Burgers' Zoo Burgers' Zoo News 2022

Wonder whether that means a rebuild of the zoo kitchen/veterinary clinic/food storage is near, or whether it will be a refurb for, what I guess would be a SE Asian species (if they invest in heated stables...).

 

The safari is tbh xD

 

I agree that the safari is a weak area of Burgers.

But it's not nearly as pathetic as the patch of dirt with a barn and a wire fence you can barely see through that we call the reindeer exhibit

 

ex-reindeer exhibit* I have a feeling it is getting an asian species as it fits in the Rimba zone.

 

I honestly don't see what is wrong with the former reindeer exhibit, apart from somewhat limited viewing options. It functioned perfectly well (as does the Safari). If we are talking weak points, look at the Kea

That was roughly 10 years ago:

Inner row (from apes to Mangrove)
1. Gouldian Finch --> gouldian finch, bearded dragon, blue-tongued skink
2. Superb Fruit Dove, Chestnut-backed Thrush, White-rumped Shama --> Tawny frogmough
3. Connected to 2 --> hooded pitta, chestnut-backed thrush, superb fruit dove (though not always all three present)
4. Silent forest display (no living animals) --> hooded parrot (held black-cheeked woodpeckers 10 years earlier)
5. White-Lipped Tree Frog, Green Tree Python --> mangrove snake
6. Pantano Cichlid, Blue Guianacara, Ancistrus dolichopterus, Corydoras longipennis (singed not seen) --> convict cichlid (and probably also Ancistrus or Corydoras)

Outer row (apes to Mangrove)
1. Satyr Tragopan, Superb Fruit Dove --> white-eared catbird, red-winged parrot, masked lapwing, crested pigeon. Parrot and catbird have also been kept at Mangrove at times
2. Galah, Blue-winged Kookaburra --> back then 2 separate aviaries holding galah, Australian thick-knee, blue-faced honey eater, kookaburrah, Australian brush turkey
3. Kea --> back then 2 separate aviaries holding Kea and hyacinth macaw
4. Black Hornbill --> back then 2 separate aviaries holding great Indian hornbill and thick-billed parrot
5. Common Emerald Dove, Grosbeak Starling, White-rumped Shama --> not entirely sure, but at least grosbeak starling and orange-fronted fruit dove
6. Inca Jay, Great Argus --> back then 2 separate aviaries holding Congo peafowl + lilac-breasted roller and wrinkled hornbill.

In 2009 the grosbeak starling (formerly bali mynah) and indian hornbill aviaries were enlarged and African spurred tortoise, superb starling, Decken's hornbill, bali mynah and crimson-bellied parakeet left the building.

Since 2017 the following bird species have disappeared from the building: wrinkled hornbill, grey-winged trumpeter, red-winged parrot, hyacinth macaw, greater roadrunner. Only new addition (apart from surplus animals relocated from elsewhere) were the Sumatran laughingthrushes, which have disappeared again recently. White-eyes and green-backed twinspots have also lived here for a short time before moving elsewhere in recent years.

 

Things are definitely moving again in Burgers'! I do hope something will replace the reindeer, or that their departure is a sign for bigger things to come. The zoo has been losing quite some mammal species in the last few years.

Honest do not really get what is so "pathetic" about the reindeer exhibit or the Safari. Yes, the enclosures of the lions, cheetah and reindeer are quite simple as far as Burgers' Zoo exhibits go, but they were decent nonetheless and wouldn't be out of place in most European zoos. Calling the main Safari paddock a weak exhibit is really stretching the meaning of "weak"!

 

I was worrying it was just me..!

I would have said the Safari is right up there with the best of Burgers', to be honest, so unless there're animal management or maintenance issues I'm not aware of I'm not sure why it would urgently need any changes. That main paddock, the landscaping and the big groups of animals, is superb - one of my favourite 'savannahs'.

I guess part of the issue is that Burgers' has very little left that isn't among the best in Europe of its type..!

 

I love how all assumptions instantly go to the enclosures. Burgers' Zoo strenght is their ecosystems/themed areas. The whole area of Safari is a forest in which you are not immersed into the ecosystem they want to represent.
Though knowing the deal they made with Staatsbosbeheer, it still would be possible to theme the region a bit better with colourations, plantation and additional enclosures. If they managed to continue the style of the restaurant/skopje, the safari definitely would be a much better place.

Just imagine the safari as is now, but with more rockwork, smaller plants and maybe open areas that show a savannah as the safari is meant to represent. Some small creature on the other side of the bridge between the carnivore enclosures.

My point being: the theming in the main safari route is poorly compared to the rest of the parks theming for ecosystems.

 

To be fair, the exchange was definitely framed as enclosures:

To address the actual discussion though - a savannah does have trees, of course. The scattered trees within the main paddock (disregarding their species!) are pretty realistic in fact. The cat enclosures less so, of course.

