Portuguese Zoo Tour

Earlier this month I've spent a week in Portugal and have visited a number of Portuguese zoological institutions, 11 in total: Zoo de Lagos, Badoca Safari Park, Europaradise, Zoo de Lourosa, Zoo da Maia, Parque Biologico de Gaia, Zoo Santo Inacio, Parque Biologico de Serra de Lousa, Jardim Zoologico de Lisboa, Oceanario de Lisboa, and Aquario Vasco da Gama.

In this thread I am planning to review the first 8 of these (I feel that the 3 Lisbon institutions are already covered fairly well on ZooChat), and will be uploading photos in the gallery. Photos from Zoo de Lagos have already been uploaded, and review of that zoo is coming up.

 

Zoo de Lagos was the first and southernmost zoo on my Portuguese trip and is only the second Western European Zoo that I’ve ever visited (the first one was Barcelona Zoo fifteen years ago, and that was before I truly developed my zoo photography hobby). It’s only a couple hectares in area, but a lot is packed into such a small facility. I felt that the collection was very interesting, with many rarities and life-ticks (I’ve visited over a hundred North American zoos and a dozen or so zoos in the Middle East, but then of course European zoos have lots of species not represented in North America and in Israel, and Lagos Zoo had quite a few of those). With one or two exceptions, all exhibits were very photographer friendly, which I always appreciate.

The bird collection especially was great, and surprisingly diverse. For example, the zoo has 13 species of hornbills – according to ZIMS, this is the same number of species as in Walsrode. Jurong Bird Park does have more hornbill species (21), but other major zoos known for their rich collections have much less: San Diego Zoo and Berlin Zoo only have 4 species each, Bronx Zoo has 8 species. I wonder if there are any zoos in Europe or North America that top Lagos and Walsrode when it comes to hornbill species? Besides hornbills, there are good collections of curassows, pheasants, waterfowl, parrots, pigeons, turacos, 2 species of ratites, 3 species of flamingos, 2 species of pelicans, penguins, some interesting passerines (corvids, starlings, and waxbills) and charadriiformes. Of all major bird groups, I felt that only birds of prey were somewhat underrepresented, with 2 species of owls, a kestrel, and 2 species of New World vultures. Nevertheless, Zoo de Lagos is the bird zoo first and foremost, and is densely packed with bird aviaries, most containing a mix of several species (not always geographically correct, I must say). All aviaries appeared to be adequate and well-furnished, though nothing earthshattering. Interestingly enough, the zoo has only one true walk-through aviary (with flying foxes and a couple of bird species), though the large aviary with a mix of lorikeets, cockatoos, waterfowl, and tragopans also appears to have been designed as a walk-through, but for whatever reason it was locked at the time of my visit. There were three other aviaries where the visitors are allowed to enter inside, but they were not truly walk-through as the visitors are basically limited to a small viewing porch. I tried to photograph every single exhibit and the photos (labeled with species lists) are in the gallery. There are lots of free-roaming bird species as well, not only ubiquitous peafowl, but lots of waterfowl, and even pelicans – those were for the most part unlabeled.

I think some of you may find this useful, so here is a bird species list that I compiled for the Zoo de Lagos. It includes all species that were labeled, as well as unlabeled ones that I could identify (domestics from the children farm area are excluded).

· Lesser Rhea (2, mixed with Maras)

· Emu (2, mixed with Kangaroos)

· Great Curassow

· Bare-faced Curassow

· Blue-billed Curassow

· Northern Helmeted Curassow

· Blue-throated Piping Guan

· Ocellated Turkey

· Vulturine Guineafowl

· Crested Guineafowl

· Crested Wood Partridge

· Temminck’s Tragopan

· Himalayan Monal

· Reeves’ Pheasant

· Lady Amherst’s Pheasant

· Golden Pheasant

· Mountain Peacock-Pheasant

· Common Peafowl (free-ranging)

· Southern Screamer

· Fulvous Whistling Duck

· Spotted Whistling Duck

· Plumed Whistling Duck

· Black-bellied Whistling Duck

· White-faced Whistling Duck

· Lesser Canada Goose

· Barnacle Goose

· Red-breasted Goose

· Cape Barren Goose

· Coscoroba Swan (mixed with Tapirs)

· Black Swan

· Black-neck Swan

· Mute Swan

· Common Shelduck (free-ranging)

· Ruddy Shelduck

· African Comb Duck

· North American Wood Duck (free-ranging)

· Mallard (free-ranging)

· Northern Pintail

· Green-winged Teal

· Philippine Duck

· Chiloe Wigeon

· Laysan Duck

· Marbled Teal

· African Pygmy Goose

· Hooded Merganser

· Lesser Flamingo (2, mixed with a flock of Greater Flamingo)

· Greater Flamingo

· American Flamingo

· Soccoro Dove

· Diamond Dove

· Nicobar Pigeon (huge flock)

· Pied Imperial Pigeon

· Red-knobbed Pigeon

· Sulawesi Ground Dove

· Western Crowned Pigeon

· Victoria Crowned Pigeon

· Sclater’s Crowned Pigeon

· Red-crested Turaco

· White-cheeked Turaco

· Violet Turaco

· Grey Crowned Crane

· Red-crowned Crane

· African Penguin

· Yellow-billed Stork

· Eurasian Black Stork

· Abdim’s Stork

· Marabou Stork

· Scarlet Ibis

· Roseate Spoonbill

· Great White Pelican (free-roaming)

· Pink-backed Pelican (free-roaming)

