DAY 21: Saturday, August 3rd (6 zoos)
After 5 German zoos, then 5 Dutch zoos, it was time to amp it up to 6 zoos in a day…all in the Netherlands. I actually scrapped my original itinerary because
@vogelcommando and I had plans to meet and if I’m a crazy guy who is aiming to visit 40-45 Dutch zoos…well…he’s got me beat there as he’s been to at least 50 in his home country. His real name is Maarten and many years ago he used to work in zoos and in fact he’s worked at Gettorf Zoo and Walsrode (both Germany) as well as Pairi Daiza in Belgium. Those days are long gone, as now he has a different job and instead is a zoo enthusiast like the rest of us.
Zoo/Aquarium # 66: Safaripark Beekse Bergen (Hilvarenbeek, NL)
This zoo opened in 1968 and is massive, with a reported 296 acres/120 hectares and approximately 820,000 annual visitors as my latest data indicates. Maarten got in free with his membership, plus he receives free parking with the deal and then he graciously paid for my ticket and so I had a free ride and a Dutch guide as part of the package! Very early on we decided to only do the walking tour of Beekse Bergen, thus skipping the boat ride, bus ride and car ride where you drive your own vehicle through the park. Alas, some folks might say that we missed a lot of the zoo but Maarten visits Beekse Bergen on a consistent basis and he assured me that by only walking we’d get a full-zoo experience and miss very little. On top of that, when on a 90-zoo, month-long trek it doesn’t matter if a few species escape my clutches as I’ve seen them all before. Lastly, probably my absolute least-favourite thing to do at a zoo is a drive-through section and I’ve only done it once on this whole trip (Safari Parc Monde Sauvage in Belgium) and that was a relatively painless 30 minutes of my life. At Beekse Bergen, as I’ll explain later, missing the various ‘rides’ was a brilliant decision that affected my entire road trip in terms of opening up the schedule to other, much more tantalizing, possibilities. I have absolutely no regrets.
We decided to walk the whole park and that in itself is a daunting task from looking at the zoo’s map. Maarten and I entered the zoo right at 9:00 and by noon, exactly 3 hours later, we had gone up and down and viewed the entire walking trail. We never stopped to eat or even sit down, but in 3 hours we covered everything, and I was really impressed with what I saw. Here is yet another Dutch zoo with large exhibits and in this case big groups of animals. For instance, the zoo has two Lowland Gorilla groups that are in different sections of the zoo (a family troop and a bachelor setting) and we even saw a tiny baby gorilla only 10 weeks old. The family gorilla group has Black-crested Mangabeys running all over the place, while the bachelor group of gorillas has Black and White Colobus Monkeys in with them. There are also two Chimpanzee exhibits, again in totally separate areas of the park, and again with a multi-generational group and a ton of Chimpanzees everywhere. There are two lemur exhibits and Squirrel Monkeys and then a huge group of Hamadryas Baboons in with the African Elephants. Seeing elephants with primates and various ungulates at these European zoos is fantastic, and the baboons at Beekse Bergen have a rocky mountain in the center of the large space and they strolled around amidst elephants as if they owned the place. Don’t mess with a massive troop of baboons! The bachelor exhibit for one of Europe’s largest male elephants is decent, with the big male an intimidating force of nature, and elsewhere in the park is yet another second exhibit for a primate species with at least 20 more Hamadryas Baboons next to Chimpanzees in a vocal section of the zoo.
The park is obviously not just about elephants and primates, but there are large herds of hoofstock and at times Beekse Bergen is reminiscent of San Diego Zoo Safari Park. There are around 22 Nubian Giraffes in what might be a contender for Europe’s largest herd, and they are in with 7 Cape Buffalo and several other species in a huge African Savanna. The zoo has White Rhinos, Gemsbok (with multiple babies), a big herd of Sable Antelope, Okapi, Common Waterbuck, Common Eland, African Forest Buffalo, Sitatunga, Nyala, Blue Wildebeest, Red River Hog, Plains Zebra, Ankole Cattle and several more African species. As for carnivores, the zoo has big exhibits for African Lion (two enclosures), African Wild Dog, Persian Leopard, Cheetah (and more than a dozen of those cats behind-the-scenes) and Spotted Hyena.
