Pairi Daiza unveils a fascinating prehistoric world: Prehi Daiza, The Lands of The Past!

Visitors discover a wondrous world and the importance of nature conservation.

7 February 2025

Before kicking off the new 2025 season, Pairi Daiza shares an absolute visitor record in 2024: 2,651,270 visitors, 111 native wild animals in urgent need were rescued and cared for by Géraldine’s Heaven at Pairi Daiza, and 529 (often mistreated) reptiles or amphibians found a new home in Le Refuge by the Pairi Daiza Foundation. The Pairi Daiza Resort can also boast record number, the occupancy rate stands at 95%, including the 21 Farmhouse Lodges opened in 2024.

From February 8, the start of the 2025 season, Pairi Daiza invites visitors on an extraordinary journey through time. They can travel millions of years back to explore the fascinating prehistoric era and draw parallels between the extinction of the dinosaurs and today's conservation challenges.

In ‘The Land of The Cold,’ the open-air exhibition “Prehi Daiza, The Lands of The Past" offers an impressive glimpse into the past:

Around sixty dinosaurs and Ice Age animals come to life in lifelike reconstructions. In the entrance building, The Gallery of The Worlds, visitors can admire Vulcain, an authentic Apatosaurus skeleton, a witness to the Jurassic era.

A Journey among Prehistoric Giants

From majestic Brachiosaurs to fearsome T-Rexes and Spinosaurs, the realistic reconstructions (some up to 20 meters long) are brought to life with advanced technology. Sound effects enhance this educational and immersive experience, clarifying the evolution of life on Earth.

This unique exhibition was developed in collaboration with Dino Don, Inc., a world leader in robotic exhibits for zoos and museums. The lifelike animatronics move with whisper-quiet motors, making their breathing and movements appear natural.

Included in Pairi Daiza's entrance fee, "Prehi Daiza, The Lands of The Past" offers an entertaining and educational experience.

This exhibition aims to make visitors reflect about our planet. Some of these giant creatures disappeared less than 10,000 years ago, reminding us of our planet’s fragility. Visitors are immersed in a wondrous world while discovering the importance of conservation.

The exhibition features over 20 prehistoric animal species, including Timimus, Pachyrhinosaurus, Leallynasaura, Woolly Mammoth, Stegosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Raptor, Parasaurolophus, Pelycosauria, and Carnotaurus. Hyper-realistic animatronic Velociraptors will roam freely through the park, creating unforgettable surprises.

THEMED AREAS IN ‘The Land of The Cold’

Land of the Mammoths: Encounter impressive creatures like the Megalonyx (giant sloth) and the Woolly Rhinoceros.
Polar Zones: Discover surprising species like Atlascopcosaurus, Wintonotitan, and Nanuqsaurus, adapted to cold climates.
Land of the Giants: Edmontosaurus and Tyrannosaurus rex lived together in a fragile ecosystem.

For a fully immersive experience, each period is accurately reconstructed with natural vegetation. In the Land of the Giants zone, visitors can admire a 43-meter-long, 57-ton fossilized tree trunk from Indonesia – a rare and fascinating fossil millions of years old.

Vulcain: A Breathtaking Fossil

Exclusively at Pairi Daiza, Vulcain, an exceptional Apatosaurus skeleton, is on display. Discovered in Wyoming in 2018, this fossil dates back 150 million years and is 21 meters long. It is one of the best-preserved Apatosaurus fossils in the world, with 80% original bones, including part of the skull – a rarity for this species.

Vulcain is one of the largest dinosaur skeleton exhibited in Europe. It has been assembled under the supervision of Belgian paleontologist Pascal Godefroit and is displayed in The Gallery of The Worlds, at the park’s entrance.

A preliminary assessment by a Swiss paleontologist suggests that Vulcain belongs to the genus Apatosaurus, one of the superstars from the Jurassic. The mosaic of anatomical features observed, however, seems to indicate the presence of a completely new species of apatosaur. The study of Vulcain has been entrusted to a team of palaeontologists from the Institute of Natural Sciences (Brussels), who for several years have also been organizing excavations on the site where Vulcain was found. In particular, the scientists will have to confirm Vulcain's identification, specify its environment and lifestyle, understand what caused the large wound at the base of its tail and explain the circumstances of its death.

This prehistoric treasure is on loan from Belgian entrepreneur and investor, and Pairi Daiza shareholder Marc Coucke, offering visitors a unique opportunity to admire an extraordinary paleontological master piece.

"Dinosaurs make us reflect on the beauty, vulnerability, and mortality of animals and humans – a part of the transformative experience we aim to foster at Pairi Daiza. My interest in them grew stronger later in life; I truly started reading about them when I had already lived half a century on this planet. The realization that we all – humans and dinosaurs – are merely tiny dots on the immense timeline of the Earth. Just like the rare animals at Pairi Daiza, they serve as ambassadors to ignite our commitment to biodiversity." – Marc Coucke