· Great Cormorant

· Eurasian Oystercatcher

· Black-winged Stilt

· Pied Avocet

· Masked Lapwing

· Inca Tern

· Northern White-faced Owl

· Spectacled Owl

· Turkey Vulture

· King Vulture

· Common Kestrel

· Red-billed Hornbill

· African Grey Hornbill

· Trumpeter Hornbill

· Silvery-cheeked Hornbill

· Grey-cheeked Hornbill

· Black-casqued Hornbill

· Rhinoceros Hornbill

· Great Indian Hornbill

· Rufous Hornbill

· Tarictic Hornbill

· Papuan Hornbill

· Wrinkled Hornbill

· Southern Ground Hornbill

· Laughing Kookaburra (not seen)

· Green Aracari

· Red-billed Toucan

· Moluccan Rainbow Lorikeet

· Scaly-breasted Lorikeet

· Olive-headed Lorikeet

· Chattering Lory

· Eastern Rosella

· Eclectus Parrot

· Alexandrine Parakeet

· Rose-ringed Parakeet

· African Grey Parrot

· Senegal Parrot

· Blue-and-yellow Macaw

· Green-winged Macaw

· Scarlet Macaw

· Military Macaw

· Nanday Parakeet (not seen)

· Dusky-headed Conure

· Red-lored Amazon

· Turquoise-fronted Amazon

· Rose-ringed Cockatoo

· Salmon-crested Cockatoo

· Yellow-crested Cockatoo

· Cockatiel

· Blue-faced Honeyeater

· Green Magpie

· Red-billed Blue Magpie

· Carrion Crow

· Wattled Starling

· Lesser Blue-eared Glossy Starling

· Greater Blue-eared Starling

· Superb Starling

· Bali Mynah

· Gouldian Finch

· Plum-headed Finch

· Blue-faced Parrotfinch

· Red-throated Parrotfinch

· Diamond Firetail Finch

The mammal collection is, of course, smaller – not surprisingly, given the small territory. There are few large species – the biggest ones are pygmy hippos and tapirs. Yet, the zoo has a good primate collection (16 species), 3 species of small cats, kangaroos, staple crowd pleasers such as meerkats and small-clawed otters, and a few others. The exhibits are all adequate, again nothing earthshattering but I did like the primate islands the most. Here is a complete mammal species list (excluding domestics):

· Eastern Grey Kangaroo

· Lyle’s Flying Fox

· Ring-tail Lemur

· Red Ruffed Lemur

· White-fronted Marmoset

· Pygmy Marmoset

· Red-handed Tamarin

· Cotton-top Tamarin

· Emperor Tamarin

· Bolivian Squirrel Monkey

· Tufted Capuchin

· White-faced Saki

· Brown Spider-Monkey (2.0)

· Red-faced Black Spider-Monkey (1.0)

· Guereza

· Lar Gibbon

· Siamang

· Chimpanzee

· Cape Crested Porcupine

· Capybara

· Patagonian Mara

· Black-tailed Prairie-Dog

· Bobcat

· Eurasian Lynx

· Serval (1)

· Meerkat

· Asian Small-clawed Otter

· Lowland Tapir (2)

· Vicugna

· Pygmy Hippopotamus (1.1+0.1 daughter)

· Muntjac (labeled as Indian, but looks more like Reeves’ to me)

The reptile and amphibian collection is small and rather basic. Actually neither of the Portuguese zoos that I’ve visited had a really impressive reptile collection, and during my week-long trip I saw not a single species of venomous snake (though Lisbon Zoo had gila monsters). All snakes were housed in a small building, while tortoises, turtles, and crocodilians were scattered throughout the zoo. Here is the reptile species list:

· African Dwarf Crocodile

· African Spurred Tortoise

· Leopard Tortoise

· Greek Tortoise

· Miscellaneous aquatic turtles (unsigned, I think I recognized a red-eared terrapin and a Caspian turtle)

· Green Iguana

· Boa Constrictor

· Reticulated Python

· Green Tree Python

· Rainbow Boa

· Garden Tree Boa

· Corn Snake

There were only two tanks with amphibians: one labeled for Fire Salamanders and another for Midwife Toads. I saw neither.


This concludes my review of the Zoo de Lagos. Badoca Safari is coming next.

 

Badoca Safari was the next facility on my trip. It is a rather typical safari park, with a large drive-through section for mixed (mostly African) hoofstock, and a smaller pedestrian area with a few exhibits.

The drive-through section is closed to private vehicles and can only be experienced as a tractor ride. During my ride I have seen the following species:
Baringo Giraffe, Plains Zebras, African Forest Buffalo, Domestic Water Buffalo (both species of buffalo were grazing together in a mixed herd), Ostrich, Blue Wildebeest, Eland, Greater Kudu, Sable Antelope, Scimitar-horned Oryx, Common Waterbuck, Southern Lechwe, Springbok, Aoudad, Axis Deer, Fallow Deer

Closely adjacent to the drive-through section is a paddock for Sitatungas, large but very dry and seemingly lacking any water feature (accessible by foot) and a pedestrian bridge with overlook over the drive-through section. Right below the bridge and seen from above is another enclosure, currently housing Brown-nosed Coatis.

The Primates section is situated quite apart from the rest of the pedestrian area. It consists of 3 well-furnished island exhibits surrounding a holding building, housing 3 species respectively: Chimpanzees, Baboons, and a large family of Mandrills. Baboons are listed as Papio hamadryas in ZIMS, however they certainly don't look like that species, and are probably a mix of Papio anubis, Papio cynocephalus, and/or Papio hamadryas. They were all yellowish in color and males were lacking a mantle, so I suspect that Papio cynocephalus made a larger contribution to their genes than hamadryas, at least.