Besides the baby gorilla and young chimps, we also saw three baby Amur Tigers with their parents in a 5-tiger exhibit that was large enough for visitors to throng the edge. Maarten got some great photos of this setup and the baby animals at this zoo were everywhere. Large groupings of creatures in spacious habitats meant for an enjoyable walking tour. One of the highlights was seeing a scattered feeding (via a machine) for a trio of species all in the same exhibit. Sloth Bears, Small-clawed Otters and Corsac Foxes were incredibly active and interacting with each other, and we spent a while watching them forage for their meals. Another highlight was seeing an incredibly large Common Hippo pool (combined with Nile Lechwe in the same exhibit) with a pair of hippos jostling as if they were on an African riverbank. They plunged through the water at each other, opening their vast mouths and play-fighting without causing any harm to each other. It was fascinating to watch, and the exhibit reminded me of the one at ZOOM in Gelsenkirchen in that it is a small lake that the hippos have access to, complete with an impressive land area. Some of these European zoos do a fantastic job with hippo exhibits, with a tremendous amount of outdoor space for the species. When we saw the indoor pool for the hippos, there was at first nothing in there until a Harbour Seal popped up and began to swim around. That was odd!
There are more offerings here, including a couple of large walk-through aviaries (one had a Kirk’s Dik-dik), Meerkats, African Penguins, gibbons and I was worried that we’d skip the California Sea Lions because we were missing out on the boat tour. However, we walked past just as a keeper presentation was going on and so we saw at least 4 California Sea Lions in their nice exhibit…and a gate was open that gives the sea lions access to a huge lake. Astonishing! I can just imagine SeaWorld in San Diego building a new California Sea Lion habitat that gives the pinnipeds acres of water where visitors struggle to see them unless there is a presentation going on. It would never happen in a million years. From the banks of the river, Maarten and I could squint across to the other side and make out a herd of Blackbuck, Bactrian Camels, several Nilgai, Yak, Banteng and other Asian hoofstock. This is a zoo filled almost entirely with large mammals, with tons of births each year and in some case multiple exhibits of the same species. It’s actually a terrific zoo to walk around and I enjoyed it immensely with almost no poor exhibits.
As for missing the bus tour, well that simply goes through all of the exhibits that we already walked past! There are some Asian species that we probably missed seeing in a close-up fashion, but neither of us had any desire whatsoever to sit on a bus and thankfully we were on the same page in that regard. There is the boat tour, which is even worse in terms of overcrowding as we stood and watched one loading session of people all scrambling to see the California Sea Lions that we had just watched 5 minutes earlier. Uh…no thanks! Lastly there is the drive-through and we could have taken my rental car into the hellhole traffic jam, but Maarten and I had a few chuckles as we stood and watched cars inch forward and at times not even move. When we left the zoo at noon the car drive-through area was like one of those infamous ‘bear jam’ moments at Yellowstone National Park, where everyone is sitting in an idling car for two hours and waiting to see a zebra fart way off in the bushes. Ugh. I was completely happy with my Beekse Bergen visit and by skipping the ‘rides’ part of the zoo the decision had a dramatic affect on my road trip itinerary days down the road…something that you’ll all have to wait to read about…and it was 100% the right call to not waste our time in doing a drive-through when both Maarten and I strongly dislike that method of seeing a zoo. Beekse Bergen is a very good zoo, almost a great zoo, as a type of safari park place with loads of babies every year due to the big numbers of animals. With a robust attendance and lots to see, it could quite easily be a full-day of 8+ hours of buses, boats, cars, walking, planes, trains and automobiles…and even if the zoo has lost a few species over the years then what is that to me as a first-time visitor? It’s like me going to London and being saddened that Guy the gorilla or Chi Chi the Giant Panda are no longer around…it’s partly irrelevant. If you ever venture to the Netherlands, then don’t skip Beekse Bergen as it’s well worth a visit.
