According to this article from 2021, Giant pandas will be arriving at Al Khor Zoo this year. Panda enclosure at Al Khor Zoo / Tolliday Group International
Well, as much as I like seeing Giant Pandas in zoos worldwide, the more I must confess that a former, well known zoo director said was right: "We could keep Giant Pandas. But I don't want them, because they are a political thing." Regarding that a country, which is not so well known for their "zoo history" or even has having pioneering zoo exhibits, but a bad reputation regarding human rights, suddenly receives Giant Pandas from China (a country, where democracy and human rights aren't a big issue either) is the best proof for the truth of his phrase imo.
Does anyone have any information about this zoo? Animal collection, exhibit quality, rare species etc? Had it not been for this forum I would’ve never known it existed.
From what I have seen on it's google photos, It seems to be more of a public park with the occasional animal dotted around (mostly ABCs excluding elephants). Welfare wise, It looks rather good, nothing to write home about, but not atrocious.
I guess they want this bizarre structure in place before the FIFA world cup starts in November as some form of extra entertainment....
I agree, Allot of zoos seem to get pandas before major sporting events, LA got their panda pair in 1984 to coincide with the Olympics.
I am no fan of either Qatar or China but I don’t see this being any more bizarre or controversial than any other panda enclosure. It might be bizarre to create a cooled structure for pandas in the desert but is it any less bizarre to create a heated desert inside a structure in northern Europe?
This is the first time I’ve heard a zoo give their pandas non Chinese names: Suhail is the name of one of the brightest stars visible in the Gulf region, while Soraya is the Arabic name for the Pleiades star cluster.
This article (from April) has an illustration of the odd-looking Giant Panda exhibit: Are you ready for Qatar's first Panda Park? Al-Khor Park Zoo is apparently not very large in terms of its animal collection, but does anyone happen to have a list of species? TripAdvisor has some reviews, but that site is notoriously inaccurate in terms of information for zoo nerds. There are apparently some big cats, giraffes, zebras, monkeys, etc., with the upcoming pandas and World Cup sure to bring a massive increase in attendance.
The Facebook post linked above has more renderings. A new post to that site has even more Log into Facebook It makes some sense to me considering the animals will need to be inside all year, the entire facility must be cooled and therefore the structure shades the indoors while admitting some light. The original proposal required a 2.3ha climate controlled nursery! So most of the facility may be just that.
A nice look at the actual panda enclosure: Panda Enclosure & Touristic viewing Facility - GET - Engineering Looks a bit like a golf course
Gives off the impression of a hotel leisure centre than anything naturalistic ... but hopefully this has been thought through
