Best Snow Leopard enclosure in the Benelux

[felis silvestris]

This is just a bit of fun to judge the general consensus on the best enclosure for Snow Leopards in the Beneleux. 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 Jaguar and Leopard threads are closing tomorrow, so if you want to vote or give an opinion on the exhibits do it soon before they close.

I am from this thread making each poll the day before the others close.

Pairi Daiza


Planckendael

Hoenderdaell

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

Photo credits to @twilighter @KevinB

 

[snowleopard]

That's cool that Hoenderdaell has Snow Leopards these days, as they didn't when I visited the zoo in 2019. Here's a photo of the zoo's 33 cats back then:

This poll is a tough choice. Pairi Daiza or Planckendael. I think that I'll go with Planckendael. The exhibit is a nice size, has great landscaping and doesn't feel as open as PD.

 

[snowleopard]

It would be interesting to know which exhibit (Pairi Daiza or Planckendael) is larger. Here is a photo of the expansive Snow Leopard enclosure at Planckendael:

@KevinB

 

[KevinB]

I did some quick measurements (via Geopunt for Planckendael and via NGI topoviewer for Pairi Daiza). The exhibit at Planckendael seems to be about 800 m², the one at Pairi Daiza about 540 m².

The exhibit at Planckendael has more vegetation, which is a plus, but only has a small off-show outdoor separation cage (which I believe is the major reason they don't breed snow leopards anymore), while Pairi Daiza's exhibit has an, albeit small, full secondary outdoor, public exhibit, which is a plus for that exhibit.

 

[felis silvestris]

Score update. Planckendael are currently just overtaking Pairi Daiza with just one vote between them. Their lead may be due to having a slightly larger and less open enclosure.

 

[felis silvestris]

Poll closed. Congratulations to Planckrndael for having the best Snow Leopard enclosure in the Benelux. At first it was a close poll, but Planckendael zoomed ahead due to their main enclosure being slightly larger and less open. This is their third poll win. Brief mention to Pairi Daiza who held up well with larger second enclosure and nice exhibit.

Plackendael: 63.2%
Pairi Daiza: 36.8%