We then decided to forget about lunch and we never ate all day, as we had some small zoos to see and the next one was about 15 minutes down the road.
Zoo/Aquarium # 67: Dierenpark de Oliemeulen (Tilburg, NL)
This zoo is a real hodgepodge of exhibits crammed into a building and then with an outdoor loop attached. There are plans to move the whole zoo elsewhere for more space in the coming years, but Maarten is a big fan of this place because one of his daughters lives nearby and it is convenient for him to drop by and putter around for an hour. We counted a whopping 88 exhibits indoors, but many are very small and there are piles and piles of tanks for tarantulas or scorpions or poison dart frogs or stick insects and many other tiny creatures. There is one type of lizard called an Anguilla Bank Anole (
anolis gingivinus) that is apparently extremely rare in captivity. Is that true? Oliemeulen has African Dwarf Crocodiles, an Egyptian Cobra, an exhibit for Mississippi Alligators, an Asian Water Monitor and even a Three-toed Amphiuma (
amphiuma tridactylum) that is another European rarity. Outdoors are Meerkats, Ring-tailed Lemurs, Dwarf Mongooses, Indian Crested Porcupines, Servals, Cotton-top Tamarins, Squirrel Monkeys and even more rarely-seen animals (on this trip) in the form of species such as White-faced Capuchin, Bateleur Eagle, Caracal and Ocelot. The zoo is worth seeing for its rare species and cluttered, unique atmosphere, but none of the exhibits are that great.
The most remarkable part of our visit was seeing a couple of enormous fruit bats up close and personal, as they hang out on wire underneath the stairs and have free range of the joint. Seeing a fruit bat only a foot or so from your face, and getting to smell their odour, is an extraordinary experience. Those things are huge! One had its foot stuck on a piece of wire and Maarten and I spent 10 minutes standing there watching an employee (with two big gloves on) hold the bat while another staff member extricated the claws from the wire. The screeching that emitted from the bat could probably be heard by my wife back home in British Columbia, Canada, but it was interesting to see that the bat didn’t really make any valid attempts to bite the human. It was scratching and making enough of a racket as if it was in its final death throes, and there’s no way that you’d find me holding a fruit bat larger than most dogs. Seeing that was worth the price of admission…haha…which Maarten paid again. What a kind man. He said it’s not every day that he gets a zoo visitor from Canada.
We then drove approximately 25 minutes to our next stop.
Zoo/Aquarium # 68: Reptile House de Aarde (Earth) (Breda, NL)
I paid at this one and I was glad to do so because this small Reptile Zoo is truly superb, with the cleanest, clearest glass that I’ve ever seen in a zoo. It’s astonishing how new and shiny everything looks here, but the downside is that there are only 21 exhibits (11 up and 10 down over two levels) and even with an informative feeding session going on we struggled to last half-an-hour. I’ve been in a lot of Reptile Zoos in my lifetime and this one is right near the top in terms of quality of the vivaria on display. Even the furniture (gorgeous wooden tables and black leather chairs) is exceptional, with beautiful statues outside and this establishment just opened up perhaps 6 years ago. It’s a terrific little zoo, but unfortunately not very large.
There are no English words on any of the signs, but I made the effort to translate everything in order to create an accurate species list.
Species list (25 species): West African Dwarf Crocodile, Cuvier’s Dwarf Caiman, Reticulated Python, Jungle Carpet Python, African Spurred Tortoise, Red-footed Tortoise, Leopard Tortoise, Red-eared Slider, Wood Turtle, Asian Water Monitor, Blue Tree Monitor, Amboina Sail-finned Lizard (a marvelous specimen), Frilled Lizard, Green Iguana, Black Iguana, Fiji Banded Iguana, Rhinoceros Iguana, Plumed Basilisk, Argentine Black and White Tegu, Common Blue-tongued Skink, Panther Chameleon, Bearded Dragon, African Bullfrog, Cane Toad and Burgundy Goliath Bird-eater Tarantula.
