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Guided tour of Parken Zoo

Discussion in 'Sweden' started by Swedish Zoo Fan, 6 May 2011.

  1. Swedish Zoo Fan

    Swedish Zoo Fan Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    14 Oct 2007
    Posts:
    252
    Location:
    Stockholm, Sweden
    It's not the largest zoo in Sweden, but certainly one of the most interesting. The target is to save endangered species, and yes, here you can find lots of rare species, most of them are breeding as well. The zoo has different themed areas: Asia, Africa and South America and Komodo. Here comes my description of the areas.

    Asia
    The first exhibit in this area does actually not belong to the Asian part, because it's a big walkthrough exhibit with red-necked wallabies and Visayan varty pigs (yes, they fit together). This is a nice exhibit with lots of green areas. The next two exhibits are for animals from Himalaya. Here lives Pallas cats and red pandas. The cats got 6 babies this year, its the first time the pair breeds. The Asian Pavilion is a tropic house for Asian animals. Here lives binturong, clouded leopard, Pallas squirrel, lesser mouse-deer, different asian birds and there's also a view into the exhibit for Asian lions (can also be seen from the outside). Outside the pavilion there's also outdoor exhibits for binturongs, fishing cats and a pair of Sumatran tigers. For two years ago there were also white tigers, but the last one died in a zoo in Denmark, and then they were replaced by Sumatran tigers. The last exhibit in the Asian part is the green islands for White-cheeked and White-handed gibbons. They share outdoor exhibit, but has separate indoor exhibits.

    Africa
    The African part is the smallest, but it has very interesting animals as well. The first exhibit is for a breeding pair of sand cats. They can also be seen indoor in the nearby shop. The African wild-dogs has a very nice and green exhibit, that was former home for cheetahs. In a mixed exhibit lives Drills and diana monkeys. The outdoor exhibit is really big for those species and they have great indoor exhibits too. Outside the house is also a smaller exhibit for red-bellied lemurs. The leopard exhibit has been home to lots of species during the years, first it was African leopard, then it was panther and then puma. Now, a single Amur leopard lives here. In the former savannah exhibit lives a small group of Eastern bongos. Next to the bongos is the cheetah exhibit, which is one of the better in Scandinavia. The meerkat exhibit is good, but nothing special. The pygmy hippos have their exhibit here as well. It's not the best exhibit, but not the worst either. Here lives also the hippo baby ''Oliver'' which was born this February. The last exhibit in the African part is the aviary for Aloatran lemurs.

    South America
    The last part is South America, which starts with the big tropical house called ''Amazoonas''. Here lives free-ranging marmosets, red-footed tortoises and green iguanas. In smaller exhibits lives a famous breeding group of Mountain chicken frogs, green basilisks, piranhas, poison arrow frogs and yellow anacondas. In two open exhibits live the bigger animals. In the first there are Cuban crocodiles together with turtles and fishes, and in the second lives a pair of Giant otter (the only ones in Scandinavia). Outside the house there's a very nice exhibit for pumas, it's surely one of the better exhibits for pumas in Europe. In a big exhibit with a lake lives now Brazilian tapirs. On the other side of this exhibit lives maned wolves and guanacos (they actually are in the same exhibit). In an aviary lives African birds like crowned cranes and cattle egrets. I'm not sure what they are doing in the American part. On the pampa lives Capybaras, rheas, southern pudus and the only Giant anteaters in Sweden, with their first baby, born in 2011. Here is also the big flamingo valley, with a very big flamingo group. The last exhibits in this part is a smaller monkey house, but it's very nice. Here lives Black spider monkeys, lion tamarins, pied tamarins, emperor tamarins, cotton-top tamarins, yellow-breasted capuchins, and also tamanduas, armadillos and rhinoceros iguanas.

    Komodo
    The small part Komodo actually belong to Asia, but it's very nice indeed. Here lives the only Komodo dragons in Scandinavia, in two big indoor exhibits, with a grassy outdoor exhibit for the summer months. Here also lives Galapagos tortoises in a exhibit during the summer.

    Hope you liked my review, this is a very nice zoo, with many rare animals, so it's definatly worth a visit.
     
    Last edited: 6 May 2011
    carl the birder likes this.