Elephants » Dierenrijk Europe

Elephants
20-07-2008

I would be grateful for any reports on this zoo. I visited it shortly after it opened, a few years ago, when the focus was very much on European animals. This seems to have been stretched a little now, with tigers and elephants arriving. Does anyone know why this has happened? I presume it is because visitors were not flocking in, but it seems an odd move in a country where elephants are done so well by so many other zoos. is this a zoo worth a visit? or, to put it anohter way, if it were a choice between here and say, Gaiapark, which would people choose?

Thanks!

20-07-2008

They had very low visitornumbers. In my opinion because it looked like crap and they could have exploited the europe-theme much better before abandoning it (the collecting was very small and quite ordinary). So now they have tigers, elephants and camels etc.

If you can choose between gaia and dierenrijk i would say go to gaia. I haven't been in Dierenrijk for a while and i heared they improved their look a great deal, but i think it will still take a couple of years before it looks like a proper zoo.

03-08-2008

With the new elephants exhibit, and since last week two Asian black bears (Ursus thibetanus) arrived this zoo certainly is more attractive for visitors.

20-12-2008

Who knows how much elephant enclosure cost?

From pictures, this looks laughingly simple and very effective - paddock, space, grass to graze, some trees to shade. Model for other zoos who spend much more money on worse elephant exhibits!

22-12-2008

I don't know the costs, it depends on how much you will/can spend. Look here to see how Rhene Zoo build their enclosure: Rhenen_Nieuwbouw_Eng
As you can see the outside enclosure is large but simple to build. The most expensvie part is the new barn.