Speculative Burger's zoo project

As you requested: I have scrolled through the concepts and I do like a few ideas such as the expantion to the outside for the desert. However for that situation the offices for the construction team would have to get destroyed. These are very well hidden so easily forgotten. The species are well thought through and could add to the walk up a boring hill, yet I feel it would be hard to create another entrance/exit to that bit and therefor make it very random. I'd maybe use the slope for something like a few seperate animals that belong to the 'park' bit. They could still be themed around the desert, but more freely.

My thought on another tropical hall (for outback) might be a bit too much as it might be too similar to Desert (but Mangrove RN is also quite similar to bush). I think reusing the current pheasantry for indoor australian species might be fine, and retheme the area around it for outdoor species (flamingos could easily move to somewhere else).

If we are looking at Burgers' Zoo they add regions in which there is a story to tell. So not every region or theme fits the park. It is too bad the zoo can't expand to anywhere due to all the roads surrounding and various things blocking their chances of expantion.
In a fantasy option I could say the parkinglot would be moved to the other side of the deelense weg near the electrical power center thingy, and move the entrance up there. Giving the zoo new space the size safari+rimba. Or the city council would have to agree on moving the road a bit around and therefor giving a chance to redo the parkinglot to change shape or grow (maybe vertically?) and still adding some space for atleast 1 new themed area.
 
It is too bad the zoo can't expand to anywhere due to all the roads surrounding and various things blocking their chances of expantion.
In a fantasy option I could say the parkinglot would be moved to the other side of the deelense weg near the electrical power center thingy, and move the entrance up there. Giving the zoo new space the size safari+rimba. Or the city council would have to agree on moving the road a bit around and therefor giving a chance to redo the parkinglot to change shape or grow (maybe vertically?) and still adding some space for atleast 1 new themed area.

The Cattepoelse weg is the main problem for my ideas. I actually want to downsize the beaver and otter enclosures, as well as maybe the wolf enclosure. This would make a little more space.

Another possibility is to make a bridge over the Cattepoelse weg, either making a new region there (Similar to Berlin zoo, Zoo Duisburg and Blijdorp), or to make space for a larger staff area here.

Personally, I really like the large safari paddock being the horizon, and I don't want to build anything behind it
 
My thought on another tropical hall (for outback) might be a bit too much as it might be too similar to Desert (but Mangrove RN is also quite similar to bush). I think reusing the current pheasantry for indoor australian species might be fine, and retheme the area around it for outdoor species (flamingos could easily move to somewhere else).

Fair, but Outback also has larger wooded areas, the kangaroo enclosure will be typical outback, and the bottom walk will be rocky desert, so those two might be similar indeed, but still unique
 
I think the main problem is the space animals get. Burgers' Zoo is known for giving lots of space to animals. adding too much (like in this concept) kinda contradicts that concept.
 
I think the main problem is the space animals get. Burgers' Zoo is known for giving lots of space to animals. adding too much (like in this concept) kinda contradicts that concept.

I think most enclosures are quite spacious. And the current aardvark and former capybara enclosures are actually a bit undersized
 
For the New Zealand house, could the red-fronted parakeets be mixed with Australian swamphen and Eastern rosella?
 
I'm looking into adding some Madagascan freshwater fish into the Madagascar house, does anyone have a few species that are available in captivity? (preferably also in Europe)
 
I'm looking into adding some Madagascan freshwater fish into the Madagascar house, does anyone have a few species that are available in captivity? (preferably also in Europe)
Pinstripe Damba, Mangarahara Cichlids, Red-Tailed and Madagascan Silversides, and to a lesser extent Vatosoa Rainbowfish are kept in Europe.
 
Pinstripe Damba, Mangarahara Cichlids, Red-Tailed and Madagascan Silversides, and to a lesser extent Vatosoa Rainbowfish are kept in Europe.

Thanks!

Would these be able to go together with Madagascar big-headed turtle (Erymnochelys madagascariensis)?
 
I assume so, though I don’t know if big-headed turtles have been kept with any of them.
 
I think it may work, the turtles seem to be primarily herbivorous so no stress about them munching on the fishes.
 
I think it may work, the turtles seem to be primarily herbivorous so no stress about them munching on the fishes.

Great! People (on zoochat) seem to love Madagascan Freshwater fish, so I thought: why not add them to the Madagascan house?
 
I'm also thinking of removing the greater hedgehog tenrec and Malagasy tree boa, instead making for a swampy area with water banana trees for the turtle and fishes. Hopefully I'll have an updated map out later today
 
Burgers islands - Madagascar and Seychelles.png

The new water area will have water banana plants in it, as well as having a shallow area (near the Giant chameleon enclosure), and a deeper bit with the bridge over it. Between the path next to the fossa and the water will be some rockwork with plants on top for the free-roamers
 

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As annoying as it may sound, I would start over from scratch.

