Keep it up lintworm! I enjoy this thread very much and i do read every single entry. It's just hard to provide constructive feedback since i've been to 0/100 exhibits here, but it's still nice to see the diversity of exhibits around.
Europe's 100 must see exhibits
- Thread starter lintworm
- Start date
Sorry if you feel tired or demotivated by my posts. I felt that it is obvious that I like most of posts and your choices and there is little point to simply write 'oh, me too'! Keep up a good work, and I will refrain from further comments on this thread.
Agreed, but when the only contributions certain people make are negative it can get pretty bothersome. In this particular case, several responses in a row that have been exclusively negative from the same individual. Debate is fun, but not when you try and start one for every entry.
Let me echo the praise of others and say this thread has been a blast and I am thankful for our esteemed thread starters work ethic. With only 30 exhibits left to go it will be interesting to see what makes the cut with less and less spots left. Obviously there are some juggernauts still missing: Masoala, Yukon Bay, Burger's Ocean and Mangrove, etc. What's more interesting is what under the radar picks are still left. My one and only guess based on my limited knowledge of European collections is Prauge's sitatunga exhibit which I have always thought looked stunning, but I could of course be way off.
That would indeed be rather boring, but it is the tone that makes the music and acknowledging the good things (from time to time) while disagreeing, makes for so much better interaction (not only in the online world....)
I’ll see if I can make June 4th, apparantly the reader of the day is stunningly handsome. Is there a spot where you tie your children down for an hour or so? I mean with a bowl of water available of course, don’t want to sound rude
Stunningly handsome, as well as highly intelligent
. I am not sure where to tie children down humanely, probably best to use a mother 
I am glad you do enjoy it, as there was no indication for that from your posts. I don't want you to stop contributing completely, that would also be dull. But giving a compliment now and then or agreeing on specific parts, somehow makes a lot of difference. Especially in the beginning you came with several good more general thoughts, which I thought insightful and though I am aware of most of the similar exhibits you mention, in a few cases I learnt something new, such as the pine marten enclosure in the Otterzentrum.
Thank you for your kind words. I am aware there are many lurking readers, given the high number of views this thread has already received, but views are just a number and just a single post now and then is interaction, which is a motivation to keep writing. @TeaLovingDave I am sorry I am also a lurker at your thread, I do thoroughly enjoy your posts, mostly the historic ones of zoo I have been to though
. Your project is even more ambitious than mine, so I will try to be a bit more interactive if I can add something.Thank you. There will be some more unknown picks left, though quite a bit of what is left shouldn't be entirely surprising, though the majority of inclusions will come from zoos not yet represented here. There will be sitatunga coming up, but not in Prague
.
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71. Savannah
Borås Djurpark, Sweden
Opened: 1962/3
Size: 2.3 hectares
Inhabitants: African elephant, Rotschildt’s giraffe, Cape buffalo, plains zebra, blesbok, eland, ostrich, helmeted guineafowl
This is not just your average savanna, this is an exhibit that remains nearly unchanged in 60 years and boasts one of the most iconic mixed-species combinations of the continent. To have a breeding group of African elephants, as well as Cape buffalo mixed into a regular savanna line-up is something unrepeated in other places. The design is rather simple, being a large undulating grassy plain with rocks and dead trees surrounded by a visitor path. But simple is effective here and it is the animals that steal the show. One thing did change over the years, and that is the indoor accommodation for the elephants, which now have a spacious sandy indoor enclosure next to their old stables. In an era where elephant enclosures will likely only increase in size, one wouldn’t expect it to take long before such African elephant savannas become more common. Given the success this exhibit has had over 60 years, it is somewhat surprising that it has been hardly copied already…
@Kwambeze
@Toddy
@Kwambeze
@twilighter
Similar exhibits: Other large mixed-species facilities with African elephants exist in Europe. Most notable in terms of size are the ones in Parque de la Naturaleza de Cabárceno, Obregon, Spain, and the Knuthenborg Safaripark, Maribo, Denmark. The latter is 14 hectares for former circus elephants, shared with plains zebra. In Cabarceno the elephants roam in over 22 hectares, shared with water buffalo and Kafue lechwe. On a much smaller scale the Zoo Magdeburg, Germany, mixes their African elephant with several antelopes, bat-eared foxes and grivet monkeys.
