#page/6
Does Crocs Agadir have any unrelated C. suchus? What is the current state in numbers in EAZA in total numbers and in terms of individual founding (also potental) founders?
This has been posted a few months ago now but no Crocoparc does not hold any Desert crocodile. The 300+ crocodiles they hold on site are Madagascar nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus madagascariensis). That is some really interesting piece of news about the Lausanne-Crocoparc collaboration though and I hope it goes through!
In July 2019, inland taipans were confiscated at Copenhague airport and give to Aquatis. After a first unfertilized laying in 2020 a second took place last august and the eggs hatched yesterday Log into Facebook | Facebook
The Mangshan pitvipers (Protobothrops mangshanensis) have been moved to their new terrarium. The ESB of this species is also coordinated by this zoo. Source: Instagram of Aquatis Lausanne (31/01/2022) Login • Instagram
Recently female Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) Lara arrived from ZooParc de Beauval, she was born in Colchester Zoo. Source: Instagram of Aquatis Lausanne (05/02/2022) https://www.instagram.com/p/CZkGvhTKpKl/
Aquatis recently had the chance to receive two young Indian gharials (Gavialis gangeticus). Their origin isn't specified yet. Source: Instagram of Aquatis Lausanne (29.07.22) AQUATIS Aquarium-Vivarium on Instagram
I've read in a swiss newspaper that the two gharials won't stay at Aquatis forever. They will move in about 5 years, when they get bigger, to Jersey Zoo.
According to a post from earlier today on the EAZA Facebook page, six hundred of the critically endangered Rhone streber (Zingel asper) endemic to the Rhone basin of France and Switzerland, have hatched and are being reared at Aquatis Lausanne. In consultation with the Swiss government, it is hoped that the young fish will be reintroduced to the wild soon.
