Best Hippopotamus enclosure in Benelux

This is just a bit of fun to judge the general consensus on the best enclosure for Hippopotamuses in Benelux 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.

Antwerp




Pairi Daiza



Monde Sauvage



Emmen



Beekse Bergen

 

My biggest problem with hippo enclosures is that they often dont allow the animals to roam on land at night, which is actually quite a big deal. I think Beekse Bergen, Wildlands Emmen and and Monde Sauvage look the best, but I havent been to the latter two so its hard to call...

 

I visited all 5 of these zoos a year ago and in all honesty this particular poll comes down to two establishments. One could make the case that all 5 of the hippo exhibits are decent, each with their good and bad points, with 'Benelux' doing well with this species.

# 5 - Monde Sauvage - the very poor viewing area places this exhibit in last place. There is no underwater viewing and the hippos are grey blobs off in the distance. However, at least there is a nice grassy area for the animals to move around on and graze. Easily the most basic of the enclosures on the list.

# 4 - Antwerp - the photo on this thread makes the exhibit look much larger than I remember it, plus visitors can get quite close to the hippos inside. The most historic of the exhibits and with a substantial water area.

# 3 - Pairi Daiza - there is a large underwater viewing area, with nice rock-work in the background and even a separate area for hippos to go into that is essentially an entirely different enclosure filled with soft substrate (look under the bridge in the photo). I'm not a fan of all the stone rock-work on the ground directly around the water, plus the pool is perhaps the smallest of the 5 examples on this thread.

# 2 - Beekse Bergen - a massive lake that is stupendous, plus Nile Lechwe and hippos together in a very impressive land area. Visitors can sit and eat while watching the hippos and this is a spectacular exhibit that could possibly win this poll. BUT...no underwater viewing is what keeps this one in second place. It is arguably the best exhibit on the list for hippos, but zoos are for humans as well!

#1 - Emmen - on all of these Benelux polls, my vote has ended up going towards the winner in every single situation. However, I'm not sure whether Emmen or Beekse Bergen can win this particular competition. Emmen's land area is not as impressive as what Beekse Bergen gives their hippos, but I saw at least 5 hippos in Emmen's world-class underwater viewing area and from a visitor's perspective Emmen wins. Beekse Bergen really needs underwater viewing. As much as I admire Beekse Bergen's terrific habitat, Emmen gets my vote because of this:

 

This is my list:
5: Monde Sauvage (never seen it in real but doesn’t look that good)
4: Antwerpen (indoors is very old and ugly, outdoors not that big, but ok)
3: Pairi Daiza (not that big, but ok, find this one not so good looking either)
2: Wildlands (unfortunately you can’t see the indoors, but the outdoors is beautiful)
1: Beekse Bergen (huge outdoor exhibit, nice combination with other animals and big enough indoors)

 

Hard choice between Emmen and Beekse Bergen.
Voted for Beekse Bergen despite of the lack of any under water viewing.

 

My vote goes to Beekse Bergen because I like both the enormous outdoor-enclosures and the nice indoor enclosure.
Emmen however is also very good !

 

Beekse Bergen has a superb exhibit and earlier on this thread I even stated that it's probably the best enclosure of the 5 for hippos. @vogelcommando and I were at Beekse Bergen together a year ago and we watched the hippos for a while as a pair were 'sparring' in the water and it was really exciting to see them active. Then we went into the hippo barn and looked down at the water...and a harbour seal popped its head up! That was hilarious and I still don't know why there was a seal in there.

I'm content to see Beekse Bergen easily win this competition, but hippos spend most of their time in the water and thus the viewing zone at Emmen is by far the best possible area for visitors to see the hippos up close. I know that if there is underwater viewing of hippos, whether it is San Diego, Saint Louis, Toledo, Calgary, Cologne, Berlin, loads of other zoos I've visited, then visitors will pack the area and hang out for a very long time. If I'm not mistaken, the current hippo pool at Emmen is part of what originally was the penguin exhibit at the now closed (old) Emmen Zoo.

 

In terms of esthetics Antwerp, Emmen and Beekse Bergen in summer jumping out:
- Antwerp is both inside and outside full of charm and in perfect line with the atmosphere of the zoo
- Emmen is new and good looking (although I'm not so sure if I should associate rocks with hippos
- Beekse Bergen looks like a superb summer day river bank
- PD and Monde Sauvage do not impress me.

In terms of visitor benefits, a hippo enclosure should have underwater viewing imo. It's so essential for watching these intriguing animals. So Emmen and Pairi Daiza did the job. All, except for Monde Sauvage, got public houses for the colder periods.

In terms of animal welfare, a good balance between pool and land areal is essential. So PD's pool is too small and the enclosure has a rather strange shape which, certainly the pool part, doesn't allow the animals to avoid each other. Antwerp got a good balance but is too small to keep a larger family group. The grassy meadow at Monde Sauvage is a (the only) bonus. Beekse Bergen clearly got the best facility outdoors: large water and land area.

So it's between Emmen and Beekse Bergen and my vote goes to Emmen albeit very tight.
If I ever could visit Beekse Bergen in summer at dusk, and watch the hippos coming on land, that could be a poll changer.

 

Score update. Beekse Bergen currently have a comfortable lead over Emmen in second place. This is clearly a contest between these two exhibits with Beekse Bergen currently edging it.

 

Poll closed. Congratulations to Beekse Bergen on winning the vote for Best Hippopotamus enclosure in Benelux. This is their second poll win so far and has cemented their position as one of the most successful collections in these polls. Emmen also gained a reasonable share of the votes in second place and have been the most successful collections so far which has not won a poll.

Beekse Bergen: 73.3%
Emmen: 26.7%