On the outskirts of Hout Bay, a man named Walter Mangold
has set up a park that he calls the World of Birds .
It occupies about 3.5 hectares of a hillside
and is home to over 3000 birds and small animals.
Large walk through aviaries have been built
and visitors can walk through them.
Walter loves birds and over the years he has
collected and nursed many injured birds back to health.
The birds that could be released he released but
those that could not fly or would not have survived
in the wild he kept in large cages or aviaries.
So succesful has he been in his rehabilitation practises
that the birds now build nests and rear their young in captivity.
Visitors can get up really close to look at
them going about their natural routines.
For children this park is a must.
Some of the scarcer and protected birds he has nursed back
to health are kept in the background, away from the public.
His attempts to breed with them have been most successful.
Some of the threatened species successfully bred include
SA's national bird (the Blue Crane) the Bald Ibis,
the NeNe or Hawaiian Goose, and several rare
South American Marmosets and Tamarins.
To see some of the successes that have been achieved visit The World of Birds
when you next visit Hout Bay.