The rest of the pedestrian zone, the area closest to the park entrance, contained a paddock for 2 Emus, another paddock for a single Warthog, a pen for South African Porcupines, a pen for Leopard Tortoises, an exhibit for Meerkats, a rather large island housing a big troop of Ring-tailed Lemurs and a few Red-belled Lemurs, a lake for Greater Flamingos and a few Yellow-billed Storks, and two walk-through aviaries.

The first walk-through aviary (called "Tropical Rainforest" on the website) houses Blue-and-yellow and Green-winged Macaws, Greater Curassows, and lots of domestic Guinea Pigs (I thought that agoutis would be more appropriate). There is also a cage for Blue-fronted Amazons right next to this aviary.

The second aviary ("Exotic Birds Garden") housed a single Grey Crowned Crane, a couple of Demoiselle Cranes, Abdim's Storks, Masked Lapwings, Silver Pheasant, Golden Pheasant, Lady Amherst's Pheasant, Reeves' Pheasant (all pheasant species seemed to be represented by a single male), Red-crested Turaco, White-cheeked Turaco, Guinea Turaco, Superb Starlings, Purple Glossy Starlings, Masked Lovebirds, Cockatiels, and Ring-neck Parakeets. Along one side of the aviary was a row of cages housing Eclectus Parrots, Kookaburra, Rainbow Lorikeets mixed with Rose-breasted Cockatoos, and Decken's Hornbills. Finally, outside of the aviary was a cage for African Grey Parrots mixed with Senegal Parrots, and another one for Pied Crow.

This concludes the on-show collection at the time of my visit. Photos are coming soon. The park also offers a Birds of Prey show and a Reptiles Presentation, but we did not stay for those.

 

I have uploaded a bunch of photos from my Badoca Safari Park visit. Europaradise is coming next.

 

After the mourning visit to Badoca Safari we drove north from about 3 hours to our next destination – Europaradise. Actually, the name is quite misleading, as it is anything but… I am not sure if the “roadside zoo” term is in use in Europe, but that is exactly what it is. Not everything was bad – the hoofstock paddocks, for example, were adequate (though enclosed with the cheapest fences), and the gibbon island with tall live eucalyptus trees, though overgrown with weeds, would not look out of place in a top-ranking zoo. Accommodations for other primates ranged from old dark stinky cells to larger mesh-covered cages from the 70s to bland featureless islands. The pheasant cages were also small, dark, and in need of maintenance and cleaning (among other things, they were badly littered with feathers). The boardwalk to waterfowl pond was rotten and really scary to walk on (I was expecting to fall through any minute). The worst was the meerkat “exhibit” – looked exactly like old dark outhouse with the hole in the front covered with chicken wire. By far the worst accommodation for meerkats that I’ve ever seen! Overall the zoo looked shabby and abandoned.

I’ve read some reviews before my visit, and so none of this shabbiness was really a surprise. The place was on par with many US roadside zoos of which I’ve visited my fair share. Normally I don’t go out of my way to visit such places, though, unless the collection has some rarities, and that was the case here as well. The main reason for our driving for 3 hours to get to this place was the Single-wattled Cassowary – according to zootierliste, Europaradise is one of only two European institutions housing the species (Walsrode is the other one). There are none on public exhibition in the US, and I’ve never seen one alive. So naturally the Cassowary was one of the species I was looking forward to seeing the most during my whole Portuguese trip. By scanning zootierliste I knew that Europaradise has two species of cassowaries, Single-wattled as well as the more commonly exhibited Double-wattled. Once we got to the zoo and got a chance to glance at the map, we ran directly to an enclosure labeled “Cassowary” and immediately realized that it was so overgrown by weeds and bushes that taking photos or even seeing a cassowary would be pretty much impossible… Fortunately, we also realized that this was a Double-wattled Cassowary enclosure I cannot even begin to imagine my disappointment had it be a Single-wattled enclosure… Keeping the long story short, the Single-wattled Cassowary turned out to be very easy to see, and I took quite a few OK photos (photographing was not difficult but the bird insisted on staying right next to the fence so the mesh frequently was on the way). I’ll post a few photos to the gallery soon.

And here is the complete list of species that I saw during my visit:

Mammals:

· Ring-tailed Lemurs

· Brown Lemurs (signed as Eulemur rufa)

· Black-and-white Ruffed Lemurs

· Red Ruffed Lemurs

· White-tufted Marmosets

· Cotton-top Tamarins

· Black-tufted Capuchins (several family groups: in cages as well as on islands)

· Rhesus Macaques (a lone specimen in a very small and dark cell, and a group in a larger cage. It’s been a while since I saw this species so they were sort of a highlight for me)

· Guereza Colobus (lone specimen)

· White-cheeked Gibbon (on an island with very tall trees, the best and most attractive exhibit in the whole zoo)

· Lar Gibbons (a pair by themselves and another single individual mixed with H. muelleri/moloch)

· Moloch Gibbon (single animal, housed together with a Lar Gibbon and apparently a hybrid offspring – Zootierliste lists this as 1.0 Hylobates muelleri, but the zoo signs says H. moloch; I will post my photos to the gallery for identification. If it turns out to be a moloch it would be another lifer for me).

