Olmen Zoo, Zoo in Olmen, Balen, Belgium
Pakawi Park is a zoo in Olmen, part of Balen, that specialises in felids: African lions, white tigers, black leopards, Eurasian lynx, servals and cougars. It also keeps more than 200 bird species, including parrots, owls, eagles, flamingos, cranes and ibises, plus monkeys, rodents, deer, snakes and bears. A taxidermy lynx with a raised paw stands in a glass-fronted enclosure in an indoor corridor.
Louis Roofthooft, a former ship's captain from the Antwerp port area, moved his private animal collection to Olmen in 1976 and opened it to the public in 1980. A circus tent stood beside the grounds, and its artists worked as animal keepers. After his death in the early 1990s the park was sold, and the Verheyen family took over in 1995, when it drew about 9,000 visitors.
The name Pakawi combines the names of the owners' children, and it replaced Olmense Zoo on 22 June 2019. The park grew out of a private collection started by Louis Roofthooft, a former ship's captain who kept a circus tent beside the grounds where the animal carers performed daily shows.
The park lies in Olmen, part of Balen in Antwerp province, and is not a member of EAZA. It lost its public zoo licence on 11 October 2017 over animal welfare violations and reopened on 18 November 2017 after enclosures were adapted and species moved. Check current opening arrangements before travelling.
The zoo long specialised in cheetahs, the hobby of the Verheyen family who took over in 1995; a breeding programme was attempted for years without real success. In 2007 a woman entered the cheetah enclosure and was fatally bitten. After the last female died in early 2011, the remaining male went to France; a new pair arrived in 2015.
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