Safaripark Beekse Bergen Safaripark Beekse Bergen

Wtf did they think was going to happen when they walked into the cheetah area, ignoring all of the warning signs and things designed to keep them out? Shame on everyone involved (except the cheetah!).
 
MennoPebesma said:
A 17-year-old German student was bitten by a cheetah at Safaripark Beekse Bergen this morning. The boy was on a school trip at the park and walked off the walking safari path with two classmates. In doing so, the three ended up in the animals' enclosure.

A spokesperson of Beekse Bergen says the boys' class was walking the walking safari. The three students then deviated from the walking safari and walked up a staff path. Through this staff path, the students then reached the car safari, after which they walked on to the cheeta enclosure. To enter the enclosure they walked over the metal grid, where you normally only go by car. This a six-metre-wide grid wich is electrified and has very big holes in between.

According to the spokesperson, there were warning signs at the staff paths and at the cheetah enclosure too. All in several languages, including German, that it's not allowed to walk there. When the boys saw the cheetahs, they started running. The animals reacted to that. One of the boys was grabbed by a cheetah.

A zookeeper saw it all happen and rescued the boy from the cheetah. The boy was taken to hospital after the bite. A short while later, he was allowed to return home, he is doing well. So is the cheetah. The two other students remained unharmed.

Beekse Bergen is investigating whether more measures should be taken to prevent such events in the future.

Source (in Dutch): Jongen (17) gegrepen door cheeta in Safaripark Beekse Bergen
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I am glad at least the cheetahs remained unharmed.

This case is a stratospheric level of idiocy and lack of common sense, perhaps with some brainless teenage bravado mixed in. If these teens continue down a similar path I expect them to win a Darwin award some day pretty soon.

I think these boys deserve to get seriously punished beyond the (seemingly relatively minor) injuries. Even some time in a juvie jail would be warranted for this in my opinion. But unfortunately that probably won't happen.

Unfortunately you can't fix stupid, and however much you try, you just can't prevent all acts of extreme stupidity like this. Even fences can be climbed, and you can't really put up super big gates, barbed wire or razor wire everywhere, or zoos will start resembling maximum security prisons.

Sadly these school groups, especially teen boys and girls, are often left to roam unattended and unsupervised, and I have found them to often be a general nuissance. I hate these groups and if zoos do anything, they should implement stronger rules for school groups and more strongly enforce them. Because they way they are currently conducted these school trips are a nuissance for other visitors and have little educational value. Perhaps this is a conservative view, but I still believe that schools ought to teach disicipline and respect for rules, and the way these school trips are conducted is in my opinion a symptom of a lack thereof.

In better news from Beekse Bergen, a black crested mangabey was born on September 3rd, it is a male.

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KevinB said:
I am glad at least the cheetahs remained unharmed.

This case is a stratospheric level of idiocy and lack of common sense, perhaps with some brainless teenage bravado mixed in. If these teens continue down a similar path I expect them to win a Darwin award some day pretty soon.

I think these boys deserve to get seriously punished beyond the (seemingly relatively minor) injuries. Even some time in a juvie jail would be warranted for this in my opinion. But unfortunately that probably won't happen.

Unfortunately you can't fix stupid, and however much you try, you just can't prevent all acts of extreme stupidity like this. Even fences can be climbed, and you can't really put up super big gates, barbed wire or razor wire everywhere, or zoos will start resembling maximum security prisons.

Sadly these school groups, especially teen boys and girls, are often left to roam unattended and unsupervised, and I have found them to often be a general nuissance. I hate these groups and if zoos do anything, they should implement stronger rules for school groups and more strongly enforce them. Because they way they are currently conducted these school trips are a nuissance for other visitors and have little educational value. Perhaps this is a conservative view, but I still believe that schools ought to teach disicipline and respect for rules, and the way these school trips are conducted is in my opinion a symptom of a lack thereof.

In better news from Beekse Bergen, a black crested mangabey was born on September 3rd, it is a male.

Log into Facebook
Click to expand...

Unfortunately school groups are where zoos make a big chunk of their money. Some zoos do a great job managing groups and trying to educate, but there's often too many groups at once and not enough staff to help. This zoo is doing a good job with security, in my opinion, if this is the first time this has happened.
 
MennoPebesma said:
A 17-year-old German student was bitten by a cheetah at Safaripark Beekse Bergen this morning. The boy was on a school trip at the park and walked off the walking safari path with two classmates. In doing so, the three ended up in the animals' enclosure.

A spokesperson of Beekse Bergen says the boys' class was walking the walking safari. The three students then deviated from the walking safari and walked up a staff path. Through this staff path, the students then reached the car safari, after which they walked on to the cheeta enclosure. To enter the enclosure they walked over the metal grid, where you normally only go by car. This a six-metre-wide grid wich is electrified and has very big holes in between.

According to the spokesperson, there were warning signs at the staff paths and at the cheetah enclosure too. All in several languages, including German, that it's not allowed to walk there. When the boys saw the cheetahs, they started running. The animals reacted to that. One of the boys was grabbed by a cheetah.