· Meerkats (housed in perhaps the worst cage in the zoo)

· South African Crested Porcupines

· Raccoons

· Tigers (2 specimens, one white and one orange, housed in a typical road-side zoo enclosure; the orange one was labeled as “Siberian”)

· Bennett’s Wallabies mixed with Reeves’ Muntjacs

· North American Wapitis

· Grant’s Zebras (I saw 2 individuals)

· Greater Kudu (I saw 2 males)

· Addax (I saw just a single specimen)

· Scimitar-horned Oryx (I saw just a single specimen)

· Nilgai

· Aoudad

· Mouflon

· Domestic Goats

· Llamas

Birds:

· Eurasian Eagle Owl

· Himalayan Monal

· Siamese Fireback

· Lady Amhest Pheasant

· Golden Pheasant

· Blue Eared Pheasant

· Crested Fireback (only saw a single female)

· Green Peafowl

· Manchurian Red-crowned Cranes (mixed with Reeves’ Muntjacs)

· Ostriches

· Rhea (including a white one)

· Emus

· Double-wattled Cassowary (did not see, the enclosure was completely overgrowth with weeds and bushes, no chance to see anything)

· Single-wattled Cassowary (a single specimen)

 

Looking forward to your Lourosa and Santo Inacio reviews - I visited a month or two ago.

 

Overthinking in a hopeful manner, the picture shows a regular eland.

 

I don't recall seeing any elands or even a sign for one (I tried to photograph every single sign for my species list)... In any case it wouldn't be a giant eland.

 

I just uploaded a bunch of photos from Europaradise.

 

We started the next day with the morning visit to Zoo de Lourosa, and I found it a great contrast to Europaradise visited the day before. Unlike the former, Zoo de Lourosa is very small (2 hectares or so), pleasant, and professionally managed. The collection is entirely dedicated to birds, quite extensive, with many choice species. Everything is neat, well-planted and well-maintained, signage is excellent and accurate, collection is interesting, photography is easy, what more can one wish for? Overall, this became one of my favorite small zoos. The layout is very straightforward – the waterfowl lake, as well as a few paddocks for large birds (ratites, cranes, flamingos, etc.), are in the middle, with the aviaries for other species around the perimeter. One more thing that I noticed here is that, unlike, for example, Lagos Zoo (which is also heavily bird-focused, though has mammals and reptiles as well), Zoo de Lourosa tries to mix species in geographically correct way, and does that reasonably well. So, once again, a small zoo that is very professionally managed. I highly recommend a visit to anyone interested in birds.

I will post my photos soon, however, since there is no gallery for Zoo Lourosa, they will have to go to Portugal – Other, until the gallery is created.

Here is the species list:

Parrots row

· Red-and-green Macaw (Ara chloropterus), Blue-and-yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna)

· Lilac-crowned Amazon (Amazona finschi), Ecuadorean Red-lored Amazon (Amazona lilacina)

· African Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus), Timneh Parrot (Psittacus timneh), Superb Starling (Lamprotornis superbus), Von der Decken’s Hornbill (Tockus deckeni)

· Red-crowned Amazon (Amazona viridigenalis)

· Blue-throated Macaw (Ara glaucogularis), Red-fronted Green Macaw (Ara rubrogenys), Guira Cuckoo (Guira guira)

· Eclectus Parrot (Eclectus roratus)

· Great Green Macaw (Ara ambiguus)

· Red-tailed Amazon (Amazona brasiliensis)

· Yellow-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea), Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri)

· Orange-winged Amazon (Amazona amazonica)

· Galah (Eolophus roseicapilla), Alexandrine Parakeet (Psittacula eupatria)

Birds of Prey row and a mixed South-American aviary

· Spectacled Owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata)

· King Vulture (Sarcoramphus papa)

· Ringed Teal (Callonetta leucophrys), Black-bellied Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna autumnalis), Sun Bittern (Eurypyga helias), Scarlet Ibis (Eudocimus ruber), Picazuro Pigeon (Patagioenas picazuro)

· Savanna Hawk (Buteogallus meridionalis), Crested Caracara (Caracara plancus)

· Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus)

Mixed Pigeon aviary

· Victoria Crowned Pigeon (Goura victoria), Nicobar Pigeon (Caloenas nicobarica), Emerald Dove (Chalcophaps indica), Temminck’s Tragopan (Tragopan temminckii), Crested Wood Partridge (Rollulus rouloul)

Hornbill row (these were the only glass-fronted enclosures, everything else is netted)

· Rhinoceros Hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros)

· Wrinkled Hornbill (Rhabdotorrhinus corrugatus)

· Silvery-cheeked Hornbill (Bycanistes brevis)

· Southern Ground Hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri)

· Black-casqued Hornbill (Ceratogymna atrata)

· Great Argus (Argusianus argus)

· Indian Great Hornbill (Buceros bicornis)


· Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita) – stand alone cage


Paddocks with larger birds

· Lesser Rhea (Rhea pennata), Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca)

· Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum), White Stork (Ciconia ciconia), Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus)

· Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae)

· Double-wattled Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius) – 2 or 3 paddocks, there was at least one chick on show

· Ostrich (Struthio camelus)


Misc. Aviaries row

· Cinnamon Ground Dove (Gallicolumba rufigula)

· Masked Lapwing (Vanellus miles), Luzon Bleeding-heart (Gallicolumba luzonica), Pied Imperial Pigeon (Ducula bicolor)

· Red-crested Turaco (Tauraco erythrolophus), Violet Turaco (Musophaga violacea), Crested Guineafowl (Guttera pucherani)

· White-cheeked Turaco (Tauraco leucotis), Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris)

· Grean Peafowl (Pavo muticus), Siamese Fireback (Lophura diardi)

· Himalayan Monal (Lophophorus impejanus)


Pheasants row

· Reeves’ Pheasant (Syrmaticus reevesii)

· Palawan Peacock Pheasant (Polyplectron napoleonis)

· Mountain Peacock Pheasant (Polyplectron inopinatum)

