Pairi Daiza

Pairi Daiza is a privately owned zoo and botanical garden at Brugelette in Hainaut, 75 hectares laid out on the grounds of the former Cistercian abbey of Cambron, and home to more than seven thousand animals. The name comes from the Avestan pairi daēza, the root of the word paradise. It is a member of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria. The abbey ruins and the planting are as much of the appeal as the collection. The site is organised as a series of walled gardens and world regions, and it takes a full day rather than a morning.