Best Giraffe enclosure in the Benelux

[felis silvestris]

This is just a bit of fun to judge the general consensus on the best enclosure for Giraffes in the 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 list the enclosures in order of what they think is the best.

The Lion and Tiger threads are closing tomorrow, so if you want to vote or give an opinion on the exhibits do it soon before they close.

If you wan to vote for Bouillon, Planckendael, Ouwehnads, Artis, Monde Sauvage, Bellewaerde Park or Antwerp then vote for the "Other" option in the poll.

Bouillon (Kordofan)

Planckendael (Kordofan)

Beekse Bergen (Kordofan, Reticulated and Rothschilds)

Ouwehands (Kordofan)

Amersfoort (Reticulated)

Artis (Reticulated)

Overloon (Reticulated)

Rotterdam (Reticulated)

Pairi Daiza (Rothschilds)

Monde Sauvage (Rothschilds)

Bellewaerde Park (Rothschilds)

Unfortunately, there are no photos of this enclosure in the gallery. If anyone can describe or can provide a photo, that would be great.

Pakawi (Rothschilds)

 

[felis silvestris]

Burgers (Rothschilds)

Emmen (Rothschilds)

Gaia (Rothschilds)

Antwerp

Blanckendaell

Photo credits to @lintworm @KevinB @snowleopard @Valvas @Tiger @lintworm @ZooGirl101 @Hippo @vogelcommando @Morgan @Toddy

 

[snowleopard]

I saw almost all these zoos on my big European trek in 2019 and there are quite a few large, very nice giraffe paddocks that are highlighted on this thread. It would be interesting to note which zoos lock their giraffes in at night, as most North American zoos have that policy as giraffes are skittish animals and can easily be hurt when reacting to strange noises. Some of the giraffe barns at zoos worldwide are far too small when one considers the long hours that the animals spend indoors.

My vote goes to Blijdorp Zoo in Rotterdam. Not only is there is a fairly spacious outdoor area, but the giraffe barn is spectacular and substantial in size. Even on a cold day, the giraffes have a large indoor area to move around in.

Here are some more photos from Blijdorp:

@Tiger

 

[Philipine eagle]

I agree with Snowleopard on this one.

 

[Mr Gharial]

I wholeheartedly agree on Blijdorp's quality of the indoor enclosure. However, the outdoor enclosure is not the biggest.

Burgers' indoor enclosure isn't as fancy or open, but it certainly gets the job done. I think Emmen, Burgers' and Beekse Bergen are the bigger contendors if you ask me, as their outdoor exhibits are far superior. Sadly my Belgian zoo trip is still on a long hiatus so I'm afraid I can't say anything about Pairi Daiza, Planckendael or Monde Sauvage.

My vote goes to Burgers' for now as their also provide a nice amount of shade in their exhibits and have a better separation exhibit than Wildlands

 

[lintworm]

Blijdorp certainly looks the nicest from an architectural standpoint, but it is one of the smaller enclosures that is contending here. The house is a showstopper, but in terms of size for the animals, Burgers' Zoo has about 2x more indoor space. The picture doesn't show the main indoor enclosure and there around the corner there is more stable space. Combine that with a separation enclosure of >1000 square metres (separation option in Blijdorp is just a piece of stable) and a main savanna that isn't landscaped as a golf lawn like Emmen and is more than a grassy lawn as in Beekse Bergen. So for me Burgers' is the clear winner here.

 

[Philipine eagle]

Blijdorp certainly looks the nicest from an architectural standpoint, but it is one of the smaller enclosures that is contending here. The house is a showstopper, but in terms of size for the animals, Burgers' Zoo has about 2x more indoor space. The picture doesn't show the main indoor enclosure and there around the corner there is more stable space. Combine that with a separation enclosure of >1000 square metres (separation option in Blijdorp is just a piece of stable) and a main savanna that isn't landscaped as a golf lawn like Emmen and is more than a grassy lawn as in Beekse Bergen. So for me Burgers' is the clear winner here.

It may of course differ depending on how you go about defining 'best': I interpret this as 'best' from my point of view as a zoo visitor.

Personally, I think Beekse Bergen and Burgers are trying to imitate an African savannah, but they are failing on that front. Were it only about space, my vote would also go to one of these two. But since other considerations also come into play (I'm aware Blijdorp is also a bit less on space), as far as I'm concerned, those were still the deciding factor for my vote: appealing architecture, nicely decorated enclosure, nice combo with greater kudu.

 

[Mr Gharial]

The picture doesn't show the main indoor enclosure and there around the corner there is more stable space.

Decided to drop into the stables to take some extra photos


Of course, with no giraffes present, it's quite difficult to estimate the size. It's not as large as Blijdorp's of course, but still pretty sizeable

 

[felis silvestris]

Score update. It’s a dead heat between Rotterdam and Burgers. Perhaps Rotterdam has a better indoor area but Burgers has a better outdoor area.

 

[lintworm]

Decided to drop into the stables to take some extra photos
View attachment 624300 View attachment 624301 View attachment 624302

Of course, with no giraffes present, it's quite difficult to estimate the size. It's not as large as Blijdorp's of course, but still pretty sizeable

It is actually larger than Blijdorp, especially when including the off-show indoor space.

 

[Perseus6]

My Other vote goes to Planckendael. The stable is large enough, has separation possibilities, but they aren't used, yet. So something that's important for giraffe welfare is the amount of feeding stations, they also offer more enrichment then most zoos only Gaia compares for their giraffes anyway. Another plus for me is that Planckendael's enclosure offers shade and a diverse amount of substrates which is always nice to see. I personally think Burgers Savanna is splendid, however if you look purely giraffe enclosure it nearly doesn't win for me. Blijdorp was also good large size, although to open. No offering shade, and I don't like the stable. Not just the aesthetic but the utilization of the space, to much separation.
So for me it goes Planckendael, Burgers, Gaia and then Blijdorp. Because even though not much love was shown to Gaia I think they are just a better version of Blijdorp and a mix with Burgers.
Although I have to be honest I haven't seen the Beekse bergen enclosures yet.

 

[felis silvestris]

Sorry I’ve just realised that I accidentally made it so that this poll doesn’t close. I am going to take the final results today as the closing time.

 

[felis silvestris]

Poll closed. There has been a draw for the first time. Congratulations to Burgers and Rotterdam for having the Best Giraffe enclosures in the Benelux. Both enclosures have large areas indoors and outdoors for the world’s tallest animal. This is the second time Burger’s Savanna has won a poll (Formerly with White rhino) and Rotterdam have now won with both Giraffe and Okapi enclosures. This is the former’s sixth win and the latter’s second. A mention to Beekse Bergen for doing well on both polls too with them getting a decent amount of votes.

Burgers: 35.3%
Rotterdam: 35.3%
Berkse Bergen: 17.6%
Amersfoort: 5.9%
Planckendael: 5.9%