Royal Burgers' Zoo ( nl, Koninklijke Burgers' Zoo) is a

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for Conservation biology, conservation purposes. The term ''zoological g ...

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both banks of ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, and is one of the biggest zoos in the country. Arnhem is a city that lies within the

Veluwe The Veluwe () is a forest-rich ridge of hills (1100 km2) in the province of Gelderland in the Netherlands. The Veluwe features many different landscapes, including woodland, heath, some small lakes and Europe's largest sand drifts. The Ve ...

, a

nature park A nature park, or sometimes natural park, is a designation for a protected natural area by means of long-term land planning, sustainable resource management and limitation of agricultural and real estate developments. These valuable landscape ...

in the east of the Netherlands. The zoo is popular with both

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

people, and receives about 1.5 million visitors annually. It was founded by

Johan Burgers Johannes Gerhardus Hendrikus Burgers (31 January 1870 – 12 June 1943) was in 1913 the founder of ''Burgers' Dierenpark'', nowadays called Royal Burgers' Zoo. He was the owner and director of it until 1939. His youngest daughter Lucie Burgers wa ...

in 1913. The zoo is a member of the

Dutch Zoo Federation The Dutch Zoo Federation (''Nederlandse Vereniging van Dierentuinen'' - NVD) is an association of 15 large zoos in the Netherlands. NVD was founded in 1966. All of its member zoos are members of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA). ...

(NVD), the

European Association of Zoos and Aquaria The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA), is an organisation for the European zoo and aquarium community that links over 340 member organisations in 41 countries. EAZA membership is open to all zoos and aquaria across Europe that compl ...

(EAZA), the

International Species Information System Species360 (formerly International Species Information System or ISIS) founded in 1974, is an international non-profit organization that maintains an online database of wild animals under human care. , the organization serves more than 1,000 zoos ...

(ISIS), and the

World Association of Zoos and Aquariums The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) is the "umbrella" organization for the world zoo and aquarium community. Its mission is to provide leadership and support for zoos, aquariums, and partner organizations of the world in animal ca ...

(WAZA).

Exhibits

The zoo has 8 theme sites: * ''Burgers' Safari'' (a

safari park A safari park, sometimes known as a wildlife park, is a zoo-like commercial drive-in tourist attraction where visitors can drive their own vehicles or ride in vehicles provided by the facility to observe freely roaming animals. A safari park ...

). * ''Burgers' Bush'' is a indoor

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equatori ...

. * ''Burgers' Mangrove'' (a

mangrove swamp Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangroves cannot withstand fre ...

). since July 2017: new 3,000 square meter mangrove hall * ''Burgers' Desert'' is a indoor

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

(focusing on the

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Arizona ...

). * ''Burgers' Ocean'' is a

seawater Seawater, or salt water, is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L, 35 ppt, 600 mM). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has appro ...

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

. Two of the main tanks are the ocean with sharks and other fish, and the

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

with tropical fish, living corals and other invertebrates.Janse, Max, and Joep Wensing (2000). ''Burgers’ Ocean, a new Indo-Pacific ecodisplay at Burgers’ Zoo, Arnhem, The Netherlands.'' Bulletin- Institut Oceanographique Monaco -Numero Special 20: 331-334 * ''Burgers' Avonturenland'' (the zoo's playground), opened in 2002). * ''Burgers' Rimba'' (opened in 2008). The ''Rimba'' gives visitors an impression of a Southeast Asian rainforest. The animals in this display include

Sumatran tiger The Sumatran tiger is a population of ''Panthera tigris sondaica'' on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is the only surviving tiger population in the Sunda Islands, where the Bali and Javan tigers are extinct. Sequences from complete mitochon ...

s, sun bears,

binturong The binturong (''Arctictis binturong'') (, ), also known as the bearcat, is a viverrid native to South and Southeast Asia. It is uncommon in much of its range, and has been assessed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because of a declining popu ...

s, golden-cheeked gibbons,

dusky leaf monkey The dusky leaf monkey (''Trachypithecus obscurus''), also known as the spectacled langur, or the spectacled leaf monkey is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae. It is found in Peninsular Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand, and can occa ...

