This is just a bit of fun to judge the general consensus on the best enclosure for Pygmy Hippos 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. Pairi Daiza Gaia Overloon Rotterdam
I am leaning towards Overloon now, which has a spacious pool and a reasonably sized land area and a lot of shade. For sure it won't be either Blijdorp or Pairi Daiza, Blijdorp is way too small and Pairi Daiza offers only a tiny beach as a land part without structure or shade.
I visited all 4 of these zoos a year ago and here is my analysis: # 4 - Pairi Daiza - a tiny land zone with almost zero shade, plus no underwater viewing and a small area places this exhibit in last place. # 3 - Blijdorp - an exhibit that is historic but it's interesting that the indoor pool is larger than the outdoor pool. Too small and uninspiring. # 2 - Overloon - a genuinely good little zoo with a decent pygmy hippo exhibit, but it lacks underwater viewing. # 1 - GaiaZOO - two pygmy hippo exhibits are here, both with large pools and a lot of grazing space. There's even underwater viewing, although so many European zoos have crappy filtration systems that leave water pure green in the summer. What's the point of that? Still, overall this is a rather splendid exhibit for pygmy hippos and my choice as the winner.
Pairi Daiza's pygmy hippo enclosure is the worst of the bunch. It's very obvious this enclosure was never designed to house the species. My vote goes to Overloon. It might be simple, but it's the most forested one. Gaia is a close second.
This is my opinion: 4: Pairi Daiza (never seen it, but looks terribly small) 3: Overloon (much people seem to like it, but tbh I don’t like it more than number 1 and 2, outdoors is good, not spectacular, indoors is quite bad) 2: Blijdorp (outdoor is beautiful and indoor is old but big enough, I really like the old building they live in) 1: GaiaZoo (as always very natural enclosure for the animals in Gaiazoo. Big pool, big enclosure: very nice)
In this case my vote goes to Gaia, a real nice eclosure. The enclosure at Overloon also isn't bad but looks a little more "primitive". Blijdorp is showing their animals in a more historic way. Pairi Daizas is not completely my kind of taste.
You already mused about that in your European trip reviews. However, back then, you were less condescending and more thoughtful, contemplating that the lack of chlorine in the water might be better for the animals' health and the environment (which is true).
I think that there needs to be a happy medium. I loved my Euro zoo trip and was very impressed with countless establishments, but seeing a pure green pool for polar bears at Ouwehands (or GaiaZoo's murky green pygmy hippo exhibit) is head-scratching. Instead of the expensive filtration systems and crystal-clear water found at American zoos, which can look quite fake at times, why not a compromise so that the water contains algae but it's also still possible to see the inhabitants? Maybe only 50% of the chlorine level? Also, @Batto ...vote in the poll!
@snowleopard "crappy", however, is not the optimal attribute to start a happy medium. As someone who spent a lot of time of his youth swimming, I can tell you that over a longer period, no or less chlorine is better health- and environmental-wise. As for voting: none of them really impress me.
Score update. Gaia currently have a large lead over Overloon in second place with over 85% of the vote. I imagine this will not be the first time Gaia performs well in these polls.
Gaia got my vote and it wasn’t very hard to choose for me. It looks very natural, has quite some space and a nice pool for the animals. Second is Blijdorp, the enclosure has an under water view and the enclousure is big enough (not big, but big enough). It does need more vegetation. The indoor could get some improvement, but again it looks good enough to me. Third would be Overloon for me, the water isn’t very clean, but I think it’s still good enough. The indoor part definitely needs improvement. I haven’t been to Pairi Daiza, but this enclosure looks horrible. It’s much too small, it doesn’t even look like it’s ment for this species.
Again, I love the Rotterdam Zoo and I come there all the time, but if you were to ask me what the worst enclosure in the park was, the pygmy hippo enclosure would undoubtedly take that title. The underwater view is a joke and judging by the animals behavior they arent exactly having fun either.
Yeah, I know you (I follow Blijdorper Bende), so if you say their behaviour isn’t good, you’re probably right. And yes it’s one of the worst enclosures of the Zoo for me too. But to be honest, I don’t like any of these enclosures, except the one from Gaia (which isn’t spectacular too). When I was in the Zoo in July, they seemed alright, so I didn’t know they aren’t really having fun.
Poll closed. Congratulations to Gaia on winning the vote for Best Pygmy Hippopotamus enclosure in Benelux. It was a fairly comfortable win over Overloon in second and marks Gaia's first poll win. Gaia: 89.2% Overloon: 10.8%
Yes, that first and foremost. And I dont mean a little either. One of the two (not sure if its the one that recently passed away or not) used to knock out his ball from the pool in the exact same spot every day or so. They are spinning in the pools (belly up in the air) and walking the exact same route every day. Furthermore the animals can never escape each others scents which is a known cause for extreme stress among pygmy hippo's.
pairi daiza's pygmy hippo enclosure was actually designed for fur seals. It's awfully clear that it wasn't designed for a more land-based mammal