· Temminck’s Tragopan (Tragopan temminckii)

· Golden Pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus)

· Satyr Tragopan (Tragopan satyra)

· Siamese Fireback (Lophura diardi)

· Lady Amherst’s Pheasant (Chrysolophus amherstiae)

· Crested Fireback (Lophura ignita ignita)

· Vietnam Pheasant (Lophura edwardsi)

· Blue Eared Pheasant (Crossoptilon auritum)


Curassows row

· Great Curassow (Crax rubra)

· Red-billed Curassow (Red-billed curassow)

· Red-winged Tinamou (Rhynchotus rufescens)

· Nocturnal Curassow (Nothocrax urumutum)

· Northern Helmeted Curassow (Pauxi pauxi)

· Blue-throated Piping Guan (Pipile cumanensis)

· Blue-billed Curassow (Crax alberti)

· Hamerkop (Scopus umbretta), Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus), Fulvous Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna bicolor)


A series of ponds and large covered aviaries for semi-aquatic birds

· Southern Screamer (Chauna torquata), Eastern White Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus)

· Coscoroba (Coscoroba coscoroba), Black-necked Swan (Cygnus melancoryphus), Ne-ne (Branta sandvicensis), Greylag Goose (Anser anser), Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca), Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna), Ruddy Shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea), Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata), North American Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)

· Marabou (Leptoptilos crumenifer), Black Stork (Ciconia nigra), Fulvous Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna bicolor)

· Saddle-billed Stork (Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis), Abdim’s Stork (Ciconia abdimii), Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum), Speckled Pigeon (Columba guinea), Trumpeter Hornbill (Bycanistes bucinator), Fulvous Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna bicolor), White-faced Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna viduata)

· Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus), Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia), Laysan Duck (Anas laysanensis)

· Red-crowned Crane (Grus japonensis)


Small Aviaries row

· Yellow-backed Chattering Lory (Lorius garrulus flavopalliatus) – not seen

· Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae), Masked Lapwing (Vanellus miles)

· Bali Mynah (Leucopsar rothschildi)

 

I just uploaded lots of Zoo Lourosa photos into Portugal – Other gallery. I hope admins will be able to move them to the gallery for the Zoo Lourosa if it gets created.

Zoo de Maia is coming next.

 

After spending a couple of hours at the Zoo de Lourosa, we drove for half an hour to our next destination of the day – Zoo da Maia. That zoo is also quite small (a couple of hectares) and consists of two distinct sections. The older part looks like a typical old-school small city zoo, with an assortment of cages, small paddocks, bear grotto, sea lion pool, reptile house, etc. The newer section seems to still be partially under development, and has a few larger enclosures, mostly for large felines (which apparently were transferred from the older part of the zoo). At this point most of the large species are gone from the old section, the only ones left were a lone brown bear, fur seals, rheas, and alpacas. However, I was surprised to learn that in not so distant past (early 2000s) the old part of the zoo was still housing not only big cats, bears, and pinnipeds (in addition to monkeys, birds, and other smaller species), but also great apes (chimps and orangutan), zebras, and even a Nile hippo. I cannot really understand how they found space for all of these, but (fortunately, I guess) those days are gone! It was interesting to see paddocks with heavy fencing (used for containment of large animals such as hippos, etc.) housing just a few mandarin ducks The larger enclosures in the new section are pretty simple in design – plots of grassy land surrounded by a tall wire fence, with one or two glass viewing areas.

Here is the species list:

Reptile House

· Brazilian salmon-pink bird eating tarantula

· Gouldian finches (several color phases)

· Central Bearded Dragon

· Chinese Fire-bellied Newts

· Red-bellied Piranhas

· Eastern Blue-tongue Skink

· Axolotl (dark phase)

· Leopard Gecko

· African Clawed Frogs

· Red-eyed Tree Frog

· Axolotl (light phase)

· Sheltopusik

· Fly River Turtle

· Burmese Pythons (albino)

· Reticulated Python

· Texas Rat Snakes (several color phases)

· Honduran Milksnake

· Yellow Anaconda

· Boa Constrictor

· Ball Pythons

· McDowell’s Carpet Python

· Nelson’s Milksnake (albino)

· Desert Kingsnake

· Colombian Rainbow Boa

· Western Girdled Lizard

· Giant Zonosaurus

· Saharan Spiny-tailed Lizard

· Collared Iguanid Lizard

· Common Agamas

· Red-footed Tortoise

· Corn Snake

· Darwin Carpet Python

· Cuban Boa

· California Kingsnake

· Argentine Black-and-white Tegu

Older Zoo

· Lesser Flamingos, North American Wood Ducks, Mallards

· Mandarin Ducks, Egyptian Geese (in a sturdy pen that was definitely designed for a larger and stronger species)

· Tufted Capuchins

· Alpacas

· Row of Lemur/Parrot Cages

o Ring-tailed Lemurs

o Red-browed Amazons, Curassow (unsigned; Great or Bare-faced?)

o Yellow-crowned Amazons, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

o Turquoise-fronted Amazon

o Orange-winged Amazon

o African Gray Parrots

o Blue-and-yellow Macaws

· Row of Outdoor Reptile Pens

o Spectacled Caiman, Snapping Turtle

o Green Iguanas, Terrapins (unsigned)

o Russian Tortoises

· Row of Parakeet Aviaries (mostly unsigned). I have been able to identify Rainbow Lorikeets, Nanday Conure, Superb Parakeet, Eclectus Parrots, Alexandrian Parakeet, Patagonian Conures

· Reeves Muntjacs (3 or 4 paddocks, apparently the species breeds well in Portugal)