And here is the why and what I would do instead:

One main problem I notice within your designing that doesn't feel very Burgers' their style to me is how there's exhibits everywhere. Burgers' keeps their exhibits quite loose from others and not really attach many back to back to one other. They also leave room for the forest their located in to make sure this forest can also still grow and find its ways, they really value their natural environment.

Burgers' Zoo designs through Ecosystems/biomes, not continental locations. Keep this in mind as you go. Settle Australia for example on either the lush tropical environment, the shrublands or the desert areas. There's plenty of choice, and then base animals options on those environments. Burgers' themes heavily ''Geographic'' when possible, the rest is all within ''Park'' as you may notice.

For animal choices look at what is available, and then pick the most endangered species preferably. Refrain from choosing too many ''rare'' species with only 1 to 3 holders. Keep a balance within what is more common and rare. For example take 2 rarer doves and then have some common finches and parrots to go alongside it. Burgers' doesn't do all too many reptiles, amphibians and insect species. So if you want to choose some, pick only a few. Think of how the Desert did it, they have 3 invertebrate species, a lizard, a toad and 2 snake species. Rimba only keeps 2 larger reptiles and the Bush holds the crocodilian for the zoo and the chelonians and several free-roaming lizards and frogs.
Burgers' seems to take a single species to represent their entire family, take for example the caiman. Those represent the crocodilia group all together. Don't double up too much on species, don't take 3 or 4 wallabies when 1 or 2 will do fine in a large exhibit. Make sure that species have the space and don't mix too many species in a smaller exhibit, like the macaw aviary you added to the restaurant.

A big thing I noticed that I think sounds a bit unrealistic is a second large aquarium complex given the Ocean already is purposed to house the majority aquatic species they seem to want. And as second the double large nocturnalbuildings. I would narrow it down to 1 building and make it more of a logical size and preferably not put in large ungulates like sitatunga and tapirs, they likely would never do this as they have high animal welfare standards and a sitatunga or tapir that never sees daylight sounds not like it would suit that.

Now you also have placed a couple exhibits on top of where currently there are buildings.
For example your entire ''Woods'' section is build on top of large storage buildings, the lion and cheetah backstage complex. The Arctic is also taking away quite a bit of space from the Playground near the Park Restaurant as well as the drive way for trucks to get there to supply the restaurant.

Another thing is that you added quite a few large new (tropical) houses. I don't think Burgers' really would add many more considering they have both the Bush, the Mangrove and the Desert. Maybe they'd add a fourth if it really can captivate a special location or be a unique exhibit with a key feature species. However I don't believe they would given the large amounts of costs it has to upkeep these and given that the Mangrove is purely a upgrade from he previous smaller one and to have a area dedicated to Belize which Burgers' is trying to protect actively and work with in-situ with their own large area.
So I would remove: Madagascar, Islands, Outback, Congo and 1 of the Night houses.
- Congo could probably function just as well as a outdoor area given toprical Africa is already represented within the Bush.

All of these areas can be well represented with primarily outdoor exhibits featuring species such as;
- Madagascar: lemurs, fossa, aldabra giant tortoises (during summer, wintertime you can view them indoor through a window much like the current lemur situation.)
- Islands: personally would just scrap this since it's just a mess geographically and is too open. Several birds can either go into the Mangrove or the Bush, though the Bush is already stocked plenty. As well as that your planned enclosures are honestly quite small.
- Outback: emus, kangaroos, wallabies, cassowaries, tassie devils, wombats, koalas and tree-kangaroos can all survive outdoors in the Dutch weather (though need good winter indoor exhibits, probably viewable through windows. Though I would like I said again narrow Oceania down to a ecosytem based location, Outback usually is refered to the desert/shrubland so I would go for one of these and design based on that. And personally I would avoid using all of these species since you don't really ever see all of these in 1 zoo. Many enclosures you currently have planned are honestly very small.
- Congo: the great apes already are outside and have a lot of historical value with their current location and exhibits. Could add a bongo exhibit on the backside where there's the old climbforest playground area, though I would personally scrap this all together since it's too much of a location rather then a biome.
- Arctic and Wad: just scrap for now, instead focus on a much more tolerable posibility within the Dutch climate and given that Stef himself said that arctic domes are pretty much a no-go within Burgers' their standards. How about, Burgers' Tundra?

Within Tundras you get pretty much everything you had before, just no penguins. But who needs arctic penguins when African penguins are already representative for the penguin family.
Within this you can house the Finnish reindeer currently present, snowy owls, martens, wisent, bears, wolves and wolverines. Don't go for musk ox given that Gaia Zoo is removing them due to Climate/wellfare reasons, so adding these would be a bit odd. I think you should give this a go, and merge your ''Woods'' with your ''Arctic'' to create the Tundra. A few larger exhibits that utilize the Veluwe their forest and you're set. You can do this pretty much behind the great Apes where the old playground is located. At least to my knowledge there's nothing else there, however I have never been in that part of the zoo.

