The sale officially went through in February 2019, we will see what that actually means. The good news is that the future of the park is now safe for a while as they have been running on a tight budget....
I've already been to the park twice this year and I am going back in may and I'm just wondering if anyone has been able to spot the Great Argus pheasants this year yet? Apparently, they were on display last year when I was there but I must have totally missed them even tho I looked for them and when I was there this year I couldn't see them anywhere. It's a species I really would like to see in real life.
I didn't see this species last weekend, nor in the Fasanerie, nor in another section of the park. Impressive collection, saw most of the species I wanted te see on my visits this Easter. My main focus was on neotropical birds, next to a couple of other birds groups and rare species (birds of prey, birds-of-paradise, non-northern cassowaries, kiwi, maleo, cuckoo roller, woodswallow). The original plan was to visit Walsrode on Sunday and to visit Serengeti on Monday, but eventually the plans changed on Saturday to a two-day visit to Walsrode due to the size of the park and the amount of shows and public feedings. Besides that, I didn't think Serengeti was worth a €40 fee (entrance plus safari bus ride) for a collection that includes a great variety of ungulates and monkeys but nothing really special, next to a large part of the park that I wouldn't visit with rollercoasters, speed boats and dinosaurs models.
It was my first visit, so hard to say for me. Comparing the maps of 2018 and the current one, the maleo is the main addition to the collection (two enclosures in the Fasanerie). Black-tailed trogon (Paradieshalle and Pukara) and blue-crowned motmot (Kiwihaus) were labelled as "new arrival".
I think the Maleos came last year and at least one of the pairs were visible in the Fasanerie then. I also saw (in March) that both pairs could now be seen in the "last" part of the Fasanerie (the part closest to the bird show area and free-flight aviary) New in the free-flight aviary this year is wild Muscovy ducks (I did not see them or signs last year) but they probably been kept behind the scenes as the park had them on-show before. It did not say on zootierliste.de that Walsrode had wild Muscovy ducks either when I checked after my visit in March, so I'm pretty sure they are new or just been put on-show this year again.
Twelve-wired (the two aviaries on the left), Raggiana's (the two aviaries in the middle), king (the right aviary). I saw all three species, although both Raggiana's bird-of-Paradise stayed at the back of the aviary (I checked three times, once on my first day, twice on the second day).
Three years ago I visited Weltvogelpark Walsrode for the very first time. Despite extremely high expectations, I was blown away by the place, and promised myself to return there. This time (a few weeks ago) I tried to temper by expectation, as I was worried that a second visit would be underwhelming. I could not have been more wrong, from the moment I stepped into the park the endless flow of avian highlights just kept going on. Just like three years ago, we spend almost two full days in the park, and I can’t image being bored if I would spend a third day there! Zoochatters often focus at the collection of zoos and Walsrode is no exception. And rightfully so, because few places in the world can offer such a splendid collection of birds both in terms of quality and quantity. Many rarities are displayed in multiple aviaries throughout the park. Just to give a few examples: we saw five aviaries with Spangled Cotinga, eight with Gilded Barbets (not including one where it was signed but unseen!), at least eight with Red-Billed Currasow and at least a dozen for Madagascar Blue Pigeon or Blue Coua. We saw about 15 Blue-headed macaws and no less than twenty Chestnut-Eared Aracaris, including eight fledglings from this year! Kagu, Maleo, Horned Guan, Raggiana Bird-of-Paradise and Long-Wattled Umbrellabird on their own would without doubt be the highlight of any bird collection in a regular zoo, but in Walsrode they are just part of the seemingly endless list of amazing bird species. Compared to three years ago, the waterfowl collection seems to have undergone substantial reduction, and turacos or pheasants are spread thin. In contrast, trogons, barbets and aracaris have increased in number of individuals and number of species. A great collection is all fine and good of course, but having a large post-stamp collection often means less attention to the individual animal or species. In Walsrode however, the majority of the collection is housed in decent to very good aviaries. Walsrode is not perfect in any way, and several enclosures are too small or barren for modern standards (enclosures for larger hornbills, parrot house etc.). However, as far I can see the inhabitants are taken good are of, even if their enclosures are a bit lacking. I did not see a single dirty enclosure during my entire visit, which is quite an achievement for zoo with over 600 bird species! And while a few enclosures sub-standard, the rest is good or great. The pelicans have huge ponds, the Freiflughalle is just amazing and the hummingbirds have neat enclosures. The tropical halls are just as good as those in other zoos. And while successful breeding does not equal great welfare, I think the fact that they breed many difficult species shows that they know what they’re doing. Several aviaries had juvenile birds or fledglings (including an incredibly cute honeycreeper fledgling), and one of the nurseries had a variety of hand-reared birds like herons, ibises, owls and gulls. But there’s another aspect that makes Walsrode great: the presentations and demonstrations. There are two big flight demonstrations, an indoor show and several feeding presentations spread throughout the day. If you manage to relatively quickly walk past aviaries filled with Blue-Winged Pittas, King Eiders and Red-Vented Cockatoos (something I can’t do!) I guess you can follow the walking route through the park and attend most of the presentations. The bird demonstrations three years ago mostly depended on the thrill of the grand finale. Currently, it has become much more professional, complete with a storyline. It is fun, engaging, energetic and filled with humour, and at the same time still educational. Who would have thought that something called the “humorvolle Indoorshow” (humorvolle = humerous) would touch subjects like bird evolution, responsible pet ownership and illegal parrot smuggling, even if only lightly? I highly recommend to visit these demonstrations, though both the flight show and especially the indoorshow can be appreciated better if you speak German. I was going to write an ending about the current situation of the park. Recently it was in bad financial shape, then bought by a new owner and now sold to a large company. It feels wrong in my heart and right in my head. But all things considered I just don’t know enough of the situation to really comment about it. I noticed new and improved signs, new rarities being added to the collections (Fawn-Breasted Bowerbird anyone?) and the park overall seemed well maintained. On the other hand I heard rumours and stories about mass-selling of expensive birds. I guess we’ll just have to wait to see what happens, but at least the park’s existence is save for a while. I can only hope that the park gets the bird-loving director it deserves.
A result of a sudden increase in predation by foxes and the local bird of prey population, I believe.....
That sounds logical for birds in open-topped enclosures, but some of the netted enclosures were remarkably devoid of waterfowl too. I think I saw only a handful of ducks in the first section of the Freiflughalle, and the marine duck aviary has seemingly lost several species too (freckled duck, scoter etc.).
I agree, when it comes to waterfowl it seems like they slacking a bit nowadays. They got waterfowl, but there could be more. On ZTL you can read about the park having a lot of different waterfowls, but I'm guessing they are off-show now or have been sold. Sadly the same thing seems to have happened to the pheasants. On-show I think there are about 6-7 pheasant species, and most of them are really hard to spot (Good for the birds, bad for us ). It seems like the park got a few "single" birds, for example they only seem to have one European shelduck, one Ruddy shelduck, one Kingeider, one Freckled duck, one Marbled duck, one Spur-winged goose, one Himalayan monal, etc. (At least on-show, I don't know if they have more off-show) which I can find a bit sad/boring. If I go to the park knowing they got Freckled ducks and I'm hoping to see that species - it might be hard to spot it if the park only got 1 individual. I can imagine it is hard to keep small waterfowl in enclosures without roof cause of the predatory birds, but I would love to see more waterfowls spread around the park, like ducks, geese, and swans. Other than this I love the park and I've been there 6(?) times this year already.
