The Best Route to visit 2-4 Zoos With Koala, Okapi, Bonobo, Black rhino in the Netherlands/Belgium

[Nikola Chavkosk]

In planing of what next zoos I will visit in September most probably, in Europe, the highest priority is to see a koala and an okapi, and second highest priority is to see bonobo and a black rhinoceros. The quality of exhibit is also important, as well as the collection of venomous snakes. I was thinking whether to go in Berlin and Leipzig, to go in Cologne and Frankfurt, to go in Paris and Zoo de Beauval, to go in Madrid and both Terra's natura, to go in Prague and Plsen, or to go in Zurich and Vienna and Nockhalm, I chose it is time to go in the Netherlands and Belgium, for the first time. Starting point Eindhoven or Brussels - Charleroi airport. What two or three-four collections would you recommend , from the Netherlands and from Belgium, that I should visit in order to see koala, okapi, bonobo and a black rhino, and the route to be relatively simple and cheap, of course. Maybe a combination of Antwerpen zoo, Planckendael, and Rotterdam zoo is ok to fulfill aforementioned criteria.
Because I need a visa for the UK, I don't see a reason for the near future, why I should spend time and money in the British office in order to get a visa, though there are great collections in the UK.
Thank you,

 

[Chlidonias]

you only need to visit one zoo. Less than a minute on Zootierliste showed me that Leipzig has all four of those animals. Just go there.

 

[Nikola Chavkosk]

you only need to visit one zoo. Less than a minute on Zootierliste showed me that Leipzig has all four of those animals. Just go there.

But I want to experience more like a safe adventure, beside zoos, to see another interesting things like cities, culture etc. That was the reason why I first visited Barcelona and Valencia this spring. I loved the Spanish culture, climate, nature and these cities. Once I visited Munich, and saw something from the German culture. But of course, the Leipzig zoo is on my list must see zoo in my life.

 

[jayjds2]

you only need to visit one zoo. Less than a minute on Zootierliste showed me that Leipzig has all four of those animals. Just go there.

Not to mention, Chinese pangolin: that'd be a priority for any sane person.

 

[Chlidonias]

Not to mention, Chinese pangolin: that'd be a priority for any sane person.

yes, although to be fair I did misread the original post - thinking it said Berlin and Leipzig were under consideration - due to the way it was written. But even if restricting it to the Netherlands and Belgium, it's still a pretty simple calculation to make just by looking on Zootierliste.

Planckendael in Belgium for bonobo and koala, and Rotterdam in the Netherlands for the okapi and black rhino. I mean, none of those species have more than three holders between the two countries.

 

[vogelcommando]

As Chlidonias said, Planckendael and Rotterdam will be enough to fullfill your animal-wishes but I also would say visit Antwerp because you also want to see intresting cities and Antwerp IS intresting. Next to the intresting city, the Zoo is very intresting and very historical !

 

[lintworm]

As Chlidonias said, Planckendael and Rotterdam will be enough to fullfill your animal-wishes but I also would say visit Antwerp because you also want to see intresting cities and Antwerp IS intresting. Next to the intresting city, the Zoo is very intresting and very historical !

But apart from Blijdorp and Planckendael, your challenge will be to pick the 1-2 other zoos for the trip, arguably the 3 of which to choose from are Antwerp, Pairi Daiza and Burgers Zoo... Each zoo is very special in it's own way.

 

[Nikola Chavkosk]

But apart from Blijdorp and Planckendael, your challenge will be to pick the 1-2 other zoos for the trip, arguably the 3 of which to choose from are Antwerp, Pairi Daiza and Burgers Zoo... Each zoo is very special in it's own way.

Yes definitively. Though now I change my mind or plan, after seeing a YouTube video of Leipzig zoo, it had wonderfull koala exhibit and possibly the other exhibits are great - I must see in the gallery. I will see what my friends (who are not zoo nerds), will think of this, if they are coming, they will probably love to go in Amsterdam and Brussels. I was solo in Spain though.
What zoos from these (Antwerpen, Blijdorp, Planckendael, Burgers, Pairi Daiza, Leipzig ) have better or best exhibition of koala, okapi, bonobo and a black rhino, after you, since I suppose you have visited all of them./

 

[lintworm]

What zoos from these (Antwerpen, Blijdorp, Planckendael, Burgers, Pairi Daiza, Leipzig ) have better or best exhibition of koala, okapi, bonobo and a black rhino, after you, since I suppose you have visited all of them./

For these three species Leipzig would have the best exhibits (though I haven't seen the koala one in person, but those enclosures are allways the same anyway ). But overall I would argue that both Burgers Zoo and Blijdorp have higher exhibit quality than Leipzig (at least from the animal point of view, random visitors would probably prefer Leipzig with all the immersive theming).

That said Leipzig is also a very interesting city (it's apparently the "new Berlin") and it makes a nice contrast with the beautiful old town of Dresden, 100 kms furtheron.

 

[Batto]

lintworm is correct; Leipzig is a popular city, and its zoo is now one of the major ones in Europe, also thanks to good management and marketing. Not a vast collection of venomous snakes there, but a few nice species are on show.

 

[Jurek7]

I'm sure others will tell you, but if it is your first time in Benelux, I would not miss two unique collections: Burgers zoo for indoor halls and Apenheul for monkeys. Otherwise, Rotterdam, Planckendael and perhaps Pairi Diaza are the biggest 'standard' zoos.
Sight-wise, in the Netherlands the best is perhaps Amsterdam and Utrecht, and you might visit some traditional windmill route (maybe too time consuming on a public transport, but there are several windmills in the city of Amsterdam too). I would however definitely skip Amsterdam zoo if you have limited time. Lots of Amsterdam people love it, because it is 'their home zoo' and they grew up visiting it, but it is quite a mediocre zoo with limited space. Similarly, Rotterdam is not so spectacular for sights, unless you are interested in sea ports.
About Belgium I am not so sure. Antwerp is the big city, there is also Brugge? - this part I leave to others. Antwerp zoo is not so spectacular, it is mostly a place of zoo history.
Leipzig has a good zoo, but for sights I would skip the city itself completely and spend that time in Berlin which can fill your program for a week.
I hope people from these cities will understand me, but if you have limited time I would make a rather strict selection of what places I visit.

 

[lintworm]

Sight-wise, in the Netherlands the best is perhaps Amsterdam and Utrecht, and you might visit some traditional windmill route (maybe too time consuming on a public transport, but there are several windmills in the city of Amsterdam too).

I would opt for skipping Amsterdam completely, way too many tourists; Utrecht, Den Haag (The Hague), Leiden and Haarlem offer relatively similar experiences, but then without all these tourists.

I would however definitely skip Amsterdam zoo if you have limited time. Lots of Amsterdam people love it, because it is 'their home zoo' and they grew up visiting it, but it is quite a mediocre zoo with limited space.

You probably have not visited in quite some time, but Artis has developed at a higher pace than most European zoos in recent years and is far from mediocre anymore....

Rotterdam is not so spectacular for sights, unless you are interested in sea ports.

Unless you are interested in post-war architecture.... Rotterdam has become a very interesting visit for tourists as well, but you will have to accept the fact that it was almost completely flattened during WWII...

About Belgium I am not so sure. Antwerp is the big city, there is also Brugge? - this part I leave to others. Antwerp zoo is not so spectacular, it is mostly a place of zoo history.

Gent and Brugge are among the nicest cities in Belgium, but neither has a real zoo .