Yesterday I visited Budapest, the final station of my Pallas Pilgrimage. Again I arrived early at the zoo to maximize my chance of seeing the manuls. The enclosure had fewer toys than the Brno enclosure and fewer hiding spots than Prague. I spotted little Boris almost immediately in the back of the enclosure near the little house and also saw Lucy's bright eyes staring out of the shadow of the house.
Today I visited the 2nd zoo of my Pallas Pilgrimage. The Brno Zoo is quite far from the city center but easy to reach via public transport. There are still some old fashioned enclosures with metal bars (similar to Figa's enclosure in Nogeyama) but the zoo also has modern enclosures and is currently in the process of building more new enclosures.
When I first went to the manul enclosure, I couldn't spot them so I looked at some of the animals. There was a sign posted that informed the visitors of the birth date of the minuls and another sign that asked visitors to be quiet to not disturb the young manuls (similar signs were on all enclosures with young animals). I went back to the manul enclosure when I realized that some other animals had just received their breakfast and suspected, the pallas cats might have received theirs too.
My pilgrimage in Prague was a big success. I followed the advice to visit them early in the day and they both appeared. I was a bit worried because the day prior there was a post on Reddit (r/PallasCats) speculating that the manuls might not be in the enclosure because the user couldn't spot them.
I thought I'd share this with my fellow manulovers. The artist still allows me minor revisions so if you spot something that could be improved, let me know so I can discuss it with the artist.
I am planning a Pallas pilgrimage to Prague, Brno and Budapest.
Do you have any advice at what time of day the manuls are easiest to spot and where in each zoo the manul enclosure is located? Do any of the zoos stock manul merch?
I am also grateful for any other advice you can give me.
