Planckendael Zoo, Zoo in Muizen, Mechelen, Belgium.

Planckendael is a zoo spread across a large property in Mechelen, divided into five sections representing different continents. Each section contains habitats designed to resemble the landscapes where animals naturally live.

The estate belonged to the painter Michiel Coxie and his family in the 16th century. Later owners dug canals and a pond to drain the low-lying land, and the current castle was built in 1780 for Hendrik Moons. The Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp bought the estate in 1956, and the park opened to the public in 1960 as an outpost for Antwerp Zoo animals.

The zoo is organised into five continental sections: Europe, Africa, Oceania, Asia and the Americas. The Africa section, opened in June 2008, recreates the savannah around Niger and Sudan, with an African lodge where visitors stand about a metre from Kordofan giraffes. The Asia area opened on 24 June 2006 with a tropical greenhouse housing wrinkled hornbills and white-cheeked gibbons, joined since 2022 by orangutans.

Several restaurants throughout the park including Toepaja, Wapiti, and Bonobo offer various meals, with mobile food stands providing quick options. Wear comfortable shoes since the grounds are extensive and explored mostly on foot.

The 1780 rococo-style castle at the former main entrance was built for Hendrik Moons; the estate first appears under the name Planckendael in archival records that same year. The low-lying grounds were drained with canals and a pond dug by later owners to limit flooding.