· Large Cage (perhaps formerly housing large feline): Vervet Monkeys mixed South African Crested Porcupines

· Row of Glass-fronted Primate Cages:

o Grivet Monkey

o Black-cheeked Red-tail Guenons (2)

o Common Marmosets, Hairy Armadillo

o Common Marmosets

o Brown Lemurs

· Brown Bear (glass-fronted grotto)

· Greater Rhea (including white specimen)

· Fur Seals (did not see; apparently the pool was getting cleaned on the day of our visit)

· Mute Swan (apparently the lone inhabitant of a series of cascading pools)

· Lar Gibbons (2, on an island)

· Black-and-white Ruffed Lemurs (in a pretty good enclosure, large, well planted and well furnished, and surrounded by glass windows)

· Pens along the path to the newer section

o Grey Crowned Crane

o Manchurian Cranes

New Section

· Northern Lynx

· Plains Zebra

· Sulcatta Tortoises

· Red-footed Tortoises

· Bennett Wallabies, Cape Barren Goose

· Emus

· Tigers (zoo mix; their enclosure was perhaps the best in the whole zoo, with glass viewing windows and large pool with underwater viewing)

· Lions

· Leopards (exhibit was still being built)

Photos are coming up.

 

I just finished posting Zoo da Maia photos. Parque Biologico de Gaia is next

 

Parque Biologico de Gaia was our third and final facility for the day. It was also the by far the largest in area (35 hectares of former farmland), with long walks between individual exhibits, and we stayed there till closing time. Needless to say, especially considering our visiting two other zoos in the morning, I was quite exhausted by the time our Gaia visit ended. Nevertheless, the visit was very enjoyable. The collection consists of European (and mostly local) species, which was especially interesting for me given the near absence of European species in the US. All exhibits were great from the animal welfare standpoint, and interesting in design – most of them could only been viewed from wooden hides (to simulate wildlife viewing experience, I suppose). My only complaint was the walking distance between exhibits, and low species density in each individual exhibit. I remember thinking that most of the bird species scattered over the large expanse of the park, with a lot of walking between them, could be comfortably accommodated in one or two large walk-through aviaries. This became an issue especially if one wanted to come back to certain exhibits later in the day – there is no other option but to walk the full loop all over again. However, the walking trails were gorgeous, and were I not so tired on that day I would probably love the hike, as I’m sure most visitors doAlso, one of the park’s primary attractions, Biorama, was closed (for renovations?) at the time of my visit, but there were no notices of that (at least we did not see any) and so we had to hike all the way up the hill just to find locked doors. The interior appears to be all gutted, but I could not find any info on what is being done there. In the past, this indoor exhibit was featuring exotic birds in free-flight setting, as well as dinosaur models.

Here is the exhibit/species list in the order I have seen them (as in my other lists, excluding farm animals):

· European River Otter (no show, despite stepping by twice at the start and at the end of our visit)

· Lake and Field: Whooping Swan, Mallards (possibly wild), Grey Heron (possibly wild?), White Storks (we saw a flock of about ten or more in an open field, not sure if they were wild, rescues, flightless, etc.)

· Aviary for Cattle Egrets and Black-crowned Night Herons, attached to indoor viewing area (with 2 exhibits: one for Little Owls and another one for Short-eared Owl), and two more smaller outdoor aviaries (one for Common Kestrel, another for Iberian Pond Turtles)

· Aviary for Black Storks, Eurasian Oystercatchers, Common Pochard, Red-crested Pochard. Nearby was a small pond for exotic (invasive?) species of turtles (the following were signed: Pond Slider, River Cooter, False Map Turtle)

· A complex of 3 aviaries sharing a common covered viewing area: one for Little Bittern with Tufted Ducks and European Pond Turtles; one for Common Wood Pigeons and Black-bellied Sandgrouse; and one for Iberian Azure-winged Magpies

· An aviary for Black-winged Stilts

· A complex of 2 aviaries sharing a common covered viewing area: one for Common Jays and Common Magpies, and one for Common Raven and Carrion Crows

· Common Badger exhibit (a wire-fenced outdoor exhibit with an attached glass-fronted darkened burrow)

· Ferret (or Polecat?) exhibit (open top, with glass barriers). Signed as Mustela putorius furo , however the active individual on exhibit appeared wild-looking to me.

· Fallow Deer (very large paddock)

· Grey Partridge aviary (no show)

· Aviary for Black Kites and Red Kites

· Common Fox exhibit (no show)

· Alpine Ibex exhibit (new species for me, however I would appreciate an Iberian Ibex even more)

· Wild Boars

· Roe Deer (no show)

· Wisents (I was looking forward to seeing them, as there are none currently in North America as far as I know, and it’s been a while since I’ve seen them. However, the few specimens kept at Parque de Gaia looked inbred and far from perfect – almost straight horns, etc.☹)

· Farmhouse with exhibits for Long-eared Owl, Tawny Owl, Eurasian Eagle-Owl, Barn Owl, Iberian Mongoose, Iberian Genet

· Ducks’ aviary (Common Pintail, Common Shelduck, Red-crested Pochard, Eurasian Widgeon, Tufted Duck, Grey Heron)

· Bonelli’s Eagle, Griffon Vulture

· Booted Eagle

· Common Buzzard

· Short-toed Snake-Eagle

 

Photos from Parque Biologico de Gaia have been posted to the gallery

 

