1968. The park opens as a modest collection of African and Asian animals on the edge of a small lake on the “Beekse Bergen” estate (the Dutch name simply means “the Beek hills”). At the time it sits next to a recreational lake popular with local families.

1970s. The first drive-through safari sections are opened, modelled on the African game-reserve idea brought back to Europe by enthusiasts of long African field trips.

1980s – 1990s. The park expands south and east, swallowing more woodland. The first European Breeding Programmes (EEPs) for endangered species are joined. The walking and boat safaris are added.

2000s – 2010s. Beekse Bergen joins the Libéma group of leisure operators. A modern Safari Resort is built adjacent to the park, with lodges, a tented camp and the Karibu hotel. Animal enclosures are gradually enlarged toward the modern “mixed-paddock” model where multiple compatible species share open ground.

2020s. Today the park houses more than 1 500 animals across 110+ species. It is a member of EAZA, the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, and contributes to over twenty European breeding programmes for threatened species.

Conservation focus

Beekse Bergen is not only a visitor destination. It is one of a handful of European safari parks contributing actively to in-situ conservation. The park’s involvement falls into three areas:

• European Breeding Programmes (EEP) — coordinated by EAZA for species such as the African elephant, the Rothschild giraffe, the cheetah, the white rhino, the Sumatran tiger and the scimitar-horned oryx (extinct in the wild).
• Field-research funding — small grants for partner organisations studying wild populations in eastern and southern Africa.
• Public education — school programmes, keeper talks, conservation signage and the visible explanation of why certain animals are kept in larger groups, smaller groups, or alongside compatible species.

What makes a safari park different from a zoo

A traditional zoo presents species in individual enclosures, each fenced off and clearly labelled. A safari park, in contrast, lets large herbivores and (where safe) carnivores share open paddocks, with visitors moving through in vehicles. The model is closer to a small game reserve than to a city zoo.

Among the practical consequences: many of the herbivores live in mixed herds (zebra with wildebeest with antelope) the way they would in the wild, the animals are not displayed in front-row glass enclosures, and the visitor experience is more about being present than about ticking off species.

Editorial note

This guide is editorial and not affiliated with the Beekse Bergen safari park or with Libéma, the group that operates it. The names “Beekse Bergen”, “Safari Resort” and animal species names are used in their generic-descriptive sense to help visitors orient themselves. Photographs of copyrighted animal portraits are not reproduced.

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