Eindhoven Zoo

History

On 4 May 2004 the brand new Mierlo Zoo, confusingly located in Nuenen, opened for the public, after being officially opened for honoured guests by the mayor of Eindhoven, Mr. A. Sakkers, on May the 3^rd. The 16 hectare Zoo was established on country estate Gulbergen, a former refuse dump located in between the villages Mierlo and Nuenen, next to the golf course with its 'garbage' hill as a striking feature in the countryside. Before the Zoo was developed at Gulbergen there was a farm at that particular spot, and several barns are still in use by the Zoo nowadays. The enterprise is financed by Libéma Ltd, the owner of Hilvarenbeek Zoo, and is not subsidised whatsoever.

In 2004 the Zoo's Dutch name “Dierenrijk Europa” represented exactly where it stood for, because at that time it was the first zoo in the Netherlands that showed animals from European origin only. Although visitor numbers were not bad, they had to increase for the Zoo to survive. Therefore, to enhance the appeal of the Zoo several exotic animals were introduced, and since the arrival of the Amur tigers in 2007 the Zoo has several Asian species to attract visitors. Since 2008 Asian elephants, Asian black bears, gibbons and bactrian camels have been introduced. The three male Asian elephants came from two other Dutch zoos, and formed the first Dutch elephant bull group. From then on they skipped Europa in their Dutch name, and in the Netherlands the Zoo is called “Dierenrijk”, which stands for Animal Kingdom. This is a bit presumtuous, as it assumes to provide a comprehensive overview of all species, which it doesn't of course. But it raises expectations.

While in their European phase they had seven themes for visitors to explore: cultural landscap, primeval forest, alps, far north, beach & ocean, marsh and the mediterranean. This infrastructure became sort of a mess when the Asian species were housed in between the existing enclosures. This is the state you find the Zoo in, in 2011. Honouring the principles of a commercial zoo without any subsidies, it adopted amusement park ideas that focus on children. This shows on their website and as soon as you enter the zoological park, but it is not disturbing. Though you might think the language and design of the website, and Zoo booklet (including the map) are childish.

Recently, in July 2011, they opened Europe's largest aviary, a walk-through exhibit. This huge, over one hectare, enclosure has on display more than hundred birds of species such as cattle egret, great white egret, European sea-eagle, black stork, Waldrapp ibis, night heron, griffon vulture (in a separate enclosure), Barnacle goose and pelican. The birds have ample space and the top elevation is about 12 meters high.

Ambition to further develop the park remained. This culminated in the grand opening on 4 July 2024 of the completely renovated Amur tiger enclosure and elephant enclosure that received a major upgrade. Both are considered up to the modern standards set by zoos worldwide. Together with the opening of the new enclosures the Zoo was renamed Eindhoven Zoo, because this better reflected the current situation as a full-fledged zoological facility.

In the next years, the park plans to focus even more on nature conservation and education.

(Source: website Dierenrijk / Eindhoven Zoo; Zoosite.nl; Wikipedia)

Visit(s)

31.07.2011

It shows that they built this zoo from scratch, on a piece of land that was a refuse dump just seven years ago. The premises lacks old and large trees, and there is no historic evidence of former nature whatsoever. Because a refuse dump does not support any nature other than pests of course. So the overgrowth and other foliage consist of grass, willow trees and other species of rapid growing greenery. They successfully created a few secluded areas, but overall it is a very open area with fences either being very outspoken grey concrete, like in the elephant enclosure, or very visible wire mesh.

It is very hard to recognise which message the Zoo is trying to get across to the public. Make them realise the existence of wildlife that is obvious, but the educational value of it all is vague to me. Of course, it must have been very hard to turn this refuse dump into habitats that reminds a bit of the original habitat of the animals they have on display, and educate the public on nature and its diversity. Therefore, the idea to start with just European species was good, but the introduction of Asian species afterwards creates a lot of confusion. It is like they just filled the gaps which still existed between enclosures to house some Asian animals. There are no obvious themes that guide the visitor during his visit: no continental grouping, no habitat/ecosystem grouping, no grouping on foraging habits or specific attention to endangered species, at least not recognisable for me. There is no take home message, and that is a shame I think.

Like the strange mixture of species you will find during your visit, you will also see a strange mixture of enclosure design. Some of the enclosures are similar to old-fashioned cages, only much larger and only minimal enrichment efforts. A typical example is the cage of the two Eurasian lynxes (Lynx lynx), which due to the design are exposed to the public wherever they are in their enclosure. The cats cannot hide, but are provided with tree trunks enabling their climbing behaviour to be expressed. Though their environment is far from natural they have adopted to this situation completely. They let themselves not to be disturbed by the public, even when they are stalking and hunting goat in the adjacent enclosure.

Other enclosures follow the Hagenbeck principle, which means that they are a copy of the original habitat, barless and sometimes surrounded by moats filled with water. A fine example is the enclosure of the raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides), which is one of the several endemic European species exhibited.

Some of the largest enclosures, e.g. wolves and polar bears, have fences all around which expose the animals to the public at all places and at all times. So, they may be large, but they are still designed with the visitors in mind and not just the animals.

Furthermore, there are some interesting exhibits with a mix of species which you do not see often in zoos. For instance the brown bears and the wolves (a small second group of wolves) are joined together in one huge enclosure. The bear and the wolf have different diets in nature, and they get along just fine in an enclosed environment. Nevertheless, to avoid any conflicts the animals are feeded separately, and the wolves can hide from the bears in a small separate part of the enclosure with an entrance too small for a bear to get in. One of the advantages to house them together is the enrichment of their environment as they are constantly on the alert for one another. Another example of such a unusual mixed species exhibit is the combination of the Asian black bear (Ursus thibetanus) with the Corsac fox, also known as the steppe fox (Vulpes corsac).

But the most extraordinary enclosure is the red panda enclosure. The two red pandas find themselves in a strange exhibit, while their enclosure is built around a huge power pylon, which is part of the regional grid. Zoo development has never been easy, and management has to deal with shortcomings and unexpected particularities of the grounds acquired. Well, they did in Mierlo Zoo with the red panda enclosure. They are not getting high scores for esthetics, but making the power pylon part the enclosure increased the available space in this part of the Zoo.

The brand new walk-through aviary, opened July 2011, is very impressive. It houses an excellent variety of species including the endangered Waldrapp ibis, and provides the birds with the necessary habitat, grassy meadows, trees, reed and ponds. The birds can express their natural behaviour here, including flying. I have never seen such a large walk-through aviary yet.

The physical conditon of the animals seems excellent, and I was especially impressed by the beautiful slender bodies of the Amur tigers.

To conclude I would say that Mierlo Zoo did an excellent job by providing their animals with ample space, which means they have made choices in favour of the animals. They headed for species which their premises could handle considering the naturalistic habitats that were required. At least so it seems when they started, but then things changed. After the introduction of the Asian species, the Zoo might attract more visitors, but the downside is that the exhibition of animals is confusing now, and the educational value might be lost. Which makes this zoo nothing more than an entertainment business, although the walk-through aviary is recommended.