We started next morning with the visit to Zoo Santo Inacio. The zoo is what I consider a medium size (15 hectares) with well-rounded collection comprising both a good variety of ABC species and quite a few rarities (especially for an overseas visitor). There was nothing earth shuttering in terms of exhibitry, but everything was well maintained, mostly photography-friendly and visually appealing, and I saw no animal welfare concerns. The Asian lion complex, with a walk-through tunnel, was perhaps the most striking exhibit, and I also liked the African savanna complex (two large adjacent moated exhibits – one for giraffes, various antelopes, and ostriches, and another for rhinos and zebras). There were no obvious thematic sections, which I actually liked (I think that they overdo this in the US). So overall this is a pleasant medium-sized city zoo, well stocked with animals, in decent exhibits that are all in close proximity (unlike our previous-day visit to Gaia Parque with long hikes between individual exhibits). Kind of like Lisbon Zoo (which I visited towards the end of the trip), but on a smaller scale. We had a great visit, with remarkably few no shows, and the zoo’s moderate acreage easily allowed for return visits to various exhibits in quest of better photo opportunities (something that wasn’t really the case in Gaia Parque the day before).

Here are the species that I saw (or at least saw a sign of), listed roughly in order of their appearance:

• Meerkats
• Reptile House – exhibits with outdoor access:

Sulcatta Tortoise
Snapping Turtle
African Dwarf Crocodile​

• Reptile House – indoor exhibits:

Green Iguana
Prehensile-tail Skink
Yellow Anaconda
Weber’s Sailfin Lizard, Four-line Zonosaurus
Russian Tortoise
Cuban Boa
Scheltopusik
Savanna Monitor
Boa Constrictor
Green Anaconda
Reticulated Python
Spectacled Caiman
Taiwanese Beauty Snake
Eastern Painted Turtle
Sudan Plated Lizard
Ball Python
Eastern Blue-tongue Skink
Indian Sand Boa
Green Tree-Python​

• Asian Plains (main exhibit): Blackbuck, Water Buffalo (also free-ranging Prairie-Dogs)
• Asian Plains (side yards): Visayan Spotted Deer
• Lemur Island: Ring-tailed Lemurs
• Row of Primate Exhibits:

Black-faced Black Spider Monkeys
Cotton-top Tamarins
Ring-tailed Lemurs, Black-and-white Ruffed Lemurs
Red Ruffed Lemurs​

• Parrot Aviaries

Yellow-shouldered Amazon
Blue-and-yellow Macaws
Hyacinth Macaw
Scarlet Macaws
Chestnut-fronted Macaws​

• Tropical World pavilion

Ring-tailed Lemurs (free-ranging)
South African Crested Porcupine​

• Exhibit adjacent to Tropical World: Red Pandas, Reeves’ Muntjacs
• Amur Tigers
• Asian Small-clawed Otters
• Asian Lions (with walk-through tunnel)
• Spotted Hyenas
• African Wild Dogs
• Eurasian Lynx
• African Savanna: Giraffes (1.0 Kordofan and 1.0 Baringo), Black Wildebeest, Mhorr Gazelle, Southern Lechwe, Ostrich
• African Savanna: White Rhinos, Plains Zebras
• Bactrian Camels
• Cheetahs
• Stump-tailed Macaques
• Lesser Flamingos
• Lemur Island: White-fronted Lemurs
• Pygmy Hippo, Southern Ground Hornbill
• Waxbills glass-enclosed cage

I don’t recall any signs, but I did see White-rumped Munias and Common Waxbills​

• Row of Aviaries

Emperor Tamarins
African Grey Parrots (Goffin’s Cockatoo also signed but not seen)
African Sacred Ibis​

• Row of Birds of Prey Aviaries

Raven
Golden Eagle
Siberian Eagle Owl (not seen)
Hooded Vulture
African White-backed Vulture
Marabou Stork
White-tailed Eagle​

• Saddle-billed Storks (breeding pair, with two chicks)
• Nyalas
• Bennett’s Wallabies and Emus
• Collared Peccaries and Striated Caracaras
• Llamas
• Patagonian Maras
• Brazilian Tapirs and Capybaras
• Humboldt’s Penguins
• Snow Leopards
• Nocturnal Animal House

Indian Flying Foxes
Brown Rats
Sugar Gliders
Larger Hairy Armadillo (not seen)
Invertebrate Cases: Brazilian White-knee Tarantula, Giant West African Snail, Madagascar Hissing Cockroach, African Giant Black Millipede, Bended Stick Insect, Giant Spiny Stick Insect, Caribbean Hermit Crab, Leopard Gecko, Asiatic Scorpion, Red-knee Tarantula​

 

Photos from Zoo Santo Inacio were uploaded.

 

Thank you for all these reviews and species lists of what really is a dark hole in terms of coverage here. Curious to see what your thoughts were on the Lisbon zoo and aquaria, as it is the only places I have visited in Portugal (same will be true for other zoochatters). I am also curiou why you chose a Portuguese zootour above somewhere else on the continent .