Burgers' Safari you quite extensively re-modeled. In my opinion, for the worse.
First of all, keep the savanna as it was, including the drinking pool with the rhinocerosses.
Keep the forested feel. Burgers' is one of the, if not the best, when it comes to their savanna. It's large, quite open in feeling, with some shrubbery and trees scattered around, quite like a savanna.
Put the Beisa back onto the safari, remove somali wild asses and dromedary from the planboard. The Safari is meant to represent the East-African savanna, not the more barren regions from Africa. Most of the current species can be found back to Kenya, so taking Kenya and neighbouring countries close by as a point to work from can be quite handy.
Remove the nile building, that's kinda already done in Blijdorp and Beeksebergen, wouldn't really add any value to Burgers'.
Now for your aviaries, I would only do 1 inbetween the current lion exhibit and the rhino pool. No clue if a walkthrough aviary would be really Burgers' their style, but regardless I would not put a shoebill in there. Personally would scrap this species all together.
The current stocklist kind of feels a bit too much for what space the aviary would really be. There's a few large species you currently have in your lists, would remove a few and only go for a select few. I also fail to see why you'd relocate the pelicans to a aviary like this since pelicans are known to be able to attack ducks and other waterfowl. You can find videos on YouTube of them swallowing ducks and pigeons if you want to see for yourself. I'd also opt to put the crowned cranes back in with the current old location for them underneath the Skopje terrace at the Safari Restaurant.
You can pick quite a nice stocking list from the selection you seem to want. Incl. from the bird of prey, considering vultures are scavengers they won't really be harmful to the ducks and other birds. If I recall correctly Zoo Antwerpen has vultures in with plenty of others birds inside their cape buffalo aviary. Perhaps take some inspiration from there.
Remove the primate islands and move the Patas monkeys possibly in with the savanna. Perhaps, however I don't think it's entirely possible, monkey-proof the fencing around the savanna and they should be able to roam fairly on the savanna. (if you really are keen on the primates however there's already plenty within the zoo.)
tldr: keep the safari as currently is with a new large aviary and touch up the carnivore enclosures to look more appealing, even though they are actually very good for the species, despite looking a bit dull.

The new Desert outdoor extension I think looks fair, though I doubt they'd get kit foxes again since they went out of them for a reason. So I'd personally remove those and keep the rest.
Same for the tortoises, these also didn't work for some reason so I'd be hesitant to add them back.

I don't know what changes you intend for the Rimba, Bush and Ocean, but I wouldn't do much there since they're pretty much fine as is.

This is my initial feedback thoughts to give you. Hope it helps.
Sometimes less species and exhibits is more.
I can only agree with most of this. Many of the species you do list are also not viable in the long-term. When it comes to areas with a story, there is high potential in parts of madagaskar (Southwestern Madagaskar is an often underrepresented area with it's tropical dry forests and many endangered species like tortoises, giant chameleon, sifaka, ring-tailed lemur, ...), a mountain area (Alpine or Himalayan is possible, but the Andean mountains are also a decent option with many available species like cougar, geoffroy's cat, vicuna, Andean condor, Chilean flamingo, ...), European dry forests (around the Mediterranean, fits perfectly in with the pine forests they have. ), Redwood forests, ...

I think most enclosures are quite spacious. And the current aardvark and former capybara enclosures are actually a bit undersized
But there you have it, the former capybare enclosure and the quite old aardvark enclosure. If you look at more recent enclosures they are quite spacious.
 
I did a redesign on Burgers' Night (Africa)
Burgers Night - Central and West Africa.png

The aardvark enclosure is full walkthrough, with fences similar to those in the canyon aviary. The porcupine/potto enclosure is more similar to the first and second regions of "de nacht" in Amersfoort, having little to no fencing

I'm also going to redesign the South American Night house, though I'll need a different location for it

Burgers Night - Central and West Africa (commersial version).png
 

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Burgers Rimba.png

I also made a change to Rimba (after some discussion with Anubite and Bosjesman), the two terrariums in the cave will be replaced by a nocturnal area (I know, I know) with the two main enclosures holding Chevrotains, Slow loris, and Treeshrew. With some added terrariums as well

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Burgers Night - South and Central America.png

As promised, the new version of the South American nocturnal house, now with a different location as the previous one was blocking off a supply route (I think) to Ocean.

The four-eyed opossum enclosure has a tunnel above the visitor path allowing the animals to get to both enclosures.

The nocturnal house is, again, one-route, you enter at the red-eyed tree frog terrarium and exit after the caimans.
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Some other small updates:

Burgers Congo.png
- Added an outside enclosure for the Okapis and Colobuses in Congo

Burgers Desert expansion.png
- Very subtle redesigning of the Desert expansion, moving some of the rocks around and giving the eagles more space. As well as removing the tunnel from the prairie dogs

Burgers islands - Carribean and Galapagos.png
- Added an outside enclosure for the Rhinoceros iguanas in Islands (S/ America), this is a lowered enclosure

Burgers park.png
- A newer image of Park without the macaw aviary, as I apparently never showed that

Burgers zoo New.png
- A general update of the map, as it has changed a bit
 

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