Cabarceno:
@SivatheriumGuy
@sooty mangabey
Zoo Magdeburg:
@twilighter
@Newzooboy
Borås Djurpark, Sweden
Opened: 1962/3
Size: 2.3 hectares
Inhabitants: African elephant, Rotschildt’s giraffe, Cape buffalo, plains zebra, blesbok, eland, ostrich, helmeted guineafowl
This is not just your average savanna, this is an exhibit that remains nearly unchanged in 60 years and boasts one of the most iconic mixed-species combinations of the continent. To have a breeding group of African elephants, as well as Cape buffalo mixed into a regular savanna line-up is something unrepeated in other places. The design is rather simple, being a large undulating grassy plain with rocks and dead trees surrounded by a visitor path. But simple is effective here and it is the animals that steal the show. One thing did change over the years, and that is the indoor accommodation for the elephants, which now have a spacious sandy indoor enclosure next to their old stables. In an era where elephant enclosures will likely only increase in size, one wouldn’t expect it to take long before such African elephant savannas become more common. Given the success this exhibit has had over 60 years, it is somewhat surprising that it has been hardly copied already…
@Kwambeze
@Toddy
@Kwambeze
@twilighter
Similar exhibits: Other large mixed-species facilities with African elephants exist in Europe. Most notable in terms of size are the ones in Parque de la Naturaleza de Cabárceno, Obregon, Spain, and the Knuthenborg Safaripark, Maribo, Denmark. The latter is 14 hectares for former circus elephants, shared with plains zebra. In Cabarceno the elephants roam in over 22 hectares, shared with water buffalo and Kafue lechwe. On a much smaller scale the Zoo Magdeburg, Germany, mixes their African elephant with several antelopes, bat-eared foxes and grivet monkeys.
Cabarceno:
@SivatheriumGuy
@sooty mangabey
Zoo Magdeburg:
@twilighter
@Newzooboy
There will be sitatunga coming up, but not in Prague
Well, this prediction might be stymied by the fact you've not visited the collection in question and hence it might have slipped the cracks.... but the first exhibit that jumps to mind is Exmoor.
You aren't the first to mention this exhibit in this thread. @ThomasNotTom did mention this exhibit already at page 3, so it did surely not slip through the cracks
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71. Savannah
Borås Djurpark, Sweden
Opened: 1962/3
Size: 2.3 hectares
Inhabitants: African elephant, Rotschildt’s giraffe, Cape buffalo, plains zebra, blesbok, eland, ostrich, helmeted guineafowl
This is not just your average savanna, this is an exhibit that remains nearly unchanged in 60 years and boasts one of the most iconic mixed-species combinations of the continent. To have a breeding group of African elephants, as well as Cape buffalo mixed into a regular savanna line-up is something unrepeated in other places. The design is rather simple, being a large undulating grassy plain with rocks and dead trees surrounded by a visitor path. But simple is effective here and it is the animals that steal the show. One thing did change over the years, and that is the indoor accommodation for the elephants, which now have a spacious sandy indoor enclosure next to their old stables. In an era where elephant enclosures will likely only increase in size, one wouldn’t expect it to take long before such African elephant savannas become more common. Given the success this exhibit has had over 60 years, it is somewhat surprising that it has been hardly copied already…
@Kwambeze
@Toddy
@Kwambeze
@twilighter
Similar exhibits: Other large mixed-species facilities with African elephants exist in Europe. Most notable in terms of size are the ones in Parque de la Naturaleza de Cabárceno, Obregon, Spain, and the Knuthenborg Safaripark, Maribo, Denmark. The latter is 14 hectares for former circus elephants, shared with plains zebra. In Cabarceno the elephants roam in over 22 hectares, shared with water buffalo and Kafue lechwe. On a much smaller scale the Zoo Magdeburg, Germany, mixes their African elephant with several antelopes, bat-eared foxes and grivet monkeys.
