Two ravens from the former Efteling show ‘Raveleijn’ have been given a new home in the Belgian zoo Pakawi Park. The zoo reports this on social media. The choice for the park is striking, because in recent years the zoo has often received negative press.
Source: looopings.nl
With a short message on social media, Pakawi Park announces the arrival of the two fairytale animals. “Black, smart and a bit mysterious,” writes the zoo. “Two ravens recently found their new home in Pakawi Park. They moved all the way from Efteling.”
Earlier this year, Efteling stopped the horse show ‘Raveleijn’. The performance has been running since 2011 and was based on the book of the same name by Paul van Loon. The new production no longer contains animals, so the horses and birds had to be relocated.
Some of the horses previously moved to the French theme park Puy du Fou, producer of ‘Raveleijn’. Nothing was yet known about the destination of the birds. Until now.
Controversial
The choice for Pakawi Park is striking. The Olmen zoo has repeatedly received negative news in recent years. In March, the Flemish government started a procedure to revoke the park’s permit due to persistent problems with safety, hygiene and animal welfare.
Inspections between 2021 and 2025 showed that several shortcomings had not been structurally resolved. Enclosures for dangerous animals did not always meet standards and there were problems with hygiene, pest control and staffing. Elephant Kariba also lived alone for two years after the death of her companion Jenny in December 2022.
Pakawi Park was given the opportunity to submit a written defense. The zoo emphasized that more than 2.5 million euros had been invested in improvements and new enclosures in recent years. “It will be a fairly lengthy defense statement. After that we will have to wait and see, but we are doing everything we can to keep the park open,” the park responded at the time.
The park also received negative news outside the animal enclosures. In 2024, the director and co-owner was sentenced to four years in prison, half of which was conditional, for the sexual assault of nine female employees.