 

No problem I did enjoy writing these reviews (one more is coming up - Parque Biologico de Serra de Lousa), especially since I did realize the scarcity of information about those obscure places.
Personally, I liked Lisbon Zoo a lot. I understand that it may not be a top European Zoo and some parts do look dated, however I do appreciate it for what it is: a city zoo with large and diverse collection (including lots of hoofstock species and other megafauna), something that is becoming a rarity nowadays (unfortunately in my opinion). Here in the US I certainly see the decline of city zoos over the past 20 years, with massive collection reductions and homogenization, and I like that Lisbon Zoo, so far, is resisting the trend. I have heard, for example, that US zoos are not really interested in exotic bovines (gaurs, buffalos, etc.), because to build an exhibit for them you have to pretty much build a rhino exhibit, at which point you might as well just get a rhino (much more attractive for general public). Well, Lisbon does have Cape Buffalos (great rarity in the US) AND two(!) species of rhinos. Moreover, many sections of the zoo have been modernized and look quite decent. I did not really notice anything truly bad (except maybe baboon cage, and even that may work just fine for its residents). And, of course, there were lots of species that are either absent or very rare in the US, and I was very keen to see them (Iberian Lynx was the greatest highlight).
Oceanario de Lisboa was very nice. I was told by many folks that it would blow me out of the water and I understand that it is one of the top aquariums in Europe. However I've been to most of the great US aquariums (Shedd, Monterey, Georgia, Baltimore, Aquarium of the Pacific, New England, Adventure Aquarium, Newport, 2 SeaWorld parks, Mandalay Bay in Vegas, and many others), and so am kind of spoiled. Besides, I am not really a fish guy - I do appreciate a whale shark, a manta ray, or a mola mola, but overall I am much less knowledgeable and interested in fish than mammals, birds, and herps. So, while I liked the oceanarium and think its a great facility, I did not spend there anywhere near the amount of time that I spent at the zoo (for comparison, I spent almost two full days at the zoo, and maybe 2 hours max at the oceanarium). Sea otters and alcids were great, but I just went to Alaska in August, saw and photographed sea otters and two puffin species in the wild, and besides neither are really that rare in the US zoos. I did like the fact that the sea otters and alcids were easy to photograph. In the US they are usually kept behind the glass, which is more often than not is completely covered with water splashes, and the photography is very challenging. The oceanarium also had a mola mola, but it was a not so impressive immature specimen. Fortunately I have seen and photographed them in Monterey Bay Aquarium a few years ago.
Finally, Aquario Vasco da Gama is a very small and historic facility. The collection is mostly fish and inverts, with a couple of common turtles. I did appreciate the history and the museum feel of it, but it took us less than half an hour to tour that place.

As far as why I chose Portugal as my first European zoo trip country, it was pretty much a combination of circumstances A friend of mine (with whom I was touring) was attending a EAZA conference in Portugal and asked me if I would like to join him for a tour afterwards. Before the pandemic, it was our tradition to go on an annual zoo tour somewhere, but we haven't done that for two years. And my loving wife, very kindly, agreed to let me go for a week, and took full care of the house and our two kids while I was away, for which I am super grateful! So off I went to Portugal

This summer we are planning a family trip to Europe, and my family chose Spain. My kids have never been to Europe before and are super excited to go. If everything goes well, we will spend about three weeks in Spain, two of which will be occupied with normal sightseeing (we hope to visit Barcelona, Madrid, Toledo, Sevilla, Granada), but one week will hopefully be dedicated to zoos. I don't have anything fully planned yet, so will be posting questions on zoochat as it gets closer.

 

I just posted my photos from Parque Biologico da Serra da Lousa. This facility is mainly focusing on native (or at least European) species, heavily mixed with domestics. Compared to Parque Biologico de Gaia that I visited a few days prior, this is a less impressive establishment exhibitry-wise, with quite a few shabby enclosures, about half of them of them filled with random domestic species. Enclosures for large species (wolves, lynx, foxes, wild boar, deer, and bears) were OK, but the small carnivores and many bird cages were quite poor. Nevertheless, coming from the US where the European species are far and few between, I saw many interesting animals (some lifers) and did not regret my visit. Collection-wise, this park has more high-profile European species than Biologico de Gaia (wolves, lynx, bears, red deer), while Gaia has more bird rarities.

And here is the list of what I've seen (not including all of the farm animals, which were everywhere. There is a dedicated farm animal section right after one enters the park, however the rest of the park is also filled with domestics):

• Cage with random mix of domestic and semi-domestic birds: chickens, mallards, muscovy and mandarin ducks, golden and silver pheasant, blue peafowl, domestic pigeons, moorhen
• White Stork enclosure (with domestic geese as next door neighbors)
• Asian Small-clawed Otter enclosure (with domestic ducks as next door neighbors). I would much prefer seeing a Eurasian Otter here, given that I missed that species at Gaia.
• Brown Bears exhibit (with 2 bears)
• Row of bird of prey cages: Carrion Crow, Raven, Eurasian Eagle Owl, Common Buzzard, Black Kite. There is also an old stand-alone cage for Snake-Eagle
• Small turtle exhibit, signed for Red-eared Sliders, but I think I also saw Spanish Pond Turtles there as well
• Row of small mammal cages housing Egyptian Mongoose, Eurasian Badger, Common Genet, and Wild Rabbits. There is also a stand alone cage for Domestic Ferret. I was glad to be able to take photos of Mongoose, Genets, and Badgers. Genets were sort of a lifer for me, even though I have had a brief glimpse of the species at Gaia a few days prior, they never really came out and so my first photos of the species were taken at Serra de Lousa!
• Large paddocks for Mouflons, Red Deer, Fallow Deer, and domestic goats (most paddocks are taken by goats) Paddocks were quite large and attractive, and I just wish they replaced the goats with something more exciting, like Iberian ibex
• Wild Boar exhibit - home to a large breeding herd, with 2 adult males
• Row of fairly-large exhibits for carnivores: Red Fox (not seen), Eurasian Lynx, Iberian Wolves (another lifer for me, at the subspecies level), and, of course, more goats
• Small reptile shed, almost empty, with two tanks populated: one for unsigned Tortoise species and one for Spanish Pond Turtle
• "Roundhouse" with 4 owl species: Tawny, Barn, Long-eared, and Little Owls
• Finally, a Llama paddock

And this concludes my Portugal report.