Cabarceno:
@SivatheriumGuy
@sooty mangabey
Zoo Magdeburg:
@twilighter
@Newzooboy
Exceptional exhibit, indeed, considering it's age. I was there few weeks ago, but the Elephants were not introduced to the Savanna, after the winter pause. The Giraffe-Elephant interaction is the most challenging, according to one of the keepers. I will most likely visit again this Summer and see. Giants of the Savanna at Dallas probably come close to Borås' experience.
Didn't know that Magdeburg has Bat-eared Foxes at Africambo !
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72. Polar bear enclosure
Skandinavisk Dyrepark, Kolind, Denmark
Opened: 2006
Size: 3 hectares
Inhabitants Polar bear
The time that polar bears were almost exclusively kept on concrete slabs that should have represented ice is shockingly recent. Only in the last 20 years or so have polar bear enclosures really made the change towards large amounts of space and natural substrate. The first real standout enclosure is located in Denmark. With a main enclosure of nearly 2 hectares, dominated by a 5000 square metre lake, the standard was set very high here. 3 side enclosures give ample room for separating the bears if necessary. Viewing of the main enclosure is done via a long and winding wooden walkway passing through the enclosure. As the enclosure is quite hilly, polar bears can get to eye level with the visitors at a distance without any visual barrier. This walkway makes for excellent viewing opportunities in what otherwise would have resulted in only seeing polar bears from a long distance. With some smart landscaping, fences are mostly well hidden, giving an even larger feeling to an already huge enclosure.
@Toddy
@Toddy
@Toddy
@Toddy
Similar exhibits: Fortunately more and more zoos are going in this direction for their polar bears. Interestingly, it is Scandinavia, France and the UK that have taken the lead, with German, Dutch, Belgian and Austria zoos somewhat trailing, likely due to space constraints. Very close in quality to Kolind is the Project Polar of Yorkshire Wildlife Park, Branton, UK. Though somewhat more spacious than Kolind, landscaping and viewing options are notably poorer in the typical British zoo fashion. Other great exhibits exist at the Highland Wildlife Park, Kingussie, UK and the Parczoo du Reynou, le Vigen, France. Unfortunately one of the best places anywhere to see polar bears in a lot of snow is closing soon, the Orsa Rovdjurspark in Sweden. This enclosure is somewhat similar sized as Kolind, but due to its climate offers something most other zoos cannot. If it would not close in a few months time, this would certainly have been the pick. To see polar bears in snow on a regular basis, one now will have to travel to the Ranua Wildlife Park in Finland, which is probably the first modern polar bear enclosure in Europe, but at 4300 square metres, not as big as the others.
Yorkshire Wildlife Park
@MagpieGoose
@MagpieGoose
Highland Wildlife Park
@felis silvestris
@felis silvestris
Parczoo du Reynou
@lintworm
@lintworm
Orsa Rovdjurspark
@Jodea
Ranua Wildlife Park
@Zooish
Skandinavisk Dyrepark, Kolind, Denmark
Opened: 2006
Size: 3 hectares
Inhabitants Polar bear
The time that polar bears were almost exclusively kept on concrete slabs that should have represented ice is shockingly recent. Only in the last 20 years or so have polar bear enclosures really made the change towards large amounts of space and natural substrate. The first real standout enclosure is located in Denmark. With a main enclosure of nearly 2 hectares, dominated by a 5000 square metre lake, the standard was set very high here. 3 side enclosures give ample room for separating the bears if necessary. Viewing of the main enclosure is done via a long and winding wooden walkway passing through the enclosure. As the enclosure is quite hilly, polar bears can get to eye level with the visitors at a distance without any visual barrier. This walkway makes for excellent viewing opportunities in what otherwise would have resulted in only seeing polar bears from a long distance. With some smart landscaping, fences are mostly well hidden, giving an even larger feeling to an already huge enclosure.
