Royal Burgers' Zoo () is a zoo in

Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

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

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

in the east of the Netherlands. The zoo is popular with both Dutch and German people, and receives about 1 million visitors annually. It was founded by Johan Burgers in 1913. The zoo is a member of the Dutch Zoo Federation (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 (ISIS), and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).

Ecodisplays

The zoo has 8 theme sites called ecodisplays (ecological display): * ''Burgers' Safari'' used to be 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 par ...

, but nowadays it is a large plain for only the animals. * ''Burgers' Bush'' is a indoor

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are dense and warm rainforests with high rainfall typically found between 10° north and south of the Equator. They are a subset of the tropical forest biome that occurs roughly within the 28° latitudes (in the torrid zo ...

. * ''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 mangrove trees cannot withs ...

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

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

(focusing on the

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert () is a hot desert and ecoregion in North America 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 and California). It ...

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

seawater Seawater, or sea 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 approximat ...

aquarium An aquarium (: 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. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...

. 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 group ...

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' 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 tiger, Bali and Javan tigers are extinct. DNA sequencing, Sequ ...

sun bears The sun bear (''Helarctos malayanus'') is a bear species in the family Ursidae found in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. It is the only species in the genus ''Helarctos'' and the smallest bear species, standing nearly at the shoulder ...

binturong The binturong (''Arctictis binturong'') (, ), also known as the bearcat, is a viverridae, viverrid native to South Asia, South and Southeast Asia. It is uncommon in much of its range, and has been assessed as Vulnerable species, Vulnerable on th ...

s, golden-cheeked gibbons, dusky leaf monkeys, Sri Lankan leopards,

golden jackal The golden jackal (''Canis aureus''), also called the common jackal, is a wolf-like canid that is native to Eurasia. The golden jackal's coat varies in color from a pale creamy yellow in summer to a dark tawny beige in winter. It is smaller a ...

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

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, Eld's deer,

siamang The siamang (, ; ''Symphalangus syndactylus'') is an endangered 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 i ...

, pig-tailed macaque,

reticulated python The reticulated python (''Malayopython reticulatus'') is a Pythonidae, python species native to South Asia, South and Southeast Asia. It is the world's List of largest snakes, longest snake, and the list of largest snakes, third heaviest snake. I ...

, and water monitor.

Playgrounds

Burgers' Zoo has two larger playgrounds and a smaller one. The two larger playgrounds are located next to each other and connected through the Park Restaurant. * ''Burgers' Avonturenland'' (the zoo's playground), opened in 2002). * ''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, habitat refers to the array of resources, 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 manifestation of its ...

in spacious indoors

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

s, Burgers' Zoo also has facilities for conservation and captive breeding of animals nearly

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

. The

Socorro dove The Socorro dove or Grayson's dove (''Zenaida graysoni'') is a dove species which is extinct in the wild. It was endemic to Socorro Island in the Revillagigedo Islands off the west coast of Mexico. The last sighting in its natural habitat was i ...

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

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

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