We then drove 10 minutes down the road.
Zoo/Aquarium # 69: Vogelopvangcentrum Breda (Breda, NL)
This has been a bird rescue sanctuary for many years, although now it has fallen into disrepair and I had never heard of the place until Maarten surprised me by adding it on to our pre-determined schedule literally as we were driving down the road. What was once a walk-through aviary is now an abandoned area with weeds 4 feet high. However, there are a couple of rows of aviaries outdoors where visitors can stroll around and look at various finches, doves, parrots and other small, noisy birds. There is a buy-and-sell option as well, with a store front attached to the sanctuary, and there are many smaller aviaries inside with birds for sale. I’m guessing that there might even be 80 aviaries on the site but the whole place is rundown and most of the aviaries are very tiny.
We then drove another 10 minutes down the road.
Zoo/Aquarium # 70: De Eekhoorn (The Squirrel) Experience (De Evenaar, NL)
This is a famous establishment on ZooChat, because where else in the world can anyone go and view perhaps a dozen species of squirrel? I’m not going to provide an accurate, updated species list because none of the signs have English words on them, several of the exhibits have no signs whatsoever, and Maarten has visited on a number of occasions and he said that every time he goes there is a slightly different lineup of squirrels. The facility consists of a huge store, with literally about a thousand Buddha garden statues, and there are animal exhibits inside and then also in a scenic garden outdoors. There are many photos on ZooChat already, and it is a genuine thrill to see some of the brightly-coloured, fantastic squirrels on display. It doesn’t take long to tour this place, but as can be seen with these reviews, it’s very easy to visit a whole bunch of small zoos in the same general area.
We then drove 15 minutes down the road to our 6th and final zoo of the day.
Zoo/Aquarium # 71: De Bosruiter (Sprundel, NL)
Off in a rural setting, there is a bird seller who has a range of small, pet shop-type aviaries inside of the main building with many species for sale. There is also a small walk-through area, with an extremely narrow hall, with birds chirping away on all sides that are being bred, maintained or sold. A little outdoor loop has a few Maras, Bennett’s Wallabies and Alpacas, plus a large, very nicely-done aviary that was built in 2009 and the structure is 1,000 square meters in size. In that general area are sub-exhibits (chickens, a nice pond, a Hermann’s Tortoise breeding area) and then some larger birds in the netted aviary such as Grey-crowned Crane and a few smaller birds.
Maarten and I sat and enjoyed a drink on the terrace, watching my beloved Maras (I’m actually sick of the sight of them at this point – haha!), and discussing zoos and our lives. It was a nice, quiet way to end a hectic yet rewarding day. We saw a big safari park zoo all morning, and then our afternoon consisted of bouncing around between tinier, more obscure collections in the Dutch countryside. It was a pleasure to meet yet another zoo nerd, and Maarten is a prolific photographer who especially loves birds. We got along very well, and it was a pleasure to have spent the day with him…at 6 zoos!
The past few days have been packed with zoos, as I saw 5 German zoos, 5 Dutch zoos and then 6 Dutch zoos to make it an astonishing 16 zoos in 3 days. However, earlier in the trip I saw quite an extensive list of major zoological attractions and I’ve got a lot of those coming up later on as well. It never ceases to amaze me that I can drive an hour and fifteen minutes (like today) or even a couple of hours (in past days) and there are small zoos in various communities all over the place. Not only that, but there are signs for zoos on the streets or at bus stops, and what appears to be a promotion of zoos and aquariums as positive establishments where millions of families congregate from all different backgrounds and ethnicities. Zoos are more than just viewing animals, but in many ways are an important part of the cultural fabric of society all over the globe. The idea of zoos and aquariums going the way of the Dodo is absurd as they are clearly here to stay and whatever nation I am in sees me locating brand-new zoos all the time.
Has the thought “What was I thinking when i planned this” crept in yet once or twice?