@Toddy
@Toddy
@Toddy
@Toddy
Similar exhibits: Fortunately more and more zoos are going in this direction for their polar bears. Interestingly, it is Scandinavia, France and the UK that have taken the lead, with German, Dutch, Belgian and Austria zoos somewhat trailing, likely due to space constraints. Very close in quality to Kolind is the Project Polar of Yorkshire Wildlife Park, Branton, UK. Though somewhat more spacious than Kolind, landscaping and viewing options are notably poorer in the typical British zoo fashion. Other great exhibits exist at the Highland Wildlife Park, Kingussie, UK and the Parczoo du Reynou, le Vigen, France. Unfortunately one of the best places anywhere to see polar bears in a lot of snow is closing soon, the Orsa Rovdjurspark in Sweden. This enclosure is somewhat similar sized as Kolind, but due to its climate offers something most other zoos cannot. If it would not close in a few months time, this would certainly have been the pick. To see polar bears in snow on a regular basis, one now will have to travel to the Ranua Wildlife Park in Finland, which is probably the first modern polar bear enclosure in Europe, but at 4300 square metres, not as big as the others.
Yorkshire Wildlife Park
@MagpieGoose
@MagpieGoose
Highland Wildlife Park
@felis silvestris
@felis silvestris
Parczoo du Reynou
@lintworm
@lintworm
Orsa Rovdjurspark
@Jodea
Ranua Wildlife Park
@Zooish
Those are some very beautiful polar bear exhibits. A bit concerning on the fence in HWP and especially Parczoo du Reynou though. Really wouldn't go near it when a polar bear is coming close!72. Polar bear enclosure
Skandinavisk Dyrepark, Kolind, Denmark
Opened: 2006
Size: 3 hectares
Inhabitants Polar bear
The time that polar bears were almost exclusively kept on concrete slabs that should have represented ice is shockingly recent. Only in the last 20 years or so have polar bear enclosures really made the change towards large amounts of space and natural substrate. The first real standout enclosure is located in Denmark. With a main enclosure of nearly 2 hectares, dominated by a 5000 square metre lake, the standard was set very high here. 3 side enclosures give ample room for separating the bears if necessary. Viewing of the main enclosure is done via a long and winding wooden walkway passing through the enclosure. As the enclosure is quite hilly, polar bears can get to eye level with the visitors at a distance without any visual barrier. This walkway makes for excellent viewing opportunities in what otherwise would have resulted in only seeing polar bears from a long distance. With some smart landscaping, fences are mostly well hidden, giving an even larger feeling to an already huge enclosure.
@Toddy
@Toddy
@Toddy
@Toddy
Similar exhibits: Fortunately more and more zoos are going in this direction for their polar bears. Interestingly, it is Scandinavia, France and the UK that have taken the lead, with German, Dutch, Belgian and Austria zoos somewhat trailing, likely due to space constraints. Very close in quality to Kolind is the Project Polar of Yorkshire Wildlife Park, Branton, UK. Though somewhat more spacious than Kolind, landscaping and viewing options are notably poorer in the typical British zoo fashion. Other great exhibits exist at the Highland Wildlife Park, Kingussie, UK and the Parczoo du Reynou, le Vigen, France. Unfortunately one of the best places anywhere to see polar bears in a lot of snow is closing soon, the Orsa Rovdjurspark in Sweden. This enclosure is somewhat similar sized as Kolind, but due to its climate offers something most other zoos cannot. If it would not close in a few months time, this would certainly have been the pick. To see polar bears in snow on a regular basis, one now will have to travel to the Ranua Wildlife Park in Finland, which is probably the first modern polar bear enclosure in Europe, but at 4300 square metres, not as big as the others.
Yorkshire Wildlife Park
@MagpieGoose
@MagpieGoose
Highland Wildlife Park
@felis silvestris
@felis silvestris
Parczoo du Reynou
@lintworm
@lintworm
Orsa Rovdjurspark
@Jodea
Ranua Wildlife Park
@Zooish
The walkway at Skandinavisk Dyrepark looks amazing - though looks slightly fraught with the possibility for children to climb over and fall into the water...
72. Polar bear enclosure
Skandinavisk Dyrepark, Kolind, Denmark
Opened: 2006
Size: 3 hectares
Inhabitants Polar bear
The time that polar bears were almost exclusively kept on concrete slabs that should have represented ice is shockingly recent. Only in the last 20 years or so have polar bear enclosures really made the change towards large amounts of space and natural substrate. The first real standout enclosure is located in Denmark. With a main enclosure of nearly 2 hectares, dominated by a 5000 square metre lake, the standard was set very high here. 3 side enclosures give ample room for separating the bears if necessary. Viewing of the main enclosure is done via a long and winding wooden walkway passing through the enclosure. As the enclosure is quite hilly, polar bears can get to eye level with the visitors at a distance without any visual barrier. This walkway makes for excellent viewing opportunities in what otherwise would have resulted in only seeing polar bears from a long distance. With some smart landscaping, fences are mostly well hidden, giving an even larger feeling to an already huge enclosure.
