This is just a bit of fun to judge the general consensus on the best enclosure for Bonobos in Beneleux I have added a few photos from the gallery to make it easier for members to compare the different exhibits. If anyone wants to make an argument for a particular enclosure, please feel free to do so. Also, I would encourage people to perhaps list the enclosures in order of what they determine to be the best. Planckendael Apenheul
This will have to be Planckendael. Both outdoor enclosures are of a very high quality, but indoors Planckendael outperforms Apenheul. They have a number of tall indoor enclosures that allow for fission-fusion, whereas in Apenheul, the indoor space is relatively limited...
Outdoors I like both of them much. Apenheul is slightly better I think, with more climbing opportunities. Indoor however, Apenheul is very basic and not that big, as lintworm already said, while Planckendaell has a great indoor. So that’s why I go for Planckendaell, however it is a close one.
Planckendael have recently refitted their outdoors with more climbing opportunities so it is even better than before. Apenheul will always be dear to my heart but Planckendael are not only the base for the bonobo studbook but also have the newest indoor facilities (until Ouwehands open their enclosure later this year) of any zoo with bonobos in Europe, which can fit way more animals than Apenheul ever could. Apenheul do practice fission-fusion as well as Planckendael it should be noted....but there is an opportunity for simultaneous indoor and outdoor access at Planckendael, whereas this is not the case at Apenheul; one subgroup must be indoors and one outdoors. Here is the updated Planckendael outdoors: Updated Planckendael bonobo outdoors by ShonenJake13 posted 10 Aug 2020 at 10:59 AM
That updated photo from Planckendael (via @ShonenJake13)seals the deal for the Belgian zoo and easily gives them the 'win' in this thread. Both zoos have outstanding outdoor areas, but once again a slight fault of Apenheul is the indoor zone for their apes. I vote for Planckendael.
I'm probably biased as Planckendael is my local zoo and it is very dear to my heart, but I will side with the majority and vote for Planckendael. The new bonobo house at Planckendael is very well thought out, designed and constructed and the new climbing structures on the island have further improved the enclosure. The only improvement I think they could make is to make a live tree, currently hotwired off from the apes, available to them. While I would say the two outdoor exhibits are high quality, I think the new building at Planckendael offers a lot more indoor space and opportunities for fusion-fission.
Score update. Planckendael currently have a large lead with nearly 90% of the vote. This is a clearly a contest however, between two excellent exhibits.
Poll closed. Congratulations to Planckendael on winning the vote for Best Bonobo enclosure in Benelux. This is the first poll win for a Belgian collection so far. It is also the first poll Apenheul has not won it has entered (winner of Orang-utan and Gorilla polls). Planckendael: 89.5% Apenheul: 10.5%