Sri Lankan leopard The Sri Lankan leopard (''Panthera pardus kotiya'') is a leopard subspecies native to Sri Lanka. It was first described in 1956 by Sri Lankan zoologist Paules Edward Pieris Deraniyagala. Since 2020, the Sri Lankan leopard has been listed as ...

golden jackal The golden jackal (''Canis aureus''), also called common jackal, is a wolf-like canid that is native to Southeast Europe, Southwest Asia, South Asia, and regions of Southeast Asia. The golden jackal's coat varies in color from a pale creamy y ...

banteng The banteng (''Bos javanicus''; ), also known as tembadau, is a species of cattle found in Southeast Asia. The head-and-body length is between . Wild banteng are typically larger and heavier than their domesticated counterparts, but are otherw ...

muntjac Muntjacs ( ), also known as the barking deer or rib-faced deer, (URL is Google Books) are small deer of the genus ''Muntiacus'' native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. Muntjacs are thought to have begun appearing 15–35 million years ago, ...

hog deer ''Axis'' is a genus of deer occurring in South and Southeast Asia. As presently defined by most authorities, four species are placed in the genus. Three of the four species are called hog deer. The genus name is a word mentioned in Pliny the Eld ...

Eld's deer Eld's deer (''Rucervus eldii'' or ''Panolia eldii''Pitraa, Fickela, Meijaard, Groves (2004). ''Evolution and phylogeny of old world deer.'' Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 33: 880–895.), also known as the thamin or brow-antlered deer, is ...

siamang The siamang (, ; ''Symphalangus syndactylus'') is an arboreal, black-furred gibbon native to the forests of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. The largest of the gibbons, the siamang can be twice the size of other gibbons, reaching in height, a ...

pig-tailed macaque The pig-tailed macaques are two macaque sister species. They look almost identical and are best distinguished by their parapatric ranges: * Northern pig-tailed macaque, ''Macaca leonina'' (Bangladesh to Vietnam, south to northern Malaysia) * South ...

reticulated python The reticulated python (''Malayopython reticulatus'') is a python species native to South and Southeast Asia. It is the world's longest snake, and is among the three heaviest. It is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List because of its wi ...

, and

water monitor The Asian water monitor (''Varanus salvator'') is a large varanid lizard native to South and Southeast Asia. It is one of the most common monitor lizards in Asia, ranging from coastal northeast India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, mainland Southeast As ...

. * ''Burgers' Kids Jungle'' (Indoor playground in the theme of a South-American village, opened in 2012)

Conservation

Burgers’ Zoo has been successful enough in breeding fish and coral for their own aquarium that they can now help provide animals to other public aquariums. They use an artificial moon to stimulate sexual reproduction of corals in their reef, and also clone some 60 varieties. Besides presenting many of its animals in simulated

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

in spacious indoors

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

s, Burgers' Zoo also has facilities for

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and manageme ...

and captive breeding of animals nearly

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

. The Socorro dove (''Zenaida graysoni'') for example does not exist outside captivity at present; it was wiped out by introduced

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

s on its home island. The species is being bred in Burgers' Zoo for eventual reintroduction into the wild. Burgers' Zoo supports several nature conservation projects. The projects are small but with a big impact. * Future For Nature Burgers' Zoo supports the Future For Nature Foundation. This foundation supports nature projects throughout the world, by awarding three cash prizes of 50,000 euros each year to three young, talented nature conservationists, so that they can continue their important nature conservation work. Every year the Future For Nature Awards are presented in Burgers' Zoo. * Belize Burgers' Zoo protects a nature reserve with an area of 355 square kilometers, together with the Swiss animal park Papiliorama in Belize. * Lucie Burgers Foundation Lucie Burgers Foundation encourages and facilitates comparative behavioral research in animals. The aim is to improve the knowledge about the natural behaviour of animals and about ecology.

References

External links

* {{authority control Buildings and structures in Arnhem Geography of Gelderland Organisations based in the Netherlands with royal patronage Tourist attractions in Gelderland Zoos in the Netherlands