@Toddy
@Toddy
@Toddy
@Toddy
Similar exhibits: Fortunately more and more zoos are going in this direction for their polar bears. Interestingly, it is Scandinavia, France and the UK that have taken the lead, with German, Dutch, Belgian and Austria zoos somewhat trailing, likely due to space constraints. Very close in quality to Kolind is the Project Polar of Yorkshire Wildlife Park, Branton, UK. Though somewhat more spacious than Kolind, landscaping and viewing options are notably poorer in the typical British zoo fashion. Other great exhibits exist at the Highland Wildlife Park, Kingussie, UK and the Parczoo du Reynou, le Vigen, France. Unfortunately one of the best places anywhere to see polar bears in a lot of snow is closing soon, the Orsa Rovdjurspark in Sweden. This enclosure is somewhat similar sized as Kolind, but due to its climate offers something most other zoos cannot. If it would not close in a few months time, this would certainly have been the pick. To see polar bears in snow on a regular basis, one now will have to travel to the Ranua Wildlife Park in Finland, which is probably the first modern polar bear enclosure in Europe, but at 4300 square metres, not as big as the others.
Yorkshire Wildlife Park
@MagpieGoose
@MagpieGoose
Highland Wildlife Park
@felis silvestris
@felis silvestris
Parczoo du Reynou
@lintworm
@lintworm
Orsa Rovdjurspark
@Jodea
Ranua Wildlife Park
@Zooish
Great overview of Europe's bests! I thought you will choose Orsa's exhibit, but I understand your choice. I hope I will not miss it, before they close.
Great to see so many high quality polar bear exhibits in Europe. Got me thinking, are there any enclosures on this scale for brown bears? The only one I can really think of is Cabarceno but I’m not sure if that’s a fair comparator as pretty much all enclosures there are on a massive scale.
The Scandinavian Wildlife Park has a similar brown bear enclosure to their polar bear enclosure. Borås zoo have a large brown bear enclosure also viewed in part from a bridge. That’s just two examples, I’m sure there are more if I gave it deeper thought.
I would REALY love to see this type of exhibit with asian elephants and asiatic hoofstock and maybe some primates. That would make a fantastic exhibit for these often ignored species, compeared to their more famous counter parts.
Besides the elephants of corse are there not many great large asiatic hoof stock exhibit. I only can think about the large exhibit in Burger's Rimba
The fence in Reynou isn't the most comforting thing in the world indeed, a polar bear standing on its legs would be as tall as the fence and the fence didn't look that sturdy even with the electrical wires...
There is a fair amount of those, quite a bit more than for polar bears. Some are in main zoos like Ouwehands Dierenpark, Netherlands; Plzen, Czechia or Wroclaw, Poland. But a large number is to be found in smaller zoos and wildparks like the Tierfreigelaende des Nationalparks Bayerischer Wald or Baerenpark Mueritz, both in Germany. On average brown bear enclosures probably have a higher quality than the polar bear ones.
It would have been the next one on the list, but I personally wasn't too impressed, but I measured the size and it is larger than in my memory, with the main enclosures being 1.7 hectares combined. Visiting on a hot busy day with pacing bears didn't make for the best experience. But realistically looking it is up there.
I don't think he did, @lintworm never forgets
I indeed did not forget it this time, but it does happen from time to time
and it wouldn't be the first time this thread.There are a few Asian elephant exhibits that mix in some ungulates (most often blackbuck). Dierenrijk in the Netherlands even has long-tailed macaque, axis deer and red deer with their elephants, which was mentioned/presented by @snowleopard relatively early on this thread some months ago.. The problem with these enclosures is that they were clearly designed for elephants and the rest are just add-ons. The Boras savanna is designed to be a mixed-species enclosure with elephants, not an elephant enclosure with extras.