Planckendael - Africa (Giraffe savannah)

The giraffe savannah in the African Area in Planckendael. This savannah is centered around the Giraffe House and can be divided into several parts. This savannah houses kordofan giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis antiquorum), common elands (Taurotragus oryx) and impalas (Aepyceros melampus).
The new savannah area opened in 2008 with animal exhibits, models, ambient sounds of hyenas, hippos etc. and a new giraffe house.

Planckendael, July 2011.

@Toddy: Allen Nyhuis, author of "America's Best Zoos" and someone whom you and I have each personally met, quite enjoyed Planckendael on his visit in late 2010. In his review to me he stated that the zoo was very pretty, contained many large yards, attractive waterfowl ponds, and 5 clearly labelled continental sections. He thought that the zoo was of average quality overall, with many decent exhibits but nothing truly spectacular. Does that sound reasonable?

snowleopard said:

@Toddy: Allen Nyhuis, author of "America's Best Zoos" and someone whom you and I have each personally met, quite enjoyed Planckendael on his visit in late 2010. In his review to me he stated that the zoo was very pretty, contained many large yards, attractive waterfowl ponds, and 5 clearly labelled continental sections. He thought that the zoo was of average quality overall, with many decent exhibits but nothing truly spectacular. Does that sound reasonable?

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While I do find myself in agreement with Mr. Allen Nyhuis (even though he hasn't replied to my PM, *cough*) on many subjects I would like to raise Planckendael's rating to "above average".

I can't quite put my finger on it but the whole park is just very, very pleasant. None of their new exhibits are "spectacular" but they all seem to have a very subtle "wow-factor". Exhibits like the walkthrough aviaries, giraffe savannah, bonobo island, South America, Oceania and Asia (in a very weird way) all seem to be very nice but quite standard as you walk through them, but as you are leaving them you suddenly think: "Wow, that was actually pretty good!", as if you have to let the whole experience sink in.

I don't know if any of that makes any sense. I guess what I like is that new park tries to be immersive but doesn't overdo it with huge slaps of mock rock and the like. It just manages to create a very pleasant atmosphere in a beautiful "park zoo". Heck, I just love the place Maybe it will become clear what I mean when I post more photos (don't worry, I am doing the whole zoo over the next few days).

Toddy said:

(don't worry, I am doing the whole zoo over the next few days).

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That's the best news I've heard in a while

PAT said:

That's the best news I've heard in a while

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Ha ha, thanks a bundle @PAT! And don't worry, they are all with detailed descriptions. And this time I am backing them up so my work won't disappear in case of a second purge.

I'd agree that this is a zoo that is greater than the sum of its individual parts. It has an excellent ambience, a lot of very nice exhibits, and very little which is poor (although the gibbon enclosures that are a part of the quite new tropical house certainly deserve this description). It's a zoo filled with rather nice ideas - good topiary, nicely-done fences, that sort of thing. It probably doesn't have any truly spectacular exhibits - even though the bonobo island, the new African bits, some of the older exhibits, the lions, the Australian bits are all very good. It's certainly an all-day zoo, and it has wombats. What more could you want?