Pandasia is one of the most recent great additions to the Dutch zoos. Therefore I thought my fellow Zoochatters might like a review of this new exhibit. I will discuss Pandasia in 6 different parts, 5 of which are about Pandasia and the final one is about the giant pandas themselfs. 1. General impression Pandasia is a Asian themed giant panda exhibit, situated somewhere beween the Jungle Restaurant, the pelican and sea lion ponds and the Bear Forest, in the upper corner of Ouwehands Zoo. It comprises two visable outdoor and two visable indoor enclosures for the giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) "Xing Ya" and "Wu Wen". The building itself also has a restaurant, a giftshop, a business event facility and a small education square between the indoor exhibits. The giftshop and restaurant are one floor higher than the indoor panda exhibits. Besides the giant pandas themselfs, Pandasia also houses nepalese red panda (Ailurus fulgens fulgens), reeve's muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi) and domestic yak (Bos grunniens) in two other enclosures. A small nocturnal house (still not open to the public) will most likely house spectral tarsier* (Tarsius spectrum), common spotted cuscus (Spilocuscus maculatus) and Chinese crocodile lizards (Shinisaurus crocodilurus). 2. Animal exhibits The main attractions in Pandasia are of course the giant panda exhibits. 4 enclosures are visable. The outdoor enclosures are very lush and look great. They are definately not overly big, but they seem certainly adequate for the pandas housed within (keeping my limited experience with giant pandas in mind). The enclosures comprise several wooden platforms, some trees and a small stream. As the enclosures are quite narrow, a lot of people can watch the pandas at the same time. The pandas themselfs don't seem to mind the public. The indoor exhibits are also decent sized, especially if one keeps in mind that several elevated wooded walkways create extra floorspace (the pandas made full use of it when I was there). Although they exhibits are clearly made with their functionally in mind, they are still overly themed. The enclosure for red panda and muntjac is a former capibara enclosure (and before the capibaras it housed saddle-billed stork). It has been slightly renovated, but it still struck me as hardly different from when the capibaras were still in there (except the replacement of the large water moat with a dry moat). It would certainly have benefitted from more climbing opportunities, but it is better than the former red panda exhibit in Rhenen. If the trees inside the enclosure grow larger and mature, the exhibit will be about the same quality as the majority of red panda enclosures. It is however, a little small for muntjac. I can't really comment on the noctural house as it isn't open yet. The yak enclosure was already there (it only got a new sign as far as I could see) and is a simple but decent paddock. The side enclosures are adequate, but nothing special. 3. Theming While I would describe the animal enclosures with terms like "decent" and "adequate", the theming is superb. The building is well designed with a lot of Chinese theming and extraordinary eye for detail, which is not surprising for a giant panda exhibit. All pathways, fences, signs, the restaurant and gift shop are themed as well, with the exception of the side exhibits (red panda and yak). The indoor exhibits are also heavily themed, but they are definately not as beautiful as the rest of the Pandasia. They seemed perfectly adequate for the pandas, but something looked off. I just can't put my finger on it. One detail that really struck me was a decoration of a stone dragon on the outside wall of the giftshop. The bamboo planted everywhere in Pandasia does give it a more "Asian" feeling overall. 4. Education The education in Pandasia is of high quality and comprises at least a film about deforestation of bamboo forest and quite a lot of signs dotted all allround the panda exhibits. I saw several visitors watching the film with great attention. The signs are of high quality too and look simple but attractive, yet provide enough information for most visitors. Despite the high quality, the signs provided nothing truly amazing or special. One sign that struck me as particularly relevant, was a sign that explained the concept of the giant panda as an umbrella species. 5. Place within the zoo Ouwehands Zoo has always had a special bond with bears. With polar bears, giant pandas, brown bears and sun bears, the bear collection is definately better than average, and it is clear why Rhenen is well-known for it's bears. Pandasia is something Ouwehands has never seen before. As it is so different form the rest of the park, one would suspect that Pandasia wouldn't really fit in. But strangely, it still does. Rhenen lacks a overall building style or theme, but that does make the park attractive and gives every major exhibit its own feeling. Pandasia therefore, despite being something completely unique, fits in nicely with the rest of the zoo. 6. Thoughts about giant pandas Before seeing giant pandas in real life, I always wondered what made them so special. And I still do. While the giant panda is indeed one of the most handsome of bear species, I think the andean bear is even more attractive. Giant pandas are not the most impressive of bears, that title for me goes to the classic brown bear, and I would say sun bears and american black bears are more enjoyable to watch. So while I was indeed happy to be able to see and photograph the giant panda for the very first time, I wasn't nearly as exited as the first time I saw for example a river dolphin, a shoebill stork, a king bird-of-paradise or a Sunda gharial. All things considered, Pandasia an amazing addition to Ouwehands Zoo, I truly enjoyed it, even though I'm not that fond of giant pandas in general. I certainly hope this exhibit is another step in the right direct to change Ouwehands into one the major Dutch zoos again. * I haven't seen any article or sign that said more than just "tarsier", so I noted the species featured on Zootierliste.
Indeed, can't remember off the top of my head how many they have for each but I think the cuscus is down to just one male now.
Update on Pandasia As a couple of things have changed over the past few month, I thought you might like an update. First of all, a nice group of reeve's muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi) are now visible. They were still behind the scenes when I wrote the review. More important is the opening of the nocturnal house. It is located close to the panda exhibit, but placed in a way that most visitors skip it. It also doesn't really look like an animal exhibit, it is simply a small, all-black little building. The inside however, houses a couple of the finest zoological jewels that Rhenen exhibits. To reduce stress, the door is (mostly?) only open after noon, or even later. The nocturnal house itself is a single room, with 2 exhibits on the right, 2 on the left and one in the back. Information signs are in the middle, and more or less divide the room into two parts. The two exhibits on the right are connected and house 1.0 spectral tarsier (Tarsius spectrum/T. tarsier), which is the only tarsier of any kind in a European zoo. You can only see it through a couple of viewing holes (to prevent stress), so viewing is not ideal. Luckely, the tarsier is rarely difficult to spot. The two connected exhibits on the left house 1.0 common spotted cuscus (Spilocuscus maculatus), likewise the only one of it's kind in a European zoo. The viewing is the same as with the tarsier, but the cuscus is even easier to spot because of it's size. Both enclosures seem fine from the animal welfare point of view, and offer lots of naturalistic climbing opportunities. Both animals seemed very relaxed and made good use of their exhibit every time I was there. The last exhibit, featuring the same sort of viewing holes, will house Chinese crocodile lizards (Shinisaurus crocodilurus) in the near future. Photography without using flash is very difficult for both tarsier and cuscus. Rhenen is appearently looking for mates for their single tarsier and cuscus, but admitted it will be very difficult. There used to be a female tarsier, but she died before the opening. Because of the way the exhibit are made, they could easily hold other popular noctural species (like bush babies, lorises or other cuscus species) if the zoo fails to find mates for their current animals. I really liked the cuscus, which is weird and handsome at the same time, and the tarsier, which is just a wonderful creature. I truly hope they can find potential mates, but I guess the chances are very slim. So you really should visit sometime soon if you have the chance.
