One of our favorite family past-times is visiting zoo's. We have done this since's our kinds were little, and we have had (and still have) a membership at this particular zoo and enjoy every-time we go there.
Why this particular zoo you ask? Well, lets see for yourself.
Burgers Zoo Arnhem
Being build back in 1913, Burgers zoo is now run by the 5th generation of the burgers family, and spans a across a whopping 45 hectare of ground, divided into 7 habitats. And not only is this one of the biggest zoo's in the Netherlands, it's also one of the most modern.
The 7 habitats are:
- Burgers Park
- Burgers Bush
- Burgers Desert
- Burgers Safari
- Burgers Ocean
- Burgers Rimba
- Burgers Mangrove
Park map source
Statues celebrating the 100th anniversary of the zoo in front of the entrance
In the Netherlands, when your company reaches the age of a 100 years, you can apply for the right to add the "Royal" title to your companies name. And the bronze monument in front of the entry, awarded by the Dutch royal family back in 2013, shows the status of this zoo.
Burgers Park
Burgers park is the "old" and main part of the zoo to which all of the additional habitats connect. Here you will find the habitats of the penguins, elephants and different species of monkeys and many more.
capuchins
penguins
Meerkats
Asian Elephants
Bush
Being build in 1988, the bush represent an eco display of the rain forrest. It houses a large variety plants, birds, mammals, reptiles and fishes. Most of the animals can wander around the 1,5 ha dome freely.
It makes an excellent place to hide, so every time you go there it's a game of hide and seek to see if you can spot some of them.
Fun fact, the bush is home to the only Dracaena (Dragon blood tree) tree named after an zoo. The Dracaena Bushii [source]
Entrance to the Bush and the dome on the background
One of the bats, just chillin in his tree
Victoria Crowned Pigeon
Ocean
From inside the Bush, you can walk into the Ocean. The Ocean is opened in 2000 and is home to the biggest coral reef of Europe, more than 100 species of coral and 160 species of fish. During the route you will submerge in the ocean, which is a unique way to walk past all of the aquariums.
entrance to the Ocean
Submerging
from here on out, your "under water"
And my personal favorite and a must see if you are into aquariums, Burgers Ocean houses the second largest aquarium tank in the world with a capacity of over 7.5 million liters of ocean water, and is home to several shark species and a boat 😁.
Safari
Up next is the safari. This is the first additional habitat opened in 1968. It's a representation of the African Savanna and home to Rhinos, Lions, Giraffe's and many more.
Through the years the Safari has had several transformations into the one there is now. Back in the day, the only way you could see the animals, was to drive through the habitat in your own car. During the 80's they changed this, and since 1995 it's only possible to walk around the habitat.
The last "update" to the habitat was in 2007, when they opened the restaurant which oversees the open flats.
Rhino's with their calves
All photographs are taken by me.
Camera: Samsung S22 Ultra
That's it for this post. If you got this far, i thank you for your time to check it out.
Hope to see you on the next post!
Sources
- Burger's zoo website
- Location: Antoon van Hooffplein 1, 6816 SH Arnhem Google maps
- Pinmapple: [//]:# (!pinmapple 52.010018 lat 5.900476 long Burgers Zoo Arnhem, the Netherlands d3scr)