To be honest I'm not sure I would personally agree that extending fake rockwork all the way down the enclosure and tearing down some trees would do anything to improve the area (it's not like kopjes are traditionally long and thin!). The forest is nice! I would agree that adding in some extra enclosures and maybe sculpture etc in between the three biggies would be beneficial - but in the absence of actual open areas of grassland within the zoo site they're never going to be able to do a perfect eco-representation of open plains, so wooded savannah is the way to go. And, honestly, though I love Rimba, does that area really feel like a specifically Asian forest, animals aside, rather than a Dutch one with some enclosures in it? The only ones where the full level of theming works are the indoor ones, which are clearly not a likely option with species like giraffes, rhinos and lions..!

 

The Rimba has the theming in a more subtle way but still enough for immersion. The pathing, the animal footprints, usage of bamboo, the tunnel using rockworks, the barriers. Very subtle things that do work on it.

The safari is mostly just chainlink so having similar subtle things would be amazing, a yellow concrete pathing, wooden pole fences along the path. An aviary along the ramp across the cheetahs up to the bridge. Could be a huge change of pace that might make the safari a bit more of a themed area

 

The main paddock is great, but the cat enclosures are, as Anubite already said, just a bit of forest with a fence around it. And though the reindeer enclosure is not bad in terms of animal welfare. But it really is just a patch of mud with a fence around it.

I disagree.

Though, again, the enclosures are top-notch in an animal welfare standpoint. But the whole Safari area is just an undecorated extension of park.

Anubite already mentioned that immersion is Burgers' zoo's whole thing. Compare the dull forest setting with simple chain-link fences to Rimba, which is decorated with rockwork, water areas and lots of bamboo. As well as depth and height in the enclosures!

Even the pheasantry does a better job of immersing the guests into the world of birds. With large tree trunks, wood chips on the floor and the occasional flora scattered around. And I don't think I need to mention how good the Bush, Desert and Mangrove are in this aspect.

In my opinion, Safari is the weakest area of the zoo, in terms of Burgers' zoo standards and visitor enjoyment

 

I do not find the setting of Burgers' Safari to be dull, even though I would admit that a bit of landscaping and some enhancement of the visitor experience would make a significant improvement. Walking out of the forest to find open paddocks at the rhino viewpoint is, in my eyes, a great experience, even if does not give a "real" savannah feeling. The big cat paddocks are indeed some of the most basic enclosures Burgers' has to offer. But I would argue that there's a strength in their simplicity. Does it matter that it is a just "a bit of forest with a fence around it", if it looks like this:



I would chose that over a mockrock enclosure any day! However, I do think the Safari suffers a little from the comparison with the other ecodisplays. The Rimba is only one that is in some way comparable (outdoors and focused on larger mammals), and that one is significantly younger, and build when the zoo's concept was much further crystallized.

 

I agree! As I said, they're great from a basic point of view. But safari is not an Ecodisplay. it's just another area of park

 

Just wondering, when was that picture taken?
However what I hear is a lot of nostalgia on the fact that the safari was one of the first areas in the park and thus should be left as it. The space for the animals is fine, never said it wasn't. But if you look at the general picture of the park, it is an outdated area based on theming. We all know they are capable of turning it into something breathtaking. The forest shouldn't (and isn't allowed to) go, but it definitely needs the more fresh/modernized look around that bit. Some plant variety, smaller enclosures, different fence borders. Make it feel like you really entered the safari instead of another part of the Park region.

 

it was revealed on a ZooInside podcast that Burger's zoo is looking to obtain North American porcupines and Prairie dogs (probably Black-tailed) for the Desert.

Prairie dogs might not be the most exiting species for most of us Zoo nerds. But I think it'll really up the popularity of the Desert as a "cute" and active species

 

Porcupines would be a great addition to the desert

 

Agreed!

It's a species I've never seen and always wanted to! Though realistically we won't "see" much of them, of course

 

Imagine that's the replacement for the bighorn sheep.

 

It is. And there really aren't that many other choices.

For any hoofstock the enclosure is either too steep or too small. For a carnivore it would need to be fully netted over, ruining the desert view. Porcupines and prairie dogs are basically their only options

 

Oh come on, that’s the most unimaginative answer ever. If google is correct, prairiedogs don’t even live in the Sonoran desert.

One of my favorite exhibits of all time was the Harris antelope squirrel exhibit at Skansen. A very active group of ground dwelling rodents, even with underground sights. The least Burgers could do is get one of the two ground rodents that do live in the Sonoran desert.

But there are so many options. How about levelling out the exhibit a bit and moving the peccaries into that area. Then moving some or one of the rodents out of the underground into that exhibit.

Or levelling out a part of the bighorn sheep exhibit and creating two or three smaller exhibits for jackrabbit or cottontail. Or adding a small children’s playground or “rocky” slide for kids. You could even create one larger exhibit for the bobcat there and get a fox species for the bobcat exhibit. Or even one or two smaller, “canyon like” aviaries.

Or the easiest, levelling it out a little, remove the walls and just add it to the rest of the desert and adding more (ground dwelling or not) birds.

I had hoped that with the removal of the pygmy hippo, red duiker, blue duiker, bongo, lowland tapir and warthogs, the mammal collection had dulled down enough now we are replacing the iconic (for Burgers at least) bighorn sheep with another of the most common and unthreatened species in zoos today. I’m baffled and frankly, a bit annoyed.