A zookeeper saw it all happen and rescued the boy from the cheetah. The boy was taken to hospital after the bite. A short while later, he was allowed to return home, he is doing well. So is the cheetah. The two other students remained unharmed.

Beekse Bergen is investigating whether more measures should be taken to prevent such events in the future.

Source (in Dutch): Jongen (17) gegrepen door cheeta in Safaripark Beekse Bergen
Click to expand...


And an article about the 'accident' in English :

Cheetah bites German teen at Beekse Bergen safari park
 
vogelcommando said:
And an article about the 'accident' in English :

Cheetah bites German teen at Beekse Bergen safari park
Click to expand...

The last bit makes me angry. "This is not the first time a visitor got attacked in the park. In 2018, a French family got out of their car in the cheetah enclosure next to sunbathing cheetahs to take pictures. The cheetahs stalked them, but they safely got back into their car."

This time really wasn't an attack, the kids were running so cheetah chased. And how the heck is people having animals stare at them an attack?!
 
TinoPup said:
The last bit makes me angry. "This is not the first time a visitor got attacked in the park. In 2018, a French family got out of their car in the cheetah enclosure next to sunbathing cheetahs to take pictures. The cheetahs stalked them, but they safely got back into their car."

This time really wasn't an attack, the kids were running so cheetah chased. And how the heck is people having animals stare at them an attack?!
Click to expand...

It is frustrating how the media are portraying some of these incidents, suggesting the park is somehow unsafe or guilty.

None of these incidents would have occurred if some people had not been so incredibly stupid - and I'm not reading that in these articles.

I do remember reading that some of the cheetahs acted like they would when approaching prey (hence the term stalking) towards the family's kids, but again, that would never have happened if they hadn't gotten out of the car.
 
KevinB said:
It is frustrating how the media are portraying some of these incidents, suggesting the park is somehow unsafe or guilty.

None of these incidents would have occurred if some people had not been so incredibly stupid - and I'm not reading that in these articles.

I do remember reading that some of the cheetahs acted like they would when approaching prey (hence the term stalking) towards the family's kids, but again, that would never have happened if they hadn't gotten out of the car.
Click to expand...

I doubt it was even "stalking", as in prey. They were probably just really confused about people getting out of one of the cars, something they've never had happen, and were curious. Cheetahs just don't look at humans as something they can hurt or kill, like big cats might.
 
jwer said:
I’m currently in the resort :) the bachelor herd of giraffes contains a veeery light brown specimen, does anyone know if an Angolan giraffe has arrived? Or is it just a very light coloured Rothschildt’s I’m looking at?
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There are 2 possible answers....1) They have two Kordofan males, they look a little lighter
2) They have a Rothschildbull that is much light C
couloured as usual
Zuhir from Olomouc

All live in one of the two groups of males at the Resort - this year they lost two males of the
groups that has more than 18 or 20 indviduals.
 
Can anyone tell me which animals live in the Resort and how big are the herds? Are they all animals from the Safaripark or new bachelor groups?
 
KevinB said:
Safaripark Beekse Bergen has started construction work on a renovation of the rhinoceros plains.

The renovation will include the merging of the two existing plains through the demolition of the current dyke with the walking safari route, giving all species in this area the options of direct access to the plains and choice of going outdoors or staying indoor, the construction of separate areas for rhinoceros bulls and rhinoceros cows with calves, the construction of a new walking route and viewing areas with a stacked rock wall and new planted areas and improved viewing from the boat safari.

They hope to complete this renovation by the fall school holidays. Animal welfare is a crucial reason for and an important concern during this renovation.

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Nieuw verblijf witte neushoorn | Beekse Bergen
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Last Saturday, the renovated rhino plains was opened to the animals and visitors. The two plains have been merged into one. As a result, the southern white rhinoceroses (Ceratotherium simum simum), common eland (Taurotragus oryx), Ankole-Watusi and blesboks (Damaliscus pygargus phillipsi) now have a five-hectare habitat. A part of the rhino plains has been specially made suitable for introducing new animals and for newborn calves to quietly get used to the outdoors together with their mothers.

 
14-year-old West African chimpanzee Stephan has died. There was unrest in the group and due to a conflict, he ended up in the moat and did not survive. Stephan was the first chimpanzee born at Beekse Bergen in 2008. He lived with a group of eight females and six males. As chimpanzees are social animals, the other animals are closely watched by the keepers.

Source: Facebook Beekse Bergen
 
A spotted hyena briefly escaped from a side exhibit after a fallen branch damaged a fence.

The animal was never in areas accesible to visitors so visitors were never in danger, but visitors were nonetheless evacuated as protocol states. The animal was sedated by a vet and taken back to the holding area. The exhibit will be repaired before it is used again.

Hyena ontsnapt in Beekse Bergen, bezoekers tijdelijk geëvacueerd
 
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