This is just a bit of fun to judge the general consensus on the best enclosure for White Rhino's 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 Burgers Emmen Unfortunately, there are no photos of this enclosure in the gallery. It would be extremely useful if someone who has visited can describe the exhibit and give an evaluation on its quality. Beekse Bergen Gaia
I visited all 7 of these zoos last summer and I voted for Burgers' Zoo due to the aesthetically pleasing, spacious rhino habitat and the fantastic quality of the exhibit found there in Arnhem. Since there was a lack of photos from Emmen I've attached a few images of the multi-acre African Savanna exhibit there:
I voted Burgers' Zoo due to their very spacious and very good looking savanna. Besides that they also seem to be doing fantastic when it comes to breeding rhinos with calves being born frequently. Whilst Beekse's exhibit is also quite spacious I feel like Burgers' offers the rhinos more in enrichtment due to the other species living alongside the rhinos whereas in Beekse to my knowledge they only live alongside the watusi cattle, correct me if I am wrong ,I have never visited beekse before.
My vote will go to most functional, most successful breeding institution and best animal husbandry and animal welfare standards. Not unimportant also, they are the studbook keeper and species coordinator for white rhino in Europe, and for good reasons. Yes, the SBB indoor facility is (and might be a little tad) old and outdated, but all the other aspects as well as now being able to manage a breeding herd and a bachelor herd on site. This is in my view what all larger institutions with large open range spaces should do (leaving the more territorial species to some of the inner-city zoos and specialised collections) tick the right boxes. BTW: I would love to see SBB become a black rhino breeding facility too! Why not Burger's Zoo: I still find the African savannah exhibit a tad bit boring ..., it has been that way for years now. Another thing, you cannot have a sneak peak view of their indoor stalls ....
I agree fully with you. I think it's honestly just a battle between Burgers' and Beekse. Both are very strong contenders. The only thing that Beekse has in its advantage is the bachelor herd housing possibility. But if it wasn't for that Burgers' would outshine Beekse.
Voted for Beekse Bergen because this is ( one of my ) home-zoo but Burgers is IMO also first-place worthy. Both have large enclosures and a good-sized herd which is very important in this species.
This is a battle between Beekse Bergem and Burgers'. Both have spacious outdoor enclosures and a great breeding record (though there hasn't been any breeding in beekse bergen lately, where there has been 1 calf yearly in Burgers' for years now). The main difference are the indoor facilities, which are badly outdated, but visible, in beekse bergen and new, but non-visible for Burgers. Based on pictures/videos from behind the scenes, the indoor enclosure in Burgers' is spacious and has natural substrate, where Beekse Bergen is concrete. Burgers' also has a huge separation enclosure behind the scenes. So my vote goes to Burgers'.
7: Monde sauvage (never seen it in real but looks very very boring) 6: Pairi Daiza (never seen it but doesn’t look that big) 5: Gaiazoo (quite simple but ok) 4: Antwerpen (Looks good, but haven’t seen it in real yet) 3: Emmen (Big great enclosure, with loads of other animals, never seen the indoors though) 2: Beekse Bergen (big enclosure with much other animals as well, prefer this over Emmen since it looks more natural, although the indoors is old and a bit too small) 1: Burgers (Good indoor, and great huge outdoor exhibit again with much other animals, best enclosure I think)
Score update Burgers currently have a large lead over Beekse Bergen in second. These are clearly the two stand out exhibits in this category with the superior indoor housing giving Burgers the edge at the moment.
Poll closed. Congratulations to Burgers on winning the vote for Best White Rhino enclosure in Benelux. This was a battle between two of the stronger collections in terms of exhibit quality overall it would appear. Burgers however, won by a comfortable margin over Beekse Bergen in the end. Burgers: 69.7% Beekse Bergen: 18.2% Emmen: 9.1% Pairi Daiza: 3.0%
This is a list of how many polls each collection has won so far (assuming polls still open, results don't change). Apenheul: 2 Burgers: 2 Beekse Bergen: 2 Planckendael: 2 Dierenrijk: